[John] Okay we're here now on the Norton stand. I'm here with Matt from Norton Motorcycles. Matt, I
recognise this, it's the Commando 961 Classic. Tell us what's particular about this one. [Matt] So
this is a 961 Commando Classic. So this is effectively the one-off vehicle
that we're making to fulfil old customer orders from the old Norton Motorcycles.
So it's the same twin 961 engine that we're running with. There's some refinements on
the vehicle that we're currently going through, through testing with engineering
before we finish these bikes to release to customers. But right now we are sort of right
at that closing point where we're about ready to finish production on these bikes. [John] Okay so
this is following the same format that we would recognise before with the air cooled twin engine.
Similar sort of specification then, mainly just to fulfil existing orders. What's the future
for this bike do you think? [Matt] So at the moment we're just trying to refine our strategy for our
entire platform for vehicles moving forward. For the 961 we're just trying to define and finish our
testing to decide do we want to take this vehicle forward or not? Hopefully positively we will be,
but we just got to finalise a couple of things in the background before we can say yes we're happy
to go into production and fulfill orders moving forward. [John] And is that proving a particular challenge
in order to sort of make this bike have a future in a similar format to what it is now? Or has the
feedback been positive and you think there is a strong chance that we can see this again? [Matt] I think
there's a strong future for this bike if we can get it to the right point. It's proven
really successful and popular here at the show. A lot of people want to see an old classic Norton
in amongst the new modern version of the bike, with the V4 and the Cafe Racer that we've launched
this week. [John] So this is Steve from the engineering department at Norton, and Steve, we recognise
the look of this engine. You know our viewers are familiar with the original 750 and 850 Commandos,
but tell us about this particular power unit. [Steve] Okay so this is a bespoke engine to Norton.
As you correctly say the traditional parallel twin configuration. It's got a 180 degree crankshaft
in it, so you'd imagine one piston goes up the other one comes down. The camshaft for this is
still in the actual crankcase itself, so you've still got push rods. A lot of the engines now
on other models, later ones, they'll be using the camshaft actually in the head. But we've tried to
retain that originality that our customers like. That traditional sort of layout and configuration.
There are changes we've had to make, really to make it reliable and suitable for use in today's
sort of world. So we have got fuel injection on this now rather than carburetors. And we have got a
small oil cooler on the front of the bike. We need that for a little extra performance, a little extra
cooling efficiency. But most of the cooling is still done through the engine fins as an air
cooled engine. [John] And obviously the angle of the cylinders looks familiar, and the timing covers
as well on the engine cases. [Steve] Yeah, we've worked really hard to try and keep the traditional
look of it. You know, that's where our heritage is, that's what we want to retain.
So it's quite a challenge for us because obviously you're trying to make a modern engine that's
reliable, that has the performance people expect. But at the same time it retains that classic look
that everybody wants. [John] And in terms of performance, what is the output of this particular engine?
[Steve] Over 70 horsepower, and I think 67 newton meters of torque. But to give you the figures doesn't
really do it justice because with like a lot of traditional sports bikes engines now you'll get
the headline figure. With something like this we've tried to make sure you've got torque and power
right through the rev range, so it makes it a very nice bike to ride on the road.
You can put it in top gear and just cruise along if you want. Or you can sort of run through the
gears, you know, if you're feeling like you want to ride it a bit sportier. So
you've got the option there of doing both. It's a five-speed gearbox as well so you've got a range
of obviously ratios you can sort of work through. At the moment we've only committed to building
28 of them. That's for the existing customers of the old Norton. We obviously want to make sure
they get their bikes, and we make sure they're, you know, looked after. At the moment we are working
on a long-term product plan so depending on what happens with that, we'll know more
pretty soon hopefully about what we're going to do with the model and when we're going to release it,
or if we're going to release it, and what the exact specification of those bikes are going to be.
[John] Okay you mentioned there the V4 Cafe Racer, which I can see out the corner of my eye over there.
Feedback has been immense on that and can we have a talk through that one? [Matt] So what we've got
here is you've got two different colour schemes for the V4 Cafe Racer. It's running with the same
V4 engine from the V4 SV, and it's got the same main frame. But we've made some tweaks
on appearance to make it have that sort of modern tweak on a classic vehicle. Some people think it
looks a little bit like a Dominator, but a bit more aggressive running with a V4. But right now you've
got a carbon version of a Manx Silver which has got this beautiful orange seat, which is probably
a love it or hate it type situation. But I think personally both these bikes look fantastic and
I think most people have been saying there's nothing else like this bike at the show.
[John] It certainly made an impact style-wise, and how far along the sort of development process
are these particular bikes? [Matt] So what we're saying is these two bikes are in their prototype launch
stage. So what we're doing is we're showing them at the show, getting some feedback from customers, and
we're refining some testing on the bike. There's still some tweaks to do on the design, there's
some tweaks to do once we get through the testing sequence. So, as I say, it's running with the same V4
engine which we just finalised on the testing on now for the V4. Once we've done that we'll go hard
into the testing on the V4 Cafe Racer. So hopefully soon we'll have some really positive news and
it will be confirmed as a running running bike moving forward. [John] Excellent, look forward to that. And
what sort of, generally then, specification, what sort of output are we expecting from these bikes?
[Matt] So it's running with the V4 1200cc engine. I think top speed is around about 185 and up. Think it's
175 brake horsepower confirmed. It's the same specification for the V4 SV bike, but still a
carbon fibre bike whether it's painted or not. And we've got carbon wheels or cast wheels. But it's
all running with Ohlins forks, Brembo brakes. It's there to be sort of
part of the superbike sport family from the racing heritage but with a bit of a classic look. [John] Yeah, so
the engine isn't softened or detuned compared to the traditional V4 that we've seen previously.
So it'll have lots of power, lots of energy to it, and this fantastic styling to accompany it. It
looks a stunning thing. [Matt] Absolutely, and I think when you're looking at the bike from the front you've
got from one side, you're looking at this sort of modern tweak on it. When you're looking at the bike
from the front you've got this really aggressive look. You've got this big wide front grille, and to
be fair, the bike looks absolutely fantastic. The design team has done a great job so far. [John] It looks
great and it's exciting times ahead for Norton So thanks for that Matt. [Matt] No worries, thank you very much.