Norton’s Superlight Is Now Supercharged!

Post the Norton administration, Indian bikemaker TVS has acquired the British brand. We spoke with Sudarshan Venu, TVS’s Joint MD to understand how this partnership would impact Norton and TVS's future. Know all the details here. 

• Gets a carbon fibre frame.
• The 650cc parallel-twin motor is touted to make excess of 150PS!
• Retricted to only 50 units.

It was at 2018 Birmingham NEC Show that we saw Norton bringing its 650cc parallel-twin supersport called the Superlight, for obvious reasons. Now though, there is a lighter and faster version of the same bike called the Superlight SS. The production run will be restricted to just 50 units. How has Norton made the 158kg (dry) and 105PS bike better?

Let's tackle the power part first. The engine is no longer naturally aspirated but much rather is supercharged. The 650cc parallel-twin motor was derived from the front bank of cylinders of Norton’s 1200cc V4. The engine produces sportbike rivalling 177.4PS, which is 62.4PS more than the base Superlight. Comparatively, the Aprilia RS 660 has 100PS on tap. Torque too has bumped up from 75Nm to 125Nm.

Adding a supercharger to the mix should have ideally bumped up the weight of the bike. However, the already rich in carbon fibre motorcycle now gets a carbon frame and swingarm, replacing the old aluminium bits. This has significantly offset the added weight of the supercharger tipping the scales at 153kg (dry). This is a whole 5kg lighter than the standard bike.

At the moment, Norton is only going to make 50 such Superlight SS-es but one could expect a non-supercharged version later. Price? Who cares. Is it coming to India? No chance.