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Two Enthusiasts Podcast – Episode 6 – Warrior

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It took us a little longer than anticipated to get Episode 6 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast out the door, but we think it is worth the wait. To humble-brag, Quentin and I have a good conversation about the rumored Ducati Scrambler 400, and talk about how Bologna could finally enter the small-displacement motorcycle market (again).

We also cover the very intesting Yamaha PED2 & PES2 electric motorcycle concepts that debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show, and then segue into a conversation about the real demise of Mission Motors.

Of course, we can’t avoid talking about the happenings in the MotoGP Championship, though listeners should note that the show was recorded after the Malaysian press conference, but before the race. So we had no knowledge of the “Sepang Clash” at the time of this show.

Naturally talking about MotoGP leads us into finishing the show on the topic of professional wrestling. RIP Warrior.

As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Cheers!

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Opinion/Editorial

Apple Causing Mission Motors to Close is Total Bullshit

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I was surprised yesterday when I saw that respected news service Reuters was pushing a story about how Apple was the reason Mission Motors closed its doors.

That very premise couldn’t be farther from the truth, and is readily apparent to anyone who has followed the San Franciscan startup at even a casual distance for the past few years.

On its face, the story’s logic is akin to the idea that the Carpathia, the first ship to arrive at the wreckage of Titanic, should be accused of poaching the ill-fated ocean liner’s passengers, but digging deeper into the story shows how toothless our media has become, and its willingness to parrot stories that will grab headlines.

The premise of the of the assertions made by the Reuters article’s headline rests on statements made by one of Mission Motors’s former-CEOs, Derek Kaufman, who like our comedic parody of the Captain of the Titanic, blamed the iceberg for his misfortunes.

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News

Mission Motorcycles Filing for Bankruptcy

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If you were one of the unlucky few who plopped down close to $125,000 in deposits for a Mission R or Mission RS electric motorcycle by Mission Motorcycles, we hate to inform you that you are certainly not going to receive the bike you hoped to purchase, and you are likely not going to see your deposit back either.

This is because Mission Motorcycles, commanded by Mark Seeger, is set to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would see the company’s few assets liquidated in order to repay creditors.

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News

Harley-Davidson LiveWire to Cost $50,000? Not So Fast

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News is going around the internet that Harley-Davidson COO Matt Levatich has pegged the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric cruiser at costing roughly $50,000. The price tag comes from a piece by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which was in attendance at this year’s Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s yearly meeting.

While no direct quote is given by the Journal Sentinel, Levatich is paraphrased and inferred to be saying that the LiveWire would go about half the range that consumers desired, at a price tag double what they were willing to pay — $50,000.

Many sites have latched onto that $50,000 price announcement, but Harley-Davidson quickly corrected the Journal Sentinel, saying that no personnel at Harley-Davidson has put a potential price on the LiveWire, if it were to go into mass production.

Though a bit of a SNAFU, a quick back-of-the-envelope analysis of that number should have revealed the inaccuracy of that figure.

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News

Mission Motorcycles Becomes Mission Electric, Boats & Cars to Come, Mission R/RS Motos Delayed Until Q2/Q3 2015

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Interesting things are afoot in the electric realm. Mission Motorcycles is about to expand beyond the two-wheels, as the company becomes officially called Mission Electric. The change comes about as Mission plans to expand into the automotive and marine segments, though the San Francisco company isn’t saying yet who it is partnering with in those spaces.

Mission says it will continue to offer consumer-side products, like its current crop of electric motorcycles, the Mission R and Mission RS. However, its business model will expand to offer business-side electric drivetrain components, which was previously the realm of Mission Motors.

From what our sources say, this move will mean that Mission Motorcycles and Mission Motors will once again become one entity — loyal readers will remember that Mission Motorcycles was spun out of Mission Motors two years ago.

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Bikes

Photos of the Mugen Shinden Ni sans Fairings

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Given the competitive nature of the electric racing realm, its rare to see the big high-power bikes without their fairings, as teams are reluctant to reveal their secret sauce. Debuting the Mugen Shinden San this past weekend in Tokyo though, Team Mugen did just that, giving us a glimpse into the inner workings of the team’s 2013 race bike, the Mugen Shinden Ni.

You don’t have to be an electron-head to get excited by these photos, as any race bike with a carbon fiber frame and swingarm is pretty drool-worthy, though the Shinden Ni’s carbon fiber battery enclosure does hide a great deal of the electric superbike’s geek factor. While the sheer size of the battery bike is impressive, it was expected when the Shinden was first announced.

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Racing

Mission Motors Providing Mugen with Electric Powertrain

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One of the more interesting details to come from the Mugen Shinden San electric superbike reveal is that a familiar name is helping power the Japanese motorcycle: Mission Motors.

One of the inaugural racing teams at the first Isle of Man TT electric race, Mission Motors has since focused its business model on providing OEMs with HEV/EV powertrains — you may remember its motorcycle project was spun into a new company, Mission Motorcycles.

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Bikes

Mission Motorcycles Debuts Its Mission R

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Fresh off the news that it would be making the highly touted Mission RS (previously known at the Mission Motors Mission R), Mission Motorcycles announces its own version of the Mission R, a $30,000 (base price) electric superbike that builds off the pedigree of its namesake.

Like the Mission RS, the Mission R features a 160 hp liquid-cooled three-phase AC motor as its power plant, which is mated to a single-speed gearbox with a gear reduction. Also featuring that same James Parker designed “Quad-Element” frame, the Mission R makes its differentiation from the Mission RS in the spec of its components.

Coming with Öhlins RT suspension rear and aft, Brembo M430 monobloc brakes, and Marchesini forged aluminum wheels, the component company names are of course the same, albeit not the WSBK/MotoGP-spec kit that comes on the RS. Available in 12 kWh, 15 kWh, and 17 kWh battery options, the lower-spec equipment (high-spec by any other metric) helps lower the price of the 12 kWh machine to a paltry $29,999 (after a $2,500 federal rebate), with the 15 kWh & 17 kWh machines presumably priced with larger price tag (Mission left that part out of the press release).

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Bikes

Mission Motorcycles Debuts the Mission RS – 160hp, 200 Mile Range, and a $58,999 Price Tag

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As we suspