Is No Branch Of Motorcycling Safe From Electricity?
Getting bored of reading about electric bikes? Well, it’s not going away any time soon. in fact, its even spreading to off-road bikes now.
Stark VARG Electric Motocross Bike Has Petrol in its sights
Makers of electric bikes pull out some pretty strong claims when comparing their products to petrol-powered equivalents: more power and torque and more flexibility, for example.
Enter the Stark VARG electric MX bike. Developed by a Spanish company, they claim an all-in weight of 110kg (242lb) and a power output of 78.9bhp, which makes it more powerful than a 450cc-engined equivalent petrol-powered MX bike. The Stark VARG has been developed by former AMA Motocross champion Sébastien Tortelli and AMA Supercross race winner Josh Hill.
Where an electric bike does win over a petrol bike is that the power output can be customised in terms of the power settings, mimicking anything from a 125cc two-stroke up to a 650cc four stroke, controlled by a smartphone app. There are over 100 riding modes that can be selected!
The motor is used as a stressed member of the chassis, with carbon fibre sub frame to keep weight down, always a problem with electric bikes and certainly something you don’t need on an MX bike.
The battery weighs a featherweight 32kg (70 lb) and can provide full competition power for an unspecified range or up to six hours of gentle trail riding, or the equivalent of a 450cc four-stroke with a full tank of gas. Re-charge time is claimed to be between one and two hours.
The problem is, of course, that out in the boondocks, there aren’t too many plug points to plug your bike into, whereas there’s always a can of gas waiting in your pick-up or van, so you can carry on riding all day.
Kayaba suspension and Pirelli MX32 tyres complete the specification.
It’s not the first professional electric off-road bike, of course: the KTM Free Ride has been around for a few years. But you can’t help get the feeling that off-road will be the last bastion of petrol-power, simply because of the charging issues out in the country.