As promised, here is the first glimpse of Bultaco’s revival as an electric motorcycle company, and the Spanish brand calls it the Bultaco Rapitan. Really a spin-out project by LGN TECH Design S.L., the new Bultaco is the work product of José Germán Pérez, Raúl Pérez, Juan Manuel Vinós, Gerald Pöllmann, and Jorge Bonilla.
Underneath the Rapitan’s edgy exterior (note the Hossack front-end) resides an electrical powertrain system that the Bultaco gents say they developed themselves. Good for 53hp and 92 lbs•ft of torque, the Bultaco Rapitan isn’t going to blow away the competition with power, but should make for a decent and unique riding experience.
The Spanish firm isn’t saying how much battery is on-board, but claims 125 miles of city riding, and 68 miles of highway riding at 75 mph — which we would guessimate at 10+ kWh, but we all know how accurate these range claims are, right?
Tipping the scales at 416 lbs (189kg), the Bultaco Rapitan isn’t the lightest street-naked on the market, but it certainly isn’t the heaviest either. With 92 lbs•ft of torque, we suspect this should make for a peppy ride, and if the avant garde styling is to your liking (it suits our tastes just fine), then we hope the final production model won’t stray too far.
Bultaco hopes to have production bikes ready by the end of the year, which is a lofty goal. That plan is only superceded in loftiness by the company’s hopes to produce 1,500 machines by the end of 2015, and have a staff of 150 people.
Considering that the electric motorcycle market has been barely able to supply that much volume in the past few years combined, some reality seems to be missing from Bultaco’s business plan. That being said, we like what we see here. We to take a spin on one very soon.
Source: Bultaco
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