Norton ' s tumultuous 2020 has inevitably led to delays in bringing new models to the market , and as a result , Chinese firm Zongshen - which bought a licence to manufacture Norton ' s new 650 cc parallel twin engine - looks set to get its version into production before the genuine article is on sale . January 2020 saw Norton collapse into bankruptcy amid controversy over former boss Stuart Garner ' s financial dealings . The deal with Zongshen was concluded before the bankruptcy filing and the remaining valuable elements of the company , including its intellectual property , were eventually bought by India ' s TVS - which is working to bring the company ' s models back on sale , having established a new headquarters in Birmingham , England . But there ' s been an inevitable pause in production and new model development . That means the most important new bikes to emerge in more than a decade since Garner ' s Norton revival - the 650 cc Atlas Nomad and Atlas Ranger - have yet to |
complete their development . In the meantime , China ' s Zongshen , which bought rights to manufacturer its own version of the Atlas ' new water-cooled , DOHC parallel twin engine back in 2017 , has completed the work on its first model to get the engine . The Cyclone RX6 has now completed
" Licence-built 650 twin beats Norton version to typeapproval "
its type-approval in China , passing the country ' s strictest emissions limits - roughly equivalent to the Euro 4 standards that have just been superseded in Europe - and is heading for production . Euro 5 emissions standards have been considered during its design , so the Zongshen should also be able to meet the
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requirements to be sold in Europe . Unlike the handmade , retro-style Norton Atlas models , which are both 1960s-inspired scramblers , the Cyclone RX6 is a determinedly modern adventure bike that ' s clearly targeting the likes of Suzuki ' s V-Strom 650 and Kawasaki ' s Versys 650 . In performance terms , it matches those rivals , with 70 bhp on tap . That ' s rather less than the ambitious 84 hp that Norton claims for the same engine - itself effectively made from the front two cylinders of the firm ' s V4 superbike - but exactly in line with similarly sized twins from other mainstream manufacturers . With Zongshen positioning its Cyclone-branded models as high-end machines to rival Japanese and European competition , it ' s no surprise to see the bike has some familiar brand names on its bought-in components . Nissin supplies the brakes , for instance , while Bosch provides the ABS system and software . Zongshen showed two prototypes in China last year , but the images here show the production-spec machines |
used to pass Chinese type-approval . Two versions have been approved , one with wire wheels , the other with alloys . As a resolutely modern machine , the RX6 includes all the parts you ' d expect from a new model in 2021 , including a colour TFT display and LED lights , but it ' s surprisingly heavy , with a homologated ' wet ' weight of 245 kg , which is around 30 kg more than the similarly sized V-Strom or Versys . That may be offset in future by a larger version of the parallel twin engine , as Zongshen is rumoured to be developing an 850 cc derivative . Various Zongshen models have been offered in Europe and the UK in the past , and the RX6 is clearly the bestpositioned model the company has made yet to appeal to export markets , although it will need a coordinated export push if it ' s to compete against rivals like Loncin and Qianjiang , which have dedicated Euro-focused subbrands in the form of Voge and Benelli . |