Norton V4 reborn as V4SV
Under new ownership, the Norton brand is bringing back the V4. After Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd folded early in 2020 - with its remains being sold piecemeal by liquidators - the depths of the problems with the company's flagship V4 superbike started to emerge. Now, after months of work to fix and improve the bike, it's heading back into production.
The current iteration of Norton might have a familiar name and logo, but it's a new company, The Norton Motorcycle Co Ltd, owned by Indian bike-making giant TVS, which bought the brand and other assets when the old company was liquidated. Originally, there were hopes that the handful of V4SS models that had reached customers would be able to be repaired and improved, but having discovered a list of 35 faults, 20 of them safety issues, the company has decided that's not viable. It continues to try to support customers where possible but isn't liable for the flaws in the old bikes.
The new Norton V4SV might look near identical to the previous V4SS, but it's had some big changes to fix the previous problems.
Under the carbon fibre skin lies essentially the same 1,200 cc V4 engine, albeit with flaws in the original addressed. Power is down from the previous 200 hp to a more modest 185 hp at 12,500 rpm and torque is reduced from 130 Nm to 125 Nm at 9,000 rpm, but the bore, stroke, V-angle and compression ratio are all the same as before.
It sits in the same TIG-welded aluminium tube frame, with off-the-shelf Öhlins NIX 30 forks and TTXGP shock, with Brembo brakes - all proven parts. On board, there's a 6" TFT dash, keyless start and, as before, a rear-facing camera, although it doesn't replace the mirrors.
Two versions are to be offered, one in bare carbon, with carbon fibre BST wheels, the other finished in silver - rather than the chrome-effect of the original - and using forged alloy Oz-Racing rims in red.
One major change that's yet to be seen is the exhaust. The original V4s were never given full emissions certification, but the new version is intended to achieve Euro 5, and as such will get a compliant catalytic converter and silencer in final production form, with the race-style pipe seen here offered for track use.
