From Guest Blogger Cherie: Go Fast and Save the Planet: Green Motorcycle Racing Is on the Way

That sound you didn’t hear when that bike flew by at 170 mph was an electric engine. E-bikes have been popping up on streets for years, but they’re coming to a track near you. They’ll compete against gas bikes, inspire future gear heads and you might even end up building your own.

It’s Time to Stop Arguing and Start E-Racing

In 2009, electric motorcycle racing’s governing body split after the Isle of Man race, leaving two competing racing series. Sadly, electric racing suffered, producing less than exciting races. According to Bart Madson, Managing Editor at MotorcycleUSA.com, some of the TTXGP North America races didn’t even have enough racers to fill a podium. Thankfully, March of 2013 saw the factions united in an announcement that means sunny days for electric racers. The FIM and TTXGP will unite to form a single electric racing series.

2013 will see a 4-round North American and 4-round European championship, concluding in a united global final. This global final will take this yet-unnamed racing series to Asia for the first time. In 2014, the overall format will change to a more traditional World Championship. Rather than a global final race, the Championship will be awarded based on total points accumulated. 2015 will see a completely electric global championship, featuring races on North America, Europe, and Asia.

Can E-Bikes Take on Gas Racers?

There’s a unified electric racing series, but they’ll just race each other, right? Wrong. In a first for e-bikes, the AFM will allow Brammo to enter electric bikes in their race series. A recent article on Torque News lays out the steps for qualification. After a rider is approved for AFM racing, their motorcycle must meet technical specs and their crew must abide by mandatory pit safety practices. Don’t think this is a gimmick, these guys are racing to win.

While Brammo cycles have posted speeds and laps that match gas racers in the TTXGP World Championships, nowhere in the standards does the AFM dictate a motorcycle must be a certain Brammo model. That’s right, you don’t have to run a Brammo to race an e-bike in the AFM. Any bike manufactured by anyone who meets the specs can race.
Enter the DIY Racers

If all this talk about e-racing has you interested in building your own bike with motorcycle parts at BikeBandit.com, you’re not alone. A team of students from Virginia Tech placed seventh overall at the Laguna Seca race in the TTXGP series. This wasn’t the kiddie division — the competition included some big names in the e-racing industry like Brammo, Zero Motorcycles, and Lightning; this wasn’t the kiddie division. Their bike, known as BOLT, was built specifically to compete in this racing series and they plan to race it at Daytona in the fall.

Virginia Tech doesn’t hold the monopoly on self-made electric bikes; Kevin Clemens actually set world records with the e-bike he built with his own hands. A former writer for “Automobile” magazine, Kevin found a passion for electric transportation while completing a Journalism Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He wrote a book, “The Crooked Mile,” about energy, infrastructure, and how we can better our transportation system for tomorrow.

Setting world records on his electric bike is Kevin’s way of spreading his message, inspiring kids and wrench monkeys all over the country to see e-bikes as more than a curiosity or a gimmick. They are a viable form of transportation — given his world-record speed — a quick one as well.

Ready to build a bike? Peruse your online parts catalog and get wrenching. You may not set world records or win a Grand Prix race, but you can certainly join the electric revolution.