WATCH: Peter Hicknman’s Norton Superlight starts for the first time

AFTER the sad demise and then resurrection of the Norton brand through new owners TVS, it’s easy to forget that there are riders and racers who are now the proud owners of partially completed bikes.

One such owner is Peter Hickman, who was supposed to be piloting a Norton Superlight 650 race bike at the now cancelled Isle of Man TT this year. With no official word from Norton’s new owners on their official plans for racing in the future, Hicky and his team have taken the matter into their own hands and look to be getting the machine nearly finished.

The video shows Hicky and his team working late to get the bike finished, having reverse engineered the bike’s wiring loom and then firing the bike up for what appears to be the first time.

After a couple of stuttered starts, the engine finally breathes into life on the third attempt before settling down to a tidy sounding tick over.

With the machine’s open and unbaffled megaphone exhaust, the noise in the workshop must have been deafening, and that’s without as much of a twist of the machine’s throttle.

Peter Hickman's Norton Superlight starts for the first time

Hicky’s Facebook post reads:

‘Late night “Lock In” with the boys tonight!!! Brand new wiring loom, reverse engineered by Mototronics, engine built and tuned by Dave Booth here at PHR, this is the very first fire up, raw and unedited... she lives!! lots more to come soon’

The work on the bike is being carried out by Peter Hickman Racing (PHR) in Louth, Lincolnshire. The workshop is the racer's own venture, aimed at engine and bike rebuilds for race and track day riders.