Electric motorcycles are a recent addition to a historic race on a tiny island neatly centered in the Irish Sea between Scotland, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and Wales. Its 75,000 inhabitants cluster in villages that look like movie sets of rustic, pre-war England. Manx cats come from the island, tailless little creatures with long back legs that look almost rabbit-like. Bonus fact: Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb (the Bee Gees) were all born on the Isle of Man. Having so few people to share the 688 miles of roads could make speeding a huge temptation. The two-lane roads are twisty and narrow, though, and even without an official speed limit on many thoroughfares, speeds rarely average over 50 mph. …
Motoczysz Wins the Isle of Man TT – Again
Gizmag.com reports this morning that Motoczysz (roughly, “moto-sizz”), won the Isle of Man electric Tourist Trophy race at an average speed just short of the fabled “ton,” or 100 miles per hour. Although 28 percent shy of the best internal combustion machine’s time, Gizmag urges looking at it from the perspective that it’s been 54 years since a petrol-powered motorcycle achieved that speed. Mike Hanlon, reporting for Gizmag, notes that the bike’s 99.513 mph average demonstrates, “yet another quantum leap in electric bike performance from last year’s 96.820 mph average and the 2009 winning average of 87.434 mph.” This had to be a bit frustrating for the winning rider, since the 100 mph average would have netted him an additional …
Motorcyclist Hums with Electric Bike News
One tenet of the CAFE Foundation’s outlook is that electric automobiles will be a major source of the new technology that will make electric aviation a practical reality. Large-scale production numbers for cars mean lower prices, ubiquitous motors and batteries, and demonstrated performance. Motorcycles offer another source for equipment that could see aircraft applications, since cycles share some of the same criteria for success, including light weight, compactness, and high output of both power and torque – especially true in the ultralight and light sport aircraft range. The motorcycle community’s normally lukewarm assessment of the prospects for battery-powered two-wheelers is heated up considerably in the November issue of Motorcyclist, and that bodes well for electric aircraft. Normally crowded with Harley, …
MotoCzysz Takes Isle of Man in Style
MotoCzysz, an Oregon-based builder of high-end, high performance motorcycles, won the second Isle of Man electric Tourist Trophy (TTZero – for zero emissions) race today, June 11. The MotoCzysz E1PC eclipsed last year’s overall speed for that event’s winning Agni bike of Cedric Lynch, 87.434 mph, and raised that over 10 percent, to 96.820 mph. It came close to running a 100 mph lap of the island, according to Gizmag, but Mark Miller, the Californian riding for the team, held it back to ensure a finish and a win. It did go through the traps at one point at over 135 mph. Even the Agni Z1 ridden by Rod Barber, was faster than last year, finishing second at an average speed of 89.290 …