EICMA 2025 is an important event for Norton Motorcycles, the British brand that is now owned by India-based TVS Motor. Norton unveiled four motorcycles, all headed for production – the Manx streetfighter, Manx R supersport, the Atlas, and the Atlas GT ADVs. Considering all four are ICE motorcycles, and Norton killed the Project ZEN (Zero Emission Norton, how cute!) a few weeks back, even after getting GBP 8.5 million in grants from the UK government, these are sort of out of the syllabus for InsightEV.
However, it is the Manx and Manx R that are talkworthy and relevant for every electric motorcycle coming up. Both the Manxes are built on the same platform and carry the same 1200cc V4 engine. The Manx is a streetfighter, while the Manx R is a supersports. Both are based on the same cast aluminium monocoque chassis, a design similar to what the Ducati Panigale V4 uses.
The Challenge of the Supersport
The Supersport class is highly competitive, and often manufacturers are looking to find ways to reduce the weight. Most supersports are now pegged around the 200 kg mark with power at about 210 PS. As an example, the Fireblade is 215 PS with a weight of 201 kg.
In comparison, Norton has managed a 204 kg weight for the Manx R, and the 1200cc engine outputs 203 PS. Note that this is a 20% bigger engine than on the Fireblade, and Norton could have extracted more power. However, the company has decided to get more torque (130 NM vs 113Nm), making the Manx R more drivable on the road.
Arguably, 204 kg weight with an engine that is 20% bigger is quite impressive, and the Manx R seems to have achieved that with the help of the cast aluminium monocoque frame construction.
Which brings us to Electric
Electric motorcycles are heavy, and we have discussed this issue in the past in multiple write-ups.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
For a supersport class performance, the battery pack can easily reach 20 kWh. That’s a lot of battery. Each kWh can easily account for 6-7 kg. The frame to support such bulk would itself be seriously heavy.
The only solution to optimise the weight in an electric supersport would be to use the battery as a structural element. That’s what Damon was planning to do with the Hypersport.
Except motorcycles are more challenging than cars when you want to achieve a cell-to-Body (CTB) structure. Most motorcycle designers end up using the battery casing as a structural member, over optimsing for the stress, and making the casting walls thick. The result is often a motorcycle that ends up weighing more than what it would have had the designer used a conventional trellis or twin-spar kind of frame.
The solution is to painstakingly design an optimal and precise cast structure. Such castings are not simple to design or to manufacture and require specialised suppliers to manufacture. Damon spoke about the Swiss supplier Aluwag to manufacture the castings for its Hypersport.
That may not be needed now but the Manx is another reminder to the electric motorcycle community that the path to weight saving in a very high performance motorcycle would pass through highly precise, large sized, die castings.
