TVS-owned Norton Motorcycle Company launches the flagship V4SV re-engineered

The V4SV might at first glance remind you of the V4SS or V4RR from before, but this is a heavily re-engineered model with over 400 new components. It took 18 months to research and develop this motorcycle. While it looks like a track-perfect bike, the British marque insists that this will be the “perfect bike for the road.” On that note, it should be worth the mention that the V4SV is derived from the brand’s V4 SG5 TT race bike, which was developed and raced at the same time on the roads of Isle of Man TT averaging 131 mph on the 37.30-mile-long course. The first road bikes based on the race bike were V4SS and V4RR, which were launched in 2017.

The newly launched V4SV is priced at £44,000, which is more than its near rival, the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2. It is available in two colour options- Carbon and Manx Silver. The latter is available in a sticking silver bodywork with red and carbon pinstripes, black front number board and red OZ Racing aluminium wheels. The Carbon option gets the fibre body exposed and instead of aluminium wheels, it gets black carbon fibre BST wheels which makes this variant lighter as well. Visual features that are common in both these options include exposed handcrafted TIG-wielded aluminium tube frame, a race-bike-styled under-seat 15-litre carbon fibre fuel tank with Kevlar reinforcements, and a Union Jack flag design on the tail.

Mechanically, the 1200 cc V4 engine is newly built by Norton, but it is based on the same engine used in the V4SS. The liquid-cooled, 72-degree, V4 engine comes with Titanium inlet valves, and the output has been optimised to 185 bhp at 12,500rpm and 125 Nm of torque at 9,000rpm. Furthermore, there are three engine modes - Urban, Rain and Sport - all three of which adjust the throttle mapping. Aside from this the cooling system has been changed, and the six-speed gearbox has been modified.

As for the chassis of the V4SV, the Aluminium tubular chassis is again derived from the race bike, along with the undersung single-side billet swingarm. The rake angle, steering offset and swing-arm pivot are adjustable. Norton has continued with the suppliers of the race forks for the SGTT so the V4SV continues with the fully-adjustable Ohlins NIX30 USD forks for the front, and a bespoke Ohlins TTXGP adjustable rear shock.

Braking duties are handled by two 330 mm floating disc brakes at the front with radially mounted Brembo monobloc callipers, and a 245 mm rear disc break with a Brembo calliper. The Norton V4SV is quite the modern motorcycle as well. For it gets full LED lighting, a full-colour 6-inch display that also incorporates a unique rear view camera (fitted neatly above the LED tail light) functionality. Aside from that, active electronic ride aids like a six-axis lean-angle sensitive traction control, IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), electronic steering lock, and a keyless ignition system.

Norton has confirmed that delivery of the motorcycle will be prioritised for those early deposit orders before the TVS acquisition. Given that the brand is owned by TVS, there are no confirmations as of yet if limited numbers of this exquisite beauty will ever reach our shore or not. And that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.