The July (is it July already?) issue of
Motorcyclist magazine contains a two-page "First Ride" article (starting on page 62) by Alan Cathcart who details his ride on the Motoczysz E1PC electric racer. It is subtitled "Riding the Digital Superbike". Mr. Cathcart rode the E1PC around the Portland International Raceway and reports that the bike is "surprisingly slim but quite long, which allows you to push yourself back in the seat in a straight line to minimize drag." He says that the bike he rode was stamped E1.1/11, denoting that the frame was first used on the 2011 bike and the adapted for use in 2012. The bike uses an AIM digital dash with a square LED "fuel gauge" that reads from 99 to 0.
He says that motor's 201 hp (at 8000 rpm) builds smoothly all the way to the 10,000-rpm limiter. The author reports that the motor's massive torque of 162-lb. ft. shredded a new Pirelli 200-section rear slick in just 16 laps and easily out-accelerated a 1098R Ducati and in spite of the bike weighing 525 pounds, was also able to out brake the Ducati into the double right-hand turn at the end of the straight. Braking was assisted by a 4-level regen system that could be switched to different regen levels on the fly, or turned off by the rider. He liked the single-speed drive system as it eliminates the need to select the proper gear when entering a corner.
The suspension of the bike is unusual. Czysz has designed and patented an oval-section carbon fiber fork with an an adjustable-rate link operating a mono-shock, which is reported to work very well. It gives good feedback without any stiction-induced vagueness, which allows trail-braking deep into the apex of a turn without the fork binding. The shock location is unusual, as it is located under the "tank" cover, where both front and rear Race Tech shocks are situated horizontally and next to each other. Suspension action is transmitted through complex linkages to both the front forks and rear swing arm.
The battery pack is rated at 12.5 kWh and the bike is said to have a maximum range on a single charge of 150 miles at street speeds. On the race track, expect 38 miles. Recharge time is said to be 4 hours at 240V and 8 hours at 110V.
The illustrated article ends with "Stick lights and a horn on it already, Michael!".
This issue of
Motorcyclist also contains a detailed instrumented test of the new Honda CBR500R and the Kawasaki Ninja 300, which should be of interest to anyone wishing to compare their new Zero or Empulse to these IC models - once similar information becomes more available.
