Norton Motorcycle is a curious beast but apparently one a good deal of people have a lot of faith in.Shortly after announcing it was seeking help from the public to gather some funding to help its future development, Norton Motorcycle now shows its new Superlight SS with a new frame and a more powerful engine. Superlight, supercharged, super everything.
Norton’s crowdfunding efforts were successful and short-lived—almost as soon as the company announced it was seeking investors for £1M on November 8, the company received the investment from a single, anonymous source. Good for you, Norton!
The British firm didn’t waste any time showing off its next project following the news of the investment and we can’t blame it, it’s quite the looker. The new addition to the Norton family is the Superlight SS, or what happens when you take a standard Superlight and add carbon fiber and a supercharger. The Superlight was introduced last year as a downsized V4. Now, Norton adds an amped up twist to its middleweight sportbike with the Superlight SS.
The SS is built on the same platform as the Superlight but replaces the aluminum chassis with a carbon fiber one. The different allows for a 47-percent weight reduction of the frame for a dry weight of 350 lb. The suspension and brakes are the same between the two models with Öhlins NIX30 fork and TTXGP adjustable shock and Brembo discs and calipers on both wheels.
Aside from the materials used, the most significant difference between the Superlight and the SS is the engine. In fact, Norton added a turbine to its 650cc twin boosting the power from 106 horsepower to 177. The engine is mated to a quickshift transmission borrowed from the V4.
Only 50 Superlight SS will be produced with a price tag to match the prestige: the model is priced at $64,700 (£49,995). That power-to-weight ratio though…
Sources: Norton, Motorcycle News, Canada Moto Guide