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[JaimeC]

https://electrek.co/2020/11/04/this-254-mph-408-km-h-electric-motorcycle-just-set-11-new-world-records/

[Frank]

I'll make the same comment as I've made in other places: their claims don't "hang together".  How can the Standing Start speeds (1/4-mile, kilometer and mile) be so slow yet their Flying speeds be so fast?  The runway is only 2.17 miles long.  How were the speeds measured?  Radar? GPS? Timing lights?  How do you achieve a speed of 240 mph in the flying km yet only do 138 in the standing start mile?  You have to leave room to stop!

To be clear: if their drivetrain really can make the power they claim (and the components certainly exist to make this possible), this bike is capable of *very* high speeds: > 300 mph at Bolivia (making reasonable assumptions about aero drag).  Just that these particular claims don't make sense.

[TheRan]

I don't get how any of those lower speeds (so the ones not over 200mph) are records. It did less than 80mph in the standing 1/4 mile and even an SR will do close to 100mph, it did less than 140mph in the standing mile yet people have done like 160mph at the Texas Mile on Energicas.

EDIT: Frank beat me to it. I think I also commented in a previous thread about this bike about how the projected top speed was so low for so much power, when super bikes are topping 200mph with less than half the power.

[Brammofan]

Eva Hakansson has a couple things to say about that claim:

— KillaJoule - still the fastest electric motorcycle in the world! 😀 —
I have received messages and emails regarding the new world speed record for electric motorcycles claimed by Voxan Motors in the past days.

While their average flying mile speed of 228.050 mph (366.940 km/h) certainly is an achievement on a sit-on motorcycle, it does _not_ make the Voxan Wattman the world’s fastest electric motorcycle. That title is still held by the KillaJoule with an official FIM record of 248.721 mph (400.278 km/h), set in August 2016 at Bonneville. KillaJoule best overall speed is 270.224 mph (434 km/h) (measured as exit speed with the official timing equipment), and we are hoping to greatly exceed that with the Green Envy. 💚💚

All the records set by the KillaJoule are listed at www.GreenEnvyRacing.com/records.

To quote Phil Evans, a long-timer in world of land speed racing and outstanding LSR photographer: “If 'top speeds' were recognised as 'records' then the history of speed record breaking would be a very different story to that written in the history books, that is why we have governing bodies with stipulated rules, classes and regulations. Fantastic achievement, no need to overegg the cake for meaningless media claims....”

[Demoni]

I applaud Voxan and Max on the amazing performance of the Wattman. It's a really sexy looking machine!

I have no idea why Voxan would claim the bike to be "The fastest electric motorcycle in the world" in the title of their press release. In the body of the story it clearly states that it's the fastest "partially streamlined electric motorcycle over 300 kilos” EV motorcycle. The KillaJoule is a streamliner so the record different and it is clearly still the fastest overall.

I suspect that the bikes gearing for the standing start runs was not changed. Most land speed vehicles are geared absurdly tall to the point they may need to be pushed off the line to get going.

All of the "flying start" records are for a timed distance between 1/4 mile and 1 mile. As the runway is over 2 miles long there would be no issue slowing down at the end of the run. If you look at a satellite view of the runway there is a parallel runway right next to the main one that could be used to get up to speed before the timed section of the track. There is no indication of what a "flying start" represents. I assume that means that the speed of the bike entering the timed section was greater than zero.

As for some of the other more niche records the bike set, it's all about official timing. As no other bike has officially been timed it's a first come first serve situation. Yes an Energica ran 164 in Texas but that was not a FIA event. Opportunity for someone here to reset those records?

There is a 91 page document detailing FIA land speed records search for 'FIM Land Speed World Records Regulations' at their webpage:
http://www.fim-live.com/en/library/

The FIA does not fuck around...
"The timing instruments detailed above must have a first class certificate
of accuracy issued by an official National Observatory or Institute of
Horology"

[NEW2elec]

I agree 100% with Demoni.  He beat me to the gearing issue.  You can see from the picture their rear sprocket is almost as big as the wheel itself.
From the Lightning speed run at Bonneville there is an * that states "with high speed gearing and fairing"
The Lightning video doesn't show the start of the run which was likely weirdly slow and would have stalled about any gas engine.

Record books are like boxing factions.  Who is the "real" champ is a good publicity and marketing strategy. 
For speed records some groups have more stringent rules but also likely charge more to certify a run.

Side note, I'm wondering if and when that low riding, double front and back swing arm (not sure what to call that front end) design will make it into production bikes.

[Frank]

I suppose I have a unique perspective on, and a vested interest in, this project as I'm one of only a few people in the world to have ridden an electric sit-on motorcycle faster than 200 mph, and the only one (as far as I know and I do pay attention), to do so using OEM bodywork in a street-legal configuration.  Here's video of one of my runs at Loring (Limestone, Maine):



This bike (converted 2004 Suzuki Hayabusa) runs 94 mph at my local 1/8-mile drag strip with no changes.  Gearing is 17/42.  I have ridden (on the street) with a 65-tooth rear sprocket and had to limit torque to 50% to make it streetable: acceleration is pretty intense with that gearing.  A couple of years ago, Motorcyclist raced a Lightning LS218 against a Kawasaki H2 and the Lightning did 144 mph in the 1/4-mile with a 66-tooth rear sprocket.  Big sprockets make you accelerate quicker and with that much torque/power the Voxan should be a beast in standing start racing.

https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/kawasaki-h2-vs-lightning-ls-218/#:~:text=Nine%2Dpoint%2Dnine%2Dfour,second%20and%204%20mph%20behind.

Voxan should be more forthcoming with how they took their measurements.  Perhaps they did use a parallel runway somehow to get more room to accelerate but they should be up-front about it (although I can't visualize how this could work).  I've been very involved in LSR for more than 10 years and have personally witnessed thousands of high-speed passes at Loring.  I don't know how they could do what they're claiming, in the distance they claim to have used and still accelerate to speed then stop safely.

[NEW2elec]

You go Frank!

Did you post any of this before?
What size battery and voltage were you running?

[Frank]

(Thanks)  It was a 96S pack of Lonestar Sleeper cells, a bit over 400 VDC hot off the charger.  Remy HVH250-090D motor with Rinehart PM100DXR controller.  I can't remember if I've posted here before, it was back in 2016 and 2017.

Re Voxan: I suspect that bike might have enough guts to accelerate to speed (in say, 1 mile or 1.6 km), measure a flying km, then stop - but I wouldn't want to do it.  Slowing from 254 mph to 50 km/h in .9 km requires an average braking of .7G!