2012 Isle of Man TT
The 2012 Isle of Man TT is just under a month away, and the boys at Norton are hard at work prepping the V4 that will run in the Senior TT with the Brit Ian Mackman at the controls.
The team, which includes Norton CEO Stuart Garner, is finely tuning the 195-horsepower V4 that features Ohlins Suspension and Dunlop Tires. The team reports that the bike is currently undergoing some high-speed testing, including a 165 mph “no hands” test to check the stability of the bike for the 226-mile race.
Simon Skinner (Head of Design) says: “We’ve gone for a bike we hope will be rock solid…The biggest stuff in terms of the design and engineering are all now done and the list of things to do is much smaller, but no less important. Some of these are going to take a lot of work to get right but we have a good team and determination.”
Stuart Garner (Norton CEO) says: “Being there for the first high-speed test was interesting and we were all a bit nervous because we needed to know the bike was stable. Our rider Ian Mackman did some high-speed runs, hard braking and lots of track laps – he was really happy.”
Ian Mackman (Norton Pilot) says: “The first time was just a few weeks ago…the bike feels quite small like a 600 sports bike. We pushed the bike up to 165mph – everything seems right with the stability. The engine feels great in terms of the way it delivers the power, really strong.”