Ducati Monster Forum

So, did any of you know Michael Czysz has been working on a butt-kicking electric bike?  They topped 135 mph on the Isle of Man TT circuit, with an average speed of 96+ mph.

(click the pic for the gizmag article...)
(http://c0388982.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/motoczysz-e1pc-electric-motorcycle-wins-iom-tt-zero-12.jpg) (http://www.gizmag.com/motoczysz-superior-electric-power-with-iom-tt-zero-win/15383/)

Finally, an electric motorcycle that looks cool AND goes like a bat outta hell.  [thumbsup]  I wonder how far it would travel at "normal" street speeds (0-75mph)?

Check out the article in popsci too... pretty good pictures.  I talked to him last Tuesday and he was pretty psyched about it all... he says they could have beat the 100 mph average lap in practice but the rider didn't trust that the battery would last. Then in the race they took it fairly easy as they were winning by far and wanted to make sure they finished with no incident. I think he is still looking for investors though... awesome bike.

Yeah, they went to Isle of Man last year I think and they DNF'd with electrical problems.  Been doing better since then.  Electric motor was not their first language so not surprising.  There's a video out there somewhere of them spinning the engine way up.  It sounds downright scary powerful!  Wave of the future man.  The only downside I can see would be if they didn't have the resources to get both this and the dual crank motor to market.  I'd love to see that thing out on the tracks.

Scott

Czysz had the great idea of using changeable battery packs. DOn't wait around for the battery to charge up, just swap 'em out and get on with riding. [moto]

Yeah it looked like he was using a swappable-pack architecture.  Very kewl.  [thumbsup]

I remember reading that he was working on independent battery management for each battery pack.