First Take: What Is It Like To Ride The Norton Atlas? Here's An Honest Take Beyond The Spec Sheet

Perched on a slope and staring into the open, I’m not sure what I should be gawping at. Is it the haunting emptiness of the Icelandic outdoors? Or is it the marvel of convenience that is Hill Hold Assist? Perhaps a bit of both. I have travelled a fair bit more than the average man on the street, but I have never seen a country with fewer people. Iceland has a population density of four per square kilometre. We have 497!  Neither have I ever had the pleasure of sitting on a motorcycle on a slope and not rolling back despite not being on the brakes. Say hello to the Norton Atlas. One of the easiest motorcycles to ride around on.

The Norton Story

James Lansdowne Norton started a company in his own name in 1898 to manufacture bicycle fittings. In 1902, Norton debuted in the motorcycling world with the Energette, which was essentially a 143cc Clément engine strapped to a bicycle frame. Five years later came a victory at the 1907 Isle of Man TT race, the first of many to come. By 1992, nine decades after the company presented its first-ever motorcycle, Norton had bagged a staggering 94 wins at the Isle of Man TT, which is run over a fearsome mountain course on public roads. 

Norton’s heyday was the 1950s and 60s when the café racer culture caught the imagination of a post-WW II Britain. Models like the Norton Manx and later the Atlas and the Commando cemented the reputation of the British brand as a maker of premium motorcycles. In fact, it wasn’t until the Japanese motorcycle industry started challenging the might of the British bike makers that Norton faltered. 

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Norton moved from owner to owner until, in 2020, our very own TVS Motor acquired the rights to the brand, invested heavily, and helped create this phase of resurgence.

The Norton Atlas

Shown at EICMA in Milan last year, the Atlas is a middleweight adventure touring motorcycle that enters the two-wheeled world’s most competitive space. With an annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent and a market size estimated at more than US$ 10 million, this is the class of motorcycles with engine capacities from 350cc to 750cc. While the swankier flagship sportbike, the Norton Manx R, sets the template for who this resurgent Norton wants to be seen as, it is the made-in-India Atlas whose shoulders will bear the weight of Norton’s global commercial success.

Design & Styling

The machine itself presents a new design and styling interpretation of an adventure tourer. And to do so, Norton has fallen back on its own legacy. Not in the sense of nostalgia or retro, but in its interpretation of what the brand legacy for this new motorcycle is. It’s a design philosophy that Norton is calling Reductive. Even the iconic, slightly ornate Norton logo has been passed through the Reductive washing machine and looks contemporary now. To you and me, the translation is minimalist.

Large sinopia orange panels and a silver panel hide the steel trellis chassis underneath. These have been kept deliberately large to create an impression of smooth surfaces with much fewer panel gaps than one would normally expect on an adventure touring motorcycle. Up front, there are no beaky protrusions in the established pattern of this motorcycling format. Instead, a well-finished black fairing houses twin projector LED headlamps whose beam intensifies at speeds above 60kmph and which also get cornering lamps as standard on the top-of-the-line Apex variant that I was riding.

At the back, the cleanliness of design is carried through with the absence of a dedicated tail lamp. The tail lamp and brake lamp functions have been integrated into the indicators instead. Form and function have been blended effortlessly with a very well-crafted and sturdy integrated luggage rack. Making it easier for riders to mount top boxes and saddlebags. Norton, in fact, has its own range of semi-rigid motorcycle luggage that looks good and offers practical, high-quality storage as additional accessories. 

The switch cubes on either handlebar are well finished and are easy to operate, allowing the rider access to a whole host of functions on the go. My only grouse was that perhaps the indicator button is a shade too refined for use with a gloved hand. There were several times I ended up activating the hazards when all I wanted to do was switch an indicator off. In fact, there is a general air of high quality in the construction of the motorcycle, and one can see small artsy touches even on functional engineering bits like the clutch cover, which makes.

The windscreen can be raised or lowered easily by pressing down on two clips and has a notch in the centre. Norton’s head of Design, Simon Skinner, explained that the notch allows a part of the air to flow from inside the windscreen and exit over the top of the rider’s helmet. He said it reduces turbulence and minimises head shakes at speeds. On the go, it only works when you adjust the windscreen for your own height. Otherwise, it might actually feel worse. But when it does work, it feels more comfortable, and there is less wind noise. 

