Just days after Norton Motorcycles sought crowd funding of £1 million ($1.89m) to fulfil orders for the V4 and Atlas models, it has unveiled a new supercharged 127kW Superlight SS.
It’s a carbon model version of their Superlight model which is based on the upcoming 650cc twin-cylinder Atlas platform.
While it looks great, it is bound to be expensive.
Crowd funding
The call for funds came despite £4m in UK government funding last year and a £20m deal with Japan to deliver an extra 1000 motorcycles worth £5m to Japanese riders over the next five years.
However, the campaign was paused after a single investor came forward.
Owner Stuart Garner says he has not ruled out returning to the crowd-funding campaign at a later date.
Norton said the crowd-funding objective was to give global customers and bike enthusiasts a chance to become part of the heritage company, “profiting from its continued success”.
You can review the most recent financials on Norton’s Companies House page.
Australian importer James Mutton of Brisbane Motorcycles told me he had no concerns about the financial viability of the company and is expecting delivery of Atlas and V4 models next year.
It would seem the company has an eye on the future with the launch of this new model.
Meanwhile, Norton Global Sales & Marketing boss Kay Johnson told us they are on track with production.
“We are currently making Atlas chassis and other components ready for production/deliveries next month,” he told us last month.
“First customers have been advised and we look forward to deliveries shortly.”
Superlight SS
Meanwhile, the gorgeous Superlight SS is just that — super light — with a carbonfibre wheels, swingarm, subframe, frame, and bodywork.
Norton says it weighs about 47% less than their aluminium-framed Superlight.
It comes with a Rotrex supercharger that helps the engine develop 38% more power at 127kW (170bhp) with torque the same at 74Nm.