It’s been a long-time coming Norton’s finally pulled the covers on its much-anticipated Manx R. A sculpted, compact missile dripping in engineering art, the Manx R throws out wings and gimmicks in favour of clean, muscular lines and obsessive detailing. Bruce Wilson tells us more…
Powered by a completely new 1,200cc, 72° V4 that pumps out 206hp at 11,500 rpm and a fat 130 Nm of torque at 9,000 rpm, this thing promises to be pretty tasty. The focus isn’t rev-chasing madness… it’s real-world savagery, with grunt right where you actually use it, nice and low in the rev range. As for weight, it hits the scales at a respectable 204kg… meaning it hits the coveted 1bhp/kg ratio. Not bad, eh?!
A cast aluminium frame, semi-active Marzocchi suspension, and Brembo’s latest HYPURE brakes ensure the Manx R is set to handle all the power it has on tap, further aided by lean-sensitive ABS and traction systems that the brand claims are tuned for connection, not interference, while the BST carbon wheels and Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa V4SPs keep it stuck like a racing leech.
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Up top, the cockpit is pure 21st-century Norton: an 8-inch TFT dash, with full Bluetooth and GoPro integration, and a suite of rider aids that reads long enough to have you believe someone’s just leant on a keyboard… from cornering cruise control to launch control and dynamic brake lights, it’s packing everything you’d expect on a top tier sports bike.
This is definitely one bike we’re gagging to get behind the bars of, and hopefully you are too. No word on pricing just yet, but we’d expect it to be as premium a figure as the model is.