The comfortable seat is 845mm from the ground, which is not too low but not too high either. Once you’re astride the bike you realise that Norton has carried the reductive theme to the instrumentation also, which is essentially an 8-inch TFT touchscreen. From here you get all your essential info, access the five rider modes – Urban (default), Rain, Tour, Sport and the off-road Enduro mode. You can also access these from the toggle switch on the right-hand switch cube so that you can swap between modes on the go, without having to take your hand off the bars. You also get Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, multimedia control for playing music and receiving calls, navigation control, GoPro control and total integration with the Norton Rider App, which can keep you engaged forever with its endless supply of data. There’s a little SOS button too, should you need help on a ride.

The riding posture is neutral and comfortable and ergonomics are very well sorted and even customisable to a point, courtesy the span adjustable brake and clutch levers.

Powertrain and Chassis

At the heart of the Norton Atlas sits a 585cc parallel twin engine with 70hp and 57.5Nm of peak torque. Ninety-eight per cent of this entire torque is available from around 4500 to 5000rpm and then stays almost till the bike’s 9500rpm redline. Transmission is via a 6-speed cassette type gearbox with a Quickshifter.

Back in the 1960s, in the days of the original Manx, Norton developed one of the world’s best known motorcycle frames. Called the ‘featherbed’, this revolutionary frame formed the underpinnings of Norton’s bestsellers. With the Atlas, Norton has used a steel trellis that is an homage to that old ‘featherbed’, explained Chief Technical Officer Brian Gillen. The frame is paired with bespoke fully adjustable KYB suspension at the front and a stroke-dependent rear suspension unit. These are tuned for optimum balance between comfort and handling. The motorcycle rides on a 19-inch wheel up front and a 17-inch wheel at the rear.

Braking duties are managed by twin 310mm discs at the front wheel and a single 270mm at the rear with Bybre calipers. There’s plenty of feel at the levers, both front and rear and of course there’s ABS to boot. In fact, there is a whole host of active rider aids on the Norton Atlas, including Cornering ABS, Cornering Traction Control, Cornering Cruise Control, Rear Wheel Lift Control, Drag Torque Control, Electronic Combined Braking (available only in the Apex) and the aforementioned Hill Hold Assist among other things.

The Riding Experience

Everything about this motorcycle is designed to make life easy. From the riding ergonomics to the nature of the engine and chassis to the electronics package and ease of access. This is a motorcycle where rider comfort is the top priority.

On the go, the bike feels calm and smooth. There are no raw sensations here. Instead, what you get is an elegant composure. The engine is one of the most tractable that I have used in some time. No matter what gear you’re in, or what speed you’re doing, the Atlas will pick up. The entire power delivery is very linear and comes to the rider in one unbroken arc. No snatches, excepting at the lowest of speeds. Gearshifts are smooth and effortless for the most part.

The suspension-chassis package has been honed to a point where you don’t notice the bike’s bigness at all. It has this ability to feel nimble in the city and yet stable on highways and through fast flowing turns. Be it on Iceland’s straight roads with its strong crosswinds or on the sharp curves with steep inclines, the bike feels reassuring and confident. This is a machine you can rely on and you won’t be disappointed. Even on the 15km long slippery gravel road through a beautiful forest just outside of Reykjavik, the Atlas bears the weight of the rider very well indeed. There are zero nasty surprises. 

This is a motorcycle that will forgive your mistakes, allow you to ride longer and harder and let you enjoy what I can only describe as motorcycling peace. Comfortable, convenient, good looking and with performance that is actually accessible, the Norton Atlas feels luxurious. Not in the sense of a Rolls-Royce but there is certainly a Bentley-esque quality to it all. 

Although Norton was tight lipped about the launch plans for this motorcycle in India, I would expect it just in time to catch the festive season buzz around September or October. Prices for India will be announced then but if you like to speculate then here’s a number for you. In the UK, the top-spec Norton Atlas Apex we rode has a pricetag of GBP 10,250, which translates to just over Rs 13 lakh.