A legendary recording artist once said, “If you start me up, I’ll never stop.”
Perhaps he was talking about electric motorcycles.
Lightning Motorcycles on Sunday blew through the land speed record for production electric bikes by a comfortable 30 miles per hour to become the first electric bike maker in the world to exceed 200mph.
In a run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Lightning — the 2010 land speed record holder, I should note — clocked in its Lightning Electric Superbike at 206.079mph, topping last year’s record of 176mph.
Race Tech principal Paul Thede rode the bike to the record books with some help from a propulsion electric motor from Remy International.
The California-based motorcycle engineering firm was founded by Richard Hatfield and a group of Silicon Valley engineers. Aside from the records, their claim to fame is selling the exact configuration of their race-winning bikes to consumers.
David Herron has more at the Examiner:
Hatfield’s team of collaborators have designed every last detail in CAD. This lets them send instructions to CNC machines to fabricate every part, making it possible to 100% replicate the race bike and several other configurations. Their collaboration with A&A Racing (who has an on-site CNC machine) has let them rapidly prototype parts, and they can use CNC fabrication shops to produce parts in larger quantity.
A build-to-order bike like this will set you back at least $38,000.
The company says it’s using competition to spur innovation, seeking to redefine “pocket rocket” in the minds of consumers as something you plug in. And if you’re familiar with electric powertrains, you’ll know that with instant torque, the nickname has never rung more true.
Photo: Richard Hatfield
