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Norton V4CR Prototype Reveals the Brand’s Café Racer Intentions

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Big things are moving in the Norton Motorcycle company. After the company’s purchase by TVS, the Norton V4SV superbike program has been rebooted, with some pretty substantial changes and updates to the platform.

The British brand is set to bring a naked version of its superbike as well, showing a prototype of what is being called the Norton V4CR café racer.

True to the ethos of the café racer genre, the Norton V4CR is very much a superbike without fairings, including clip-ons rather than an upright handlebar.

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Bikes

Norton V4SV Relaunches with Updates and Less Power

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What is old is new again might as well be the theme for this week, after the Crighton CR700W reemerged and the Husqvarna Norden 901 finally debut, and that theme continues now with the relaunch of the Norton V4 superbike, which has changed names to the Norton V4SV.

With the company now in the hands of India’s TVS Motor Company, the British firm is starting to make good on some of its previous owner’s promises, and one of those is making the Norton V4 work properly and land into the hands of happy customers.

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TVS Buys Norton Motorcycles a New Factory in England

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The Norton Motorcycles brand has gone through the wringer this past year, with the company’s financial scandal culminating in  India’s TVS Motor Company purchasing the beleaguered British marque.

Much was said about what the future of Norton would look like under TVS ownership, but it seems clear now that the new regime is set on righting the ship.

In addition to its product lineup commitments, TVS has invested heavily in Norton’s long-term future. The latest evidence of this is the creation of a new headquarters for the iconic motorcycle brand in Solihull, in the West Midlands of England.

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News

What the Future Looks Like for Norton Motorcycles

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While the year 2020 will be known almost exclusively for something else, for Norton Motorcycles the year marks a key point in the brand’s 100+ year history.

It is the year that the British marque collapsed in on itself, with accusations of fraud and mismanagement, and was then bought by India’s TVS Motor. The full history of the brand is still being learned and written in its most current chapters, but our eyes are already turning to the future of Norton Motorcycles.

Talking about his company’s acquisition of the Norton, Sudarshan Venu (Joint Managing Director of TVS Motor) has already given us some indication on what to expect.

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News

Official: India’s TVS Motor Buys Norton Motorcycles

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It has been a long sad road for Norton Motorcycles lately, and we apologize for not covering the complete debacle that has unfolded from this historic British marque.

That being said, it is hard to condense what has happened to Norton in the past few months, as well as the accusations that have been levied at the company’s CEO Stuart Garner; but cutting to the point, the company has gone bankrupt, which has lead to allegations of the mishandling of funds and even of fraud.

Now after a week of rumors regarding a pending sale, on Friday we got confirmation that Norton Motorcycles has been sold to TVS Motors, the third-largest two-wheeled manufacturer in India, with a price tag of $20 million.

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News

Norton: We’re Not Dead Yet!

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Earlier today, the British site Visordown reported that Norton Motorcycles was set to go out of business, as the British Companies House (a sort of business registrar in the United Kingdom) was striking Norton Motors UK Ltd from its list and dissolving the business for inactivity.

It was a shocking development, to say the least, and though Norton is a small company, the news came as a surprise. After all, the last few months have not been kind for the small manufacturers in the motorcycle industry, with the deaths of Alta and Motus still fresh on our minds..

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Bikes

Norton Superlight Debuts for Super Twin Racing

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Last week, we showed you two new motorcycles from Norton, the Atlas Ranger and the Atlas Nomad. Today, we bring you a third bike from this 650cc parallel-twin platform from the British brand, the Norton Superlight.

Based off the same road-going platform as the Atlas, the Superlight is really a race bike in disguise.

This is because the Norton Superlight takes the mild-mannered engine from the Atlas bikes, which makes 84hp and 47 lbs•ft of torque, and cranks them up to “11” for an engine that produces 105hp (78 kW) of peak power and 55 lbs•ft (75 Nm) of torque.

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Norton Atlas Finally Breaks Cover, With Two Scrambler Variants

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We have been waiting for quite a while to see Norton’s Atlas street bike project in the flesh, and now it is here…in two varieties.

The two machines are called the Norton Atlas Ranger and the Norton Atlas Nomad, and they are both scrambler models. The Nomad is geared more towards road use however, with its 18″ front wheel; while the Ranger has taller suspension for better off-road capabilities, along with a 19″ front hoop.

Both bikes share the same 650cc parallel-twin engine with a 270° firing order, which makes 84hp and 47 lbs•ft of torque. The motor was co-developed with Norton’s V4 project, and it is essentially the four-cylinder engine with its rear cylinder bank lopped off.

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Bikes

Take a Look at the Norton Atlas, Another British Scrambler

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Today we get another look at Norton’s 650cc project, now named the Norton Atlas. We have already seen concept sketches for this British scrambler, and now Norton is showing us some engineering renders. This is because the physical machine should debut later this year, at the NEC bike show in November.

Details are still vague and light, but we do know that the 650cc parallel-twin engine will piggyback off the work done for Norton’s V4 superbike. Essentially the using the V4 engine with its rear cylinders lopped off, the parallel-twin engine shares the same head, pistons, valves, etc as the V4 bike.

Several flavors of the Atlas are expected to come to market, with 70hp and 100hp naturally aspirated versions already planned, as well as a supercharged version that is said to clear 175hp.

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Racing

Preview of the 2018 Isle of Man TT

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The 2018 Isle of Man TT is underway and Asphalt & Rubber has you covered to get up to date with some of the biggest names at the Isle of Man TT.

The road racing capital of the world is rarely called a paradise, but it is hard to look past that word when the sun shines on this 200 square miles of rock in the Irish Sea.

This week the sun is certainly shining, and practice week has already been one to remember. Lap records look set to be shattered as this past winter is banished from memory by the burning sun.

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