2019 has been a hell of a year and it’s only just begun!
I have met some incredible people who have opened my eyes up to a lot of possibilities in my first few months of running ETS out of Deakin Universities Manufutures facility.
A big part of what got me here was my love for motorcycling and the path that I have taken in the past few years. I have been incredibly lucky to work with major manufacturers and build motorcycles straight off the showroom floor.
But where are motorcycles heading and what role can I play in that development?
Meet my new 2019 Alta Redshift MXR electric motorcycle fresh off the boat from California. Over the last few years I had been seeing more and more electric motorcycle hype, having a strong intrest and knowledge on how motorcycles are constructed I didn’t see many that were really worth a second look.
But when Alta started production on their Redshift motorcycles and began producing some really great content with them my mind started to change and I started finding myself drawn to them.
My intrest in these motorcycles soon turned into an obsession, I would read review after review and couldn’t believe that these electric motorcycles had the performance of a KTM 350 which subsequently was the last dirt bike I owned.
Late last year the news broke that Alta Motors had gone into receivership and wouldn’t be continuing on with production, I knew this was my chance to find something at the right price. I did, I searched Craigslist and found a dealer in Oregon who had a brand new 2019 model sitting on the showroom floor at an incredibly low price. I rang them straight up and secured the bike, organised to get it down to LA then over to Australia.
It sat for over 2 months waiting to get cleared from customs, the longest two months of my life!
You may think I have gone crazy but I am really excited about this bike, I saw where Alta were heading and I would have liked to see them get there. On paper the bike is impressive but riding it is a whole other story.
It just flips everything I know upside down.
There are no gears, no clutch, no fuel, no exhaust, no heat, no noise, just an exhilarating amount of torque from the tiny electric engine.
There is basically zero maintenance required and an incredibly low amount of moving parts.
Plug it into the wall and wait 1 hour for a full charge, this lasts around 2 or 3 hours depending on you power map selection or how wide open you are.
It could not fit my lifestyle any better right now.
When it’s full then unplug and GO!
It is like nothing I have ever felt before, the power is so fierce, it is so linear, it is so predictable, there is no gears and no clutch so you are completely focused on the actual riding component.
With development in its infancy and the acceptance of motorcycles like these rising I see a whole bunch of exciting machines on the horizon. Will Alta return and continue production? Who knows but I am glad I had the opportunity to feel what the future of fast looks like.