V4 SS on the way

BLIGHTYBRIT/SF

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V4 SS on the way
V4 SS on the way
Hot of the press from Norton central
 
V4 SS on the way
V4 SS on the way
V4 SS on the way
V4 SS on the way
V4 SS on the way
Today’s motorcycle news with ace /top/ well respected head honcho Road tester Adam child , someone finally gets their hands on this superbike
 
As upset as I am with Norton, this is an amazing and exhilarating feat!! Good for them. Not easy!!! The last thing I need is a superbike. But damn the Norton V4 has to be the best looking one out on the market. And reading this put shiver bumps on my arms.

Thanks for sharing Richard!!!

Now cmon warm weather, i need to ride my bike!!!
 
Quite right that the last thing any road rider needs is a Superbike, but we do love those big HP numbers, even if you can't use em.
I was out yesterday on my obsolete litre bike, hadn't ridden it for a year. 161 bhp which is a stupid amount of power for the road .Front wheel aloft and barely hanging on thru first and second to 100 mph (7 seconds?)
I can't imagine dealing with 200 bhp, although it should have TC and wheelie control to make sure you only access a portion of 200 bhp.
Road bikes that produce 100 bhp or less , have good torque and roll on, are plenty fast for the road ( as is my 47 Vincent , really)
As a roadbike , the 961 makes more sense than this V4. I get the feeling that Garner is having fun / ego boost with the V4 whereas the 961 is somebody else's dream ( Dreer) and very old hat/yesterday's news these days.

So when I see that V4 I wish all of that energy had gone into making the 961 bulletproof plus arranging a good dealer network
and spares for it. But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.
There are still lots of old farts like me who would buy the 961 if it was proven reliable and had a dealer within 100 miles or so.

Glen
 
There are still lots of old farts like me who would buy the 961 if it was proven reliable and had a dealer within 100 miles or so.

Glen

Glen,

I think you're referring to mature gentlemen like us, but yes this is true.
Obviously, the V4 looks quite awesome, and shows the excellence of the Ricardo design work.
I would expect to see the same quality in the 650.

Once these machines are in production and established Norton should redesign the 961 or its replacement.
Just plop down a 961 motor on Ricardo's door step and have them do the redesign.
Keep the classic external appearance, but redesign all of the internals to work properly like a modern motorcycle, and meet Euro XX requirements.

End the niggling problems on the 961 once and for all.
 
Agreed.
The Superbike thing is fun, but done to death ( pardon pun)
BMW, Yamaha, Honda, Kawi, Aprilia,Ducati all have 200+ HP offerings.
The Ducati 1299 is 209 bhp and they are moving on. The Ducati V4 will probably start at 220 bhp and quickly work up to 250 bhp in a few years.
So 200 bhp is entry level to a very crowded club.
Kind of like Triumph with their Daytona 955i in 02. At 150 bhp or 161 with Triumph " Offroad" tune and pipe, they were near the top of the pack for bhp, ahead of the Fireblade and R1, about on par with the GSXR.
Next year the Japanese all added a thousand RPM and ten horsepower.
Now you are at the bottom of the pack after having spent all of that development money.

Back to the 961. In the view of most 961 owners, it has no competition.
It clearly does have 1 very tough competitor, but thats it at the moment. Not such a crowded club.
That is why Bloor left the litre bike club.
Too crowded, cover charge too high!

Glen
 
When they first introduced the v4 I recall that the motor has been built with the potential to produce a lot more power!
 
My pesonal view is that these numbers are meaningless. The torque produced is high but I haven't seen comparison
figures.
 
Its bragging rights for owners of those bikes. A big BHP number is what most buyers in that category are after .
When Stuart Garner talked about development of the engine he said " we knew that the BHP number had to start with a 2"
I'm sure he is correct.

Hell, we even brag about BHP or RWHP on our old Nortons- mine made 3 more than yours, it's better!:)

Glen
 
One would hope that a lot of the development work done on the V4 will work it’s way onto other bikes in the range. Even make other new bikes possible that otherwise wouldn’t be.

It clearly makes a lightweight 600cc, twin cylinder, 100bhp sports bike look both possible and tantalisingly interesting.

Personally, I think the V4 looks awesome. And, as daft as it sounds, £28k isn’t even that expensive for something so exotic.

I’d be very tempted myself, but I have to agree with Glen, I just don’t know what I’d do with 200bhp other than seriously risk life and license!

But, we are old farts. The young guns will love ‘em! And it is giving Norton the kind of PR that NONE of us thought remotely possible a few years ago.

Overall, I think it is utterly fantastic, even if I’m only watching on as an interested spectator!
 
Horsepower claims drive many forum threads too.
They become heated, verbally abusive online duels.
But the winner is the "what oil do you use in your primary or gearbox" thread.
 
"It clearly makes a lightweight 600cc, twin cylinder, 100bhp sports bike look both possible and tantalisingly interesting."

Only problem is it's another crowded club and the entry level is about 120 bhp.
Triumph has the little 675 triple up to 132bhp and weight down to some ridiculously small number.
Lots of Cheap, fast and bulletproof bikes in that group.
 
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