NORTON MOTORCYCLES ENTERS ADMINISTRATION
P102
Feature
But while the limited-edition V4 SS apparently
sold out quickly at the $56,708 asking price,
forcing those not fast enough to opt instead for
the lower-spec V4 RR at $36,087, the cash-
flow needed to acquire the necessary parts to
build the models to satisfy that demand simply
wasn't there, and the company did not have suf-
ficient spare capital to fast forward production to
generate such cash.
The first such bikes were only delivered to
customers late in 2018—just as the 84 bhp
650cc parallel-twin Atlas Nomad and Ranger
models were unveiled at that November's
NEC Show, with the duo reaching production
readiness just as the business was placed in
administration. The high-performance 102 bhp
twin-injector Superlight version made a promis-
ing debut in the 2019 Lightweight TT when Pe-
ter Hickman rode a brand-new street-legal bike
to finish eighth in the race after some minor
problems, having lapped at over 120 mph on
a 650cc bike he'd never ridden before race
week. A supercharged carbon-framed Su-
perlight RR prototype of the same model was
unveiled at the NEC Show last November.
These three volume production Atlas mod-
els were intended to underwrite the com-
pany's growth, finally providing the needed
cash flow to underpin the ongoing develop-
ment of the smaller volume V4s. They were
developed in conjunction with Chinese giant
Zongshen, with the extremely compact
parallel-twin engine with 270° crank entirely
developed in-house at Norton, according to
Simon Skinner.
But its commercial existence was linked
to a deal which Norton had made to supply
Zongshen with a lower-performance 650cc
The Norton
California.
Beauty is in
the eye of the
beholder,
we guess.
