BEST OF BRITISH NEVER SHAKEN, ALWAYS STIRRED
“I say, that’s a very bright-looking bike!” exclaimed the husband of the 50-something couple as they walked past where I’d stopped for a coffee break at the Fleur-de-Lys pub on the banks of the Stratford Canal at Lowsonford. “What is it?” Before I could answer, his smartly-dressed wife in best WI garb complete with Thatcher-type handbag, did it for me. “I know what it is!” she said eagerly. “It’s the new Norton V4 that I saw a programme about on the BBC, after they did rather well in the Isle of Man TT Races last summer. I was hoping to see one of them one day – how does it go? It looks very fast!”
Well, after reminding myself never to judge a book by its cover, I had to admit to Mrs Diana Williams that, yes, the new Norton V4-SS is indeed VERY fast, and to husband Ray that its trademark chrome paint scheme is indeed VERY bright, as well as unmistakeably Norton – it makes the V4-SS such a visual standout that any of the fortunate few owners can’t help but make an impression at any bike gathering by its sheer presence, even before he –or she - lights up the engine. For here I was in the heart of Shakespeare Country 50 miles south of Norton’s Donington Hall factory, becoming more impressed by the minute at a) their new 1200 V4’s ability to attract favourable comment as well as, if you stop it anywhere in public, a crowd, and b) how incredibly rewarding it had been to ride it here, to the middle of the Warwickshire countryside where I grew up. These country lanes interspersed with fast stretches of highway full of daunting turns and demanding hills once were the preferred test
