Norton unveils all-new range led by Manx R superbike
By Ben Purvis
It's more than five years since Norton's previous iteration collapsed into ignominious bankruptcy before its key assets were bought by India's TVS, who immediately reorganised into a new business carrying the famous name. Since then, more than £200m has been ploughed into a new factory in Birmingham, England - not far from Norton's original home - and now a newly developed range made its debut at EICMA.
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| The all-new Norton range is led by the V4 1,200 cc Manx R |
Four bikes were unveiled at the show: a pair of V4-powered, 1,200 cc machines under the 'Manx' banner and two 585 cc parallel twins carrying the 'Atlas' name. They're set to be joined by two further models in the near future to complete a planned six-model lineup.
The Manx R, a V4 superbike based around the engine developed for the "Garner-era" V4SS back in 2016, and heavily redesigned to power the V4SV and V4CR since the TVS takeover, is the first to reach production. The engine has been revamped once again, taking power up from 185 hp to 206hp, and more importantly bringing into line with Euro5+ homologation standards and other international emissions rules, allowing the bike to be offered internationally - with target markets in Europe, India and the USA.
The engine's tune focusses on usable performance across a wide rev range rather than outright power, with the peak arriving at a relatively low-for-the-class 11,500 rpm, and more outright torque than its competitors, hitting 130 Nm at 9,000 rpm. All that torque is controlled via a suite of rider assists including cornering traction control, wheelie control, slide control, launch control, multiple engine modes and a quickshifter.
"Five years of TVS ownership and investment reflected in 2026 lineup"
A new, cast alloy chassis replaces the TIG-welded tubular aluminium design of the earlier V4 superbike models, and is paired to Marzocchi electronically controlled, semi-active suspension that's connected to the bike's IMU, throttle and brakes to modify settings as you ride. It's that suspension that Norton says eliminates the need for the winglets that have sprouted on all its key rivals' bodywork.
BST carbon fibre wheels, Brembo Hypure brakes and an 8-inch touchscreen dash (the touch function works only when stationary, for safety) are other key elements that give the bike a high-end look and feel, along with aluminium switch blocks on the bars, and a level of technology that includes not only phone connectivity but smartwatch connectivity to send notifications from the bike to your wrist.
The Manx R shares its 206 hp powertrain, chassis and technology with the naked Manx roadster, but Norton has revealed less about the two Atlas models that will follow.
The Atlas adventure bike and the more street biased Atlas GT, which swaps dual-purpose wire wheels for 17-inch alloys, both use a new 585 cc parallel twin, but few specifications have been revealed. The engine appears to be related to the 420 cc twin that's been launched for 2026 in the BMW F450GS, which makes sense as the BMW is also built by TVS, which is expected to adopt the engine in its own models in the future, just as it did with the 313 cc single-cylinder engine from the BMW G310 range that's built on behalf of BMW by TVS in India.
Norton says the Atlas models have a 270-degree crankshaft, though - unlike the unusual 135-degree design used by BMW's F450 motor - and that like the Manx models the Atlas will feature a six-axis IMU with cornering traction control and ABS, slide control, launch control and cornering cruise control.
