New Delhi, July 31 -- I step out of Reykjavik airport and the cold hits me like an Arctic slap. My mind runs its usual rapid inventory of the luggage - have I packed enough thermal layers to survive what's coming? The media rides for the Norton Atlas have been running since 7 July, and today is the 16th. Every single day so far has been battered by rain. I check the forecast for tomorrow half expecting the usual Icelandic gloom, and blink at a prediction of clear skies and not a drop on our test route.

That evening we gather for the technical briefing. The folks from Norton who designed and developed the Atlas talk us through their reasoning: the new 585cc parallel twin - 69bhp at 9,300rpm, 57.5Nm of torque arriving low in the rev range ...