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Norton Reveals the Plans of Their 200 HP, 1,200cc V4 Superbike

Hearing Norton officials say that they are envisaging building a bike that should compete with the Ducati 1299 Panigale and the Superleggera IS a thing we didn't see coming. However, House Donington has been eyeing building such a machine ever since a new era in the company's life began back in 2008.
Sketch of the upcoming Norton V4 superbike 6 photos
Photo: Norton Motorcycles | bennetts.co.uk
Upcoming Norton V4 superbikeUpcoming Norton V4 superbikeUpcoming Norton V4 superbike with all-carbon wheels and fairingUpcoming Norton V4 superbike blueprintsUpcoming Norton V4 superbike schematics
The recent funding Norton received will help the iconic British maker get things sorted out a bit, even though most of the money will go to the supply chain and the engineering academy Norton is involved in.

Norton Head of Design, Simon Skinner says that only a small fraction of the money will reach Donington Hall's accounts. The company will have to provide most of the funds and then claim the money back through sales.

A premium sports bike that will arrive in two versions

Skinner says that the new Norton bike will be powered by a brand new V4 engine that will employ Britsh racing heritage and knowledge from F1 and other top-drawer names in the automotive industry, such as Aston Martin.

The fuel-injected, liquid-cooled V4 power plant will pack 1,200cc and be capable to deliver north of 200 horsepower. Even more, it will incorporate a host of GP-derived engineering solutions aimed at making it as sporty as possible. Ricardo Motorcycles will be in charge of developing the engine.

Simon Skinner says that the bike will have full-carbon fiber fairings because the shapes that are envisioned are hard or impossible to craft from plastic. The wheels will also be made from carbon fiber, while the frame will use aerospace aluminium and billet parts, all welded and polished by hand at Norton, Skinner tells bikesocial.

Norton's new machine will also sport a single-sided swingarm, but at the time of writing it was still undecided whether it will a billet aluminium or a carbon fiber one. The suspensions will be top-shelf Ohlins units for both front and rear end, fully adjustable and rivaling the highest-performing machines.

GP-spec dash and electronics

Donington Hall prepares a GP-derived color dashboard with comprehensive readouts on multiple parameters for both street and track, complete with a strong electronics package. We can expect racing ABS, traction control, multiple engine mappings, all designed with rideability and sheer performance in mind.

LED lighting with angel eyes daytime running lights and underbelly full-titanium exhausts will also be on the standard equipment list.

A standard version of the machine will be offered alongside a premium one, not unlike Ducati has the Panigale and the Superleggera. The stock one might surface with a price tag of £25,000-30,000 (€35,450-42,550 or $38,900-46,675), while the premium version could go for pretty much the same £54,000 (€76,585 or $84,000) of the Superleggera.

No name or availability were announced so far, but Norton is expected to surface more info as the project gets underway.
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