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[shelbypaget]

I posted this on another thread earlier but would like more people's opinions on what would motivate you to buy an electric motocross bike or not buy one.  Please read my post before replying if you have the time  :thumbsup:
 
I've been following and watching these EV (electric vehicle) Motorcycle companies the last few years and I must say I am more than impressed with what is being accomplished, especially in the Road Racing world.  The charge times have now gotten as low as 30 minutes (you can even charge these off of a portable or mounted solar panel fixture on the roof of your trailer) and range has improved as much as up to 200 miles per charge on acompetitive sporticon1.png bike (see Lightning Motorcycles LS 218 model and Brammo, Mission Motorcycles).  While the EV MX bike is not quite a total reality to the open market TODAY, it will be in coming months. Currently the there are few "Motocross" styled EV bikes out there from Zero Motorcycles, Quantya EVO1/2, and the lately popular KTM Freeride E.  Now I've seen all these in action and have read through countless reviews and though they are all incredible electric motorcycles that are created for the dirt, they don't quite hit the mark when it comes to becoming the next best mx bike to go the fastest around a track on.  They are all fun and serve a great purpose to a wide audience of enthusiasts and trail riders but the motocross track racing individual would feel disadvantaged on the starting gate lined up next to the latest 250f's at this point in time. 
 
This is why I've had my focus on a silicon valley based EV Motocross bike company called BRD Motorcycles.  Their sole mission is to create an EV MX/SM bike that can compete DIRECTLY with the 250f competitive motocross/supermotard bikes today.  Here's a quick pic:
 

 
Now this was their 2012 prototype that claimed some very competitive specs in 2012.  Since then, they have completely re-designed the battery packs and power delivery process with some very unique proprietary designs.  Here's a quick overview of the TCO of their MX version vs a CRF250R (same as the sm version but for mx) KEEP IN MIND this was the circa 2012 Prototype model and since then improvements have been made.
 

 
Now I know some of you do your own maintenance and such but take this at face value and understand that these vehicles require less overall maintenance and as time progresses the cost to manufacturer to build these "simpler" motors will decrease as well, bringing the cost down to you.
 
Look at the spec'd performance from 2012 on the BRD Redshift MX and Redshift SM
 

 
Now considering these specs from the 2012 Prototype model, and the information you can find on updates made in the BRD garage:http://www.faster-fa...lectric-motors/ the actual expected 2014 models should have increased RANGE by 2/3s and DECREASED time to charge. 
 
Here are a few links to some of their 2012 released Promotional snid bits out at Club Moto and in the Santa Cruz hills.
 
Club Moto Prototype Ride:
 


Private Track Prototype:

 
Some things to note as an MX dude myself...
 
- EV Mx bikes produce more than competitive HP/TQ while maintaining a perfectly flat and always deliverable TQ curve
 
- There are NO emissions restrictions to deal with (in CA this is HUGE for new model bikes)
 
- Electric motors are by for the most simply designed and least maintenance requiring power units and with technology now making batteries light enough to be competitive weight wise it's time to produce this bike!
 
- A 40+ hp, 25+ tq, 0 emissions, track ready MX EV bike weighing in at around 227lbs (from what I've gathered on recent battery weight savings) sounds pretty AWESOME to me. 
 
I love the doors that this will open up in our industry and sport and if you disagree I respect that, but ask that you do your research before condemning them.  I used to (and still do) LOVE 2 strokes, but found that it was easier to go faster on 4 strokes, then I found that it was even easier to go faster with an EFI four stroke, and if I follow this trend of always looking to go faster on my dirtbike then it seems inevitably I will be pounding laps on my BRD Redshift MX EV bike soon!  Going fast is what puts a smile on my face and if I can go faster on a BRD Redshift MX than on my EFI thumper than I'm sure as hell going to jump in and try it out!
 
Thanks for reading and I would love to see your opinions or maybe corrections if I may have noted something incorrectly here.    :goofy:
 
In the meantime I'll be rippin my green sticker 2002 CR250 and fillin up with my $14/gallon VP fuel and $17/Liter mix  :thumbsup:
 
- Shelby 

[protomech]

Hi shelby,

I assume you copy/pasted this from (what I assume is your post on) thumpertalk, which links back to an interesting discussion thread.

The BRD bike is pretty cool, we have a discussion forum dedicated to those bikes, the most recent news I've seen is talking about BRD and Logos pairing up for a DARPA grant to build a serial plug-in hybrid bike similar in operation to the Chevy Volt.

Electrics have a lot of potential to dominate in off road and supermoto racing, where range is not necessarily an issue, speeds are lower, and the bikes are lighter. Electric power trains are typically much lighter than gas power trains of equivalent power, as long as a large battery is not required then the electrics seem like they're pretty competitive (perhaps even unfairly so).

Despite that, Zero seems to have had most of their sales success in selling street bikes and has largely discontinued their smaller bikes (X split into MX and FX lines, MX discontinued, low-power X-based XU bike discontinued). I wonder if BRD is pivoting away from a consumer sales strategy towards government work (where there are buyers with very deep pockets for niche applications).

[Richard230]

It is my understanding that BRD has moved out of San Carlos and is now located in a San Francisco warehouse.  I have yet to hear of anyone buying one of their vehicles.  They are currently developing a diesel hybrid EV for the military using a DARPA grant.

I always thought that an electric MX bike made a lot of sense, but I think (at least around here) MX tracks are hard to find.  The nearest off-road riding area is about 100 miles away and is heavily used by the 4-wheeler crowd.  My feeling is that if someone would build an urban dirt track, where electric motorcycles could ride, might jump-start the market for such a vehicle.  Unfortunately, in the SF Bay Area, building such a track that would be open to the public, would be almost impossible due to environmental regulations, government permits and NIMBY protests.

[kingcharles]

You should certainly also look at Tacita.
Their bike is being sold in the EU now, maybe it can be imported into the US also?
Top quality components and a gearbox

[shelbypaget]

Yes the post came from this thread I started on thumpertalk.  Mainly just trying to create some mindshare and see what people's thoughts are about EV Mx bikes and the direction these bikes could take the sport and industry.  Please participate in the thread if you would like!  I've added quite a bit since then...

Here's the link: http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/1091138-the-electric-motocross-bikes-discussionopinions-page-future-of-mx/

Thanks

Shelby