Victory RR Electric Race Bike Debuts for the Isle of Man TT

Victory Motorcycles will return to the Isle of Man TT this year, competing again with its electric superbike platform, the Victory RR.

Evolving from the ashes of the Brammo Empulse RR project, the Victory RR continues the work on electric drivetrains for Brammo, which now develops the electric drivetrains that power the Victory Empulse TT electric street bike.

With an all-new machine for the 2016 racing season, the Victory RR is the top-pick to upset the recent domination we have seen from Team Mugen, though that will be a tall order, with Mugen updating its Shinden race bike this year as well.

Victory says that the battery pack is a “ground-up new design” that was developed by Brammo. The pack features not only more energy capacity, but also greater energy density.

In other words, the 2016 Victory RR will be able to carry more battery power on the same 530 lbs setup. This is important because Victory says that it has increased the power of its electric motor as well, and it will need the extra battery power to fuel its electric motor.

Last year, the Victory RR took a power reduction when compared to the Brammo Empulse RR, in the name of system efficiency.

This year, the Parker GVM, water-cooled, three-phase, IPM AC motor goes back to its 174 peak horsepower figure. Victory notes that the increased motor power comes from an optimized wire winding in the motor.

Noticeable from the photos is that Victory has ditched its extruded aluminum frame for a steel trellis design. The rest of the chassis design appears to be the same, though we are sure there plenty of changes to the Victory RR’s software, based off the data acquired at last year’s TT Zero race event at the Isle of Man TT.

At the helm of the 2016 Victory RR will be William Dunlop, who was slated to ride the bike last year as well, before he crashed and injured himself in the Superstock TT practice, and had to be replaced by Guy Martin.

The first practice for the SES TT Zero is scheduled for Friday, June 3rd at 20:40; with the second practice on Saturday, June 4th at 17.15; and a final qualifying session on Monday June 6th at 16:25; ahead of the race on Wednesday June 8th at 16:25 – local time, and weather permitting.

All eyes will be on Dunlop and the boys over at the Mugen team to see if they can crack the 120 mph average lap speed barrier this year. The bikes have come a long way, in only a short amount of racing. It is truly fascinating to watch their progression.