Martin Alva
Posing as the most important bike in its modern history, and the first mass-market affordable iteration for generations, Norton is set to unveil the all-new Atlas at the Motorcycle Live this weekend.
Norton has put the Atlas forward as its first ‘everyday Norton’ since the company was brought back from the dead by Stuart Garner in 2008.
After the entry of Atlas, Norton’s line-up stands with the mid-range 961 Commando family, while the V4 RR and SS still out of reach of most rider’s wallets. However, the new Atlas Nomad which is built on a steel trellis frame and houses a V4-derived 650cc parallel-twin engine will cost you nothing less than £9995 when it goes on sale this weekend with a more off-road focused Ranger edition costing £11,995.
The suspension set up on the bike is the company’s own ‘Norton Roadholder’ consisting of a fully adjustable 50mm unit in the front while the mono-shock rear will be preload adjustable only.
Both bikes will ride on the classic laced spoked rims which comes in different sized for the Nomad and the Ranger. The more road-centric Nomad uses Avon Trailrider tyres, while the taller suspended Ranger wears Avon Trekrider rubber and a 19inch front rim for improved off-road riding, while the rear rim size remains a 17inch.
The parallel-twins on the bike will provide with a peak output of 84bhp with 11000rpm of torque.
“The Atlas is designed to be completely fit for purpose,” said the head of design, Simon Skinner. “You really can take both versions down some green lanes and get them messy, and it’s designed to be robust enough to keep going if you fall off. You can get to all the fuses and relays easily, and if you bend the subframe, you can take it off and get it straightened it because of its steel, not aluminium.”
“While the engine is effectively half a V4, we have actually only retained the cylinder head,” says Skinner. “That’s where all the really hard work was for the V4 and the processes and technology that we put in place for that bike all transfers across to the Atlas. It’s a really solid, robust engine. That means it feels simple to build by comparison, and the engine is making excellent power straight out of the box. We’ve gone for rideability, torque and creamy drive, and 84bhp is plenty for this sort of bike. The power to weight ratio is really good, and it will have switchable ABS – as you need it for this kind of bike – and traction control with two modes: on-road, off-road, and you’ll be able to switch it off, too.”
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