Hear What Richard Hammond Thinks of the New Norton Manx R Superbike

Top Gear's resident bike lover takes the newest British superbike on a ride.

08:41

Jonathon Klein

By: Jonathon Klein

Jul 15, at 7:04am ET

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Unfortunately for Richard Hammond, who I adore, whenever I see his name come up in my reporting, I can only think of one phrase: "Hammond, you idiot!"

The catchy jab at his fellow presenter was uttered by none other than Jeremy Clarkson during the OG Top Gear days, which were, honestly, the height of automotive journalism. The trio, consisting of James May as well, was the start, and end goal, of many of my colleagues. Myself included. And now, many years (decades) later, not only am I doing the same job they are, but we're often talking about the same things.

Case in point, Mr. Richard Hammond recently rode the all-new Norton Manx R, the first new motorcycle to come out of the once-defunct Norton Motorcycles in quite a while. Something RideApart's Robbie Bacon also did not too long ago. And while I trust Robbie implicitly—don't ever tell him I said that—it's always interesting to hear what others have to say about the same machine.

Moreover, it's always interesting to hear what Hammond has to say about a machine, especially one like this.

For those who don't know—have you been living under a rock?—Hammond is a bit of a biker. Well, he's more than that, he's a true motorcycle fanatic, with a large collection of new and classic motorcycles, and has been riding for decades upon decades. In fact, it used to be a bit on OG Top Gear for Hammond to show up to some insane challenge on a motorcycle while Jeremy and James chastised their friend for, well, "Being an idiot."

And Hammond has continued that tradition of talking about his two-wheel passion throughout his time launching and presenting at The Grand Tour and on DriveTribe's YouTube channel. The latest concerns Norton's revival, and its first motorcycle back, the Manx R superbike, with Hammond's first words echoing our own, in that the bike is "gorgeous."

What do you think?

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The test ride for Hammond and the Manx R is, obviously, Wales, which can go one way or the other in terms of weather. But where else would you test something like this? Well, the South of France comes to mind, but that wouldn't live up to the history of Norton, its intentions to revive the classic British superbike story, or the bike's ethos. I wouldn't mind it myself, but I get what Hammond's going for here.

As for his thoughts, I'll shut up and let you watch, as he's got some opinions, thoughts, and some ideas that you've come to expect from the presenter.