Norton Motorcycles Reimagines Its V4SV Super Bike As A Café Racer
The retro-inspired model is based on the company’s V4SV superbike.
Related articles
Norton Motorcycles wants to bring one of the great motorcycle designs of the past into the present.
The British motorcycle maker has just unveiled its latest prototype, the V4 Café Racer. The new model isn’t just a tribute to the type of sports bikes that were so popular in the country during the 1960s, it’s a full-on reimaging of what they’re capable of.
Norton built its modernized take on the café racer on the bones of its popular V4SV superbike. The sporty cruiser has been stripped down to the bare essentials, though. Its windscreen and fairing have been cut away, leaving behind a carbon fibre fuel tank and body panels, a shorter frame machined from an aluminium alloy billet and a compact exhaust unit that gives the bike an even more aggressive stance. Up front, you’ll find a single round LED headlamp that looks just like those on the café racers of old.
Just as important to the design, though, is the bike’s completely new engine. Café racers were about one thing and one thing only: performance. Sure enough, the centrepiece of Norton’s new prototype is a liquid-cooled, 1.2-litre V4 engine that the company says will be able to generate 138kW. That’s not the sort of power figure you’d associate with a bike like this, and would almost immediately place it among the most powerful British café racers ever built.
“There’s something about a superbike café racer that defies categorization and attracts renegades,” the brand said on its website. “With the V4CR, we’ve developed a motorcycle that amplifies those emotions in its riders—willing them to dare to be more.”
The V4 Café Racer may just be a prototype, but Norton makes clear that it plans to put it into production. In fact, the bike’s listing includes a section where you can register your interest in it today. If you’re ever wanted to ride a café racer as powerful as one of today’s superbikes, your chance may not be all that far off.
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Recommended for you
Maeving’s Striking Electric Retro Style Motorcycles
The British manufacturer intends for its zero-emissions RM1 and RM1S bikes to turn any commute into a memorable journey.
By Brett Braley
September 21, 2023
Ducati Celebrates 30 Years Of The Monster
The Italian motorcycle company commemorates its legendary ‘naked bike’ with a special-edition release.
August 1, 2023