Mission R electrifies Long Beach International Motorcycle Show

Faster. That was one of the many objectives Mission Motors had for its highly anticipated Mission R electric superbike. The latest EV racer from the San Francisco firm that is the Tesla of motorcycles is capable of traveling at least 160 miles per hour. The Mission R will make its world debut today at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach.

"One of the key challenges of the electric motorcycle industry is, how do you pack a lot of power and energy in a very compact form?" said David Salguero, Mission Motors marketing manager.

The answer: Design the smallest motor controller possible and pair it with energy-dense lithium-ion battery cells. Then hire renowned chassis designer James Parker to figure out how to configure them as close to the bike's center of gravity as possible.

The Mission R is powered with a liquid-cooled, 100-kilowatt AC induction motor. Its 14.4 kilowatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries are sealed in a carbon-fiber box in a space that, on an internal-combustion machine, would normally house a gas tank and engine. 

The proprietary motor controller incorporates regenerative braking and adjustable throttle mapping, as well as Wi-Fi and 3G data connectivity.

The Mission R electric drivetrain occupies less space than that of a typical 600-cc bike, Salguero said. It's tucked inside a trellis frame made of billet aluminum and chrome-moly.

While the bike tips the scales at a chubby 545 pounds, making it "a hefty number," Salguero said, "in electric motorcycle racing, it's a combination of power, balance and having enough energy storage to go the distance at a high speed."

A follow-up to the Mission One electric race bike that once claimed the land-speed record for an electric motorcycle, clocking 150.059 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2009, the Mission R makes 141 horsepower and 115 pound-feet of torque with its single gear.

Many of its additional components are from well-known performance brands. The adjustable front and rear suspension are Ohlins. The 17-inch wheels are forged magnesium Marchesinis. And the brakes are, of course, Brembo.

Mission will race its new R in the 2011 TTXGP electric motorcycle racing series.

Mission Motors Mission R

Powertrain: Liquid-cooled, three-phase AC induction motor; 14.4 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack; 100-kilowatt motor controller with adjustable throttle mapping, regenerative braking, Wi-Fi and 3G data connectivity; single-speed

Top speed: 160-plus mph

Horsepower: 141

Torque: 115 pound-feet from 0 to 6,400 rpm

Curb weight: 545 pounds

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Mission R electric superbike. Credit: Mission Motors

L.A. Auto Show: Ducati inks deal with AMG

Taking advantage of their brands' similar values -– ease of handling and style -– ducati and AMG have formed a marketing partnership.

-- Susan Carpenter

L.A. Auto Show: Ducati partners with AMG

The new Ducati Diavel made its North American debut alongside the new Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG. The Italian sportbike manufacturer and the German performance automaker inked a marketing deal Tuesday to take advantage of similar brand profiles that value speed, handling and style.

AMG is now the official partner of the Ducati MotoGP race team. The 2011 Ducati Diavel is long, low and mean looking, with a plump 240 rear tire. Powered with an 1198 cc Testrastretta L-twin that makes an unbridled 162 horsepower and 94 foot-pounds of torque and runs in three modes. It also has traction control. The $16,999 Diavel hits showrooms in February.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Ducati Motor Holding spa

E-Tracer video: Susan Carpenter takes the X-Prize winner for a spin

Susan Carpenter writes about cars and motorcycles, and this week she kills two birds with one stone. She test-drives the E-Tracer, the X-Prize-winning electric vehicle that looks like a cross between a car and a motorcycle.

The E-Tracer beat 127 other X-Prize entries competing to build the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle. The "cabin motorcycle" can travel more than 200 miles on a single gallon of gas equivalent and reach a potential top speed of 200 mph.

Read Carpenter's review here.

--Pat Benson

Video: Los Angeles Times

 

Motorcycle market may be down, but new models rev up at EICMA

 

The 68th International Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition, known as EICMA, in Milan, Italy, saw the unveiling of dozens of new motorcycles that challenge the down market to get out of its doldrums.

Click on the composite image above for a photo gallery with detailed information on each pictured model unveiled this week. 

— Susan Carpenter

Photo composite: Jerome Adamstein / Los Angeles Times

Images courtesy of the respective motorcycle manufacturers

 

Mavizen TTX02, an electric superbike for the streets

The motorcycle I was riding had no lights. It lacked turn signals. The side panels had been removed to help cool the twin DC motors, and the single mirror on the bike was added at the last minute so, at the very least, I could see any swerving semis that threatened to mow me down from behind.

The bike was the Mavizen TTX02 -- the second incarnation of a line of production electric sportbikes commissioned by Azhar Hussain, founder of the world's first electric superbike race -- on the Isle of Man last year -- and the 2010 TTXGP world series that concluded last weekend in Spain.

The TTX02 had been raced in the U.S. series over the summer and made a brief pit stop in L.A. last month, where I had the chance to test its low-speed handling on Hollywood streets, and to then open up the throttle along the 170 Freeway. Powered with twin 96-volt motors and a 7.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, the Mavizen is capable of reaching 130 mph -- a speed I wasn't foolish enough to test on a non-street-legal machine that was scheduled to be crated up the following morning and shipped overseas to be raced one week later.

I did, however, push it close to the buck mark. Previous electric-bike experience had me primed to expect a sudden drop in voltage along with any radical twist of the grip, a drop that would dramatically decrease the bike's range. But cranking the throttle, even for sustained periods of time, didn't significantly tap the bike's battery reserves -- a fact I could readily observe on a dashboard screen that uses an Intel processor to constantly calculate and manage the bike's battery cells and power output.

The first bike to run with an Intel processor, the Mavizen is also equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability, so its brain can be remotely accessed to troubleshoot and update its software from anywhere, even another country.

The Mavizen uses the same Agni motors that propelled the Agni bike to victory in the inaugural TTXGP last year. About a third of the bikes running in this year's TTXGP race series use the same DC motors, which generate power by resting a brush over magnets, and are cooled with air. Although this year has seen the rise of more powerful, and complex, AC motors in electric racing, the Mavizen uses DC because they are smaller and more cost-effective for a street-oriented sportbike.

Motors make heat, which is why the side panels had been removed on the bike I was testing -- to allow more air for cooling. Still, after riding the Mavizen for 45 minutes, I didn't feel my thighs crisping like a rotisserie chicken the way I often do on internal-combustion sportbikes.

If electric motorcycles stand a real chance in the U.S. market, they have to play to the market that currently exists: one that covets speed, power, performance and handling. In that regard, the Mavizen more than succeeds. The Mavizen uses the tried-and-true chassis of a KTM RC8, the only outward evidence being the engraved gas cap that bears the KTM name.

At 374 pounds, the Mavizen weighs less than an RC8. Although the Mavizenss power-to-weight ratio isn't as favorable as that of an internal combustion superbike, its handling characteristics are flickably similar, despite an entirely different drivetrain.  The space that would normally house the gas tank and engine are, on the Mavizen, taken up by a carbon fiber box that holds the batteries, controllers and twin Agni motors.

A direct-drive machine, there are no gears, no clutch, no shifting on the Mavizen. On takeoff, that translates into less control because there isn't a clutch to feather. The version I was testing was also set up for racing, so even a slight twist of the throttle meant the bike was ready to roll out from under me. In motion, and at freeway speeds, however, that torque was more than welcome.

Mavizen has only built four bikes so far, and the track version I tested cost $32,000. The goal is to get the price to about $25,000, which, like all new technologies, will only happen as people buy in. The big question with Mavizen, as with all electric motorcycles on the market so far, is: Will they?

Mavizen TTX02/10

Base price: $30,000

Price as tested: $32,000

Powertrain: twin 96-volt Agni 95R DC brushed motors, 7.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, direct drive

Curb weight: 374 lbs.

Top speed: 130 mph

Horsepower: 69 equivalent

Torque: 74 lb.-ft.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: The Mavizen TTX02. Credit: Mavizen

 

 

Former Ducati North America CEO Michael Lock talks bikes

Michael Lock is something of a rock star in motorcycle circles. The former chief executive of Ducati North America grew the small Italian sportbike brand from a niche player in the U.S. market into a powerhouse synonymous with sleek and sporty sex appeal. Lock recently left to take over marketing duties for Think, a Norwegian EV maker that will soon start selling plug-in electric cars in the U.S., and stopped by The Times to chat about his new venture. I took the opportunity to also pick his brain about the U.S. motorcycle market, which continues to experience declining sales. Third quarter sales of motorcycles, released Wednesday, were down across all segments versus the same quarter last year.

Q: What’s happened to bikes in the U.S. market?

A: Speaking to some people in the industry last week, September was minus 39%, which was pretty tragic considering September last year was a disaster. So I know the trend is not upward and it’s not slowing down. The industry is still contracting at quite a pronounced rate.

Q: I think a lot of people are surprised that the industry continues to be so hard hit in a supposedly recovering economy. How would you characterize what’s going on?

A: The fall from grace of Harley-Davidson. It was going to happen in some form or another independent of the economic slowdown. Harley was bound to hit a demographic brick wall between 2005 and 2010 because they’d been so completely associated with baby boomers as a buying generation, but their buying power for motorcycles has peaked.  Their 401ks and real estate values have been decimated. Harley is such a dominant volume force in the U.S. that it has a disproportionate effect on the market.  A motorcycle is a status symbol. It’s a discretionary purchase. You buy it. You feel good about life. Where Harley goes in the U.S., the rest of the industry has to follow in many respects. The shadow Harley casts over the rest of the industry is undeniable and their age demographic issue along with general economic conditions was a perfect storm.

Motorcycle sales continue decline in third quarter [Updated]

Motorcycle sales continue to be hard hit, despite the declared end to the recession.

Third-quarter motorcycle sales declined an average of 16.6% versus the same quarter one year ago, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the Irvine-based trade group representing the industry.

Enduro, off-highway and sport-bike segments experienced the steepest declines, falling 38.2%, 29.8% and 26.1%, respectively.

Touring models and scooters fared best but still suffered declining sales, falling 3.6% and 8.8%.

[Updated at 10:50 a.m.: "The Motorcycle Industry Council has been around since 1914, and we tend to take a longer-trend look at things," said Ty van Hooydonk, communications director for the council. "The last decade, we had an unmatched, six-year run of million-plus sales. Sales were up every single year for 14 straight years through 2006."

Van Hooydonk pointed out that although motorcycle sales are down, tire sales are up 6.6% in 2010 versus 2009, indicating motorcyclists are still enthusiastic about the sport and riding.

"In many ways, we are better poised for a comeback than ever," Van Hooydonk added. "Americans have embraced motorcycles as part of the fabric of popular culture really like never before."]

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Confederate Motor's P120 Fighter: A rebel yell for the rich

Some bikes are part of a scene. Others, like the P120 Fighter Black Flag, are  the scene. Cranking 160 horsepower from its 120-cubic-inch radial twin, Confederate Motor’s latest not only guns it and runs it but also blazes a distinct and stylized path in American motorcycling.

One look at the P120 Fighter, and it’s clear it isn’t a Harley. It has a skeletal, minimalist style that seems to turn the bike inside out, revealing a design philosophy that challenges the look of each component as well as its placement.

It takes 120 hours to assemble the 480 parts on the Fighter, and many of them aren’t found in the usual places. The underslung compact dual exhaust, for example, puffs on to the rider’s gear-shifting foot from the bottom, front left side of the bike. The oil tank is a canister just below the handlebars with windows on either side that show the 20/50 churning.

Dodge supports motorcycle racing, marathoning to reinvent brand

Outfitted with copious cup holders and able to haul entire extended families, the Caravan is probably the best known product in the Dodge lineup. So it may have come as a surprise to attendees at last month's superbike race when, for the first time, the Detroit auto manufacturer showed up at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City to sponsor the adrenalized, two-wheeled event and offer "thrill rides" in some of its products.  

Not in the Caravan, mind you, but in some of the other cars Dodge wants a different kind of customer to consider, including its 425-horsepower Challenger SRT-8 muscle car and other as-yet-unannounced vehicles "more matched to a younger customer base," Dodge CEO Ralph Gilles said. The current Dodge customers, Gilles said, are "somewhat older families."

It's all part of a brand reinvention necessitated last fall when Chrysler separated the Dodge and Ram brands, removing the heavy-duty trucks from the Dodge lineup and, with it, a part of its brand recognition and cool factor.

"We want to show up in unusual places, expose ourselves to a different customer," Gilles said. "There's so many enthusiasts out there who play different sports, and they're made of the same DNA as our current enthusiasts. Let's show up in their backyards and have them experience something new."

Next up: marathoning. Dodge recently partnered with the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series -- which hosts endurance events around the country and features live music at every mile -- and will begin sponsoring races this fall.

Music, Gilles says, is the last pillar of the Dodge brand reinvention -- an effort to show off the cars' "phenomenal sound systems," Gilles says, which is a key feature for young buyers. 

"Will a NASCAR guy understand a superbike guy? Can a musician understand a jogger? I think so. They're enthusiasts who live life to the fullest."

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Dodge

Helmet satisfaction rises as motorcycle sales fall

As motorcycle sales fall, motorcycle helmet buyers, at least, are more satisfied than ever with their purchases, according to the new 2010 J.D. Power and Associates helmet satisfaction study released Thursday. The findings are significant for an industry that is placing more emphasis on accessories since fewer customers are buying new bikes.

Overall, helmet satisfaction was the highest it's been in the 12 years the survey has been conducted, with Arai, Shoei, Icon and Harley-Davidson receiving the top rankings. HJC, Nolan and Fulmer ranked lowest. The survey ranked customer satisfaction in 11 attributes, including ventilation, face-shield performance, weight, quietness, fit and comfort. It was based on responses from 4,800 purchasers of new 2009 model-year motorcycles who commented on their most recent helmet purchases.

Brand loyalty was directly correlated with owner satisfaction, the study found; 41% of highly satisfied helmet owners said they would definitely buy another helmet from the same brand. Satisfaction levels also rose along with helmet prices.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: Arai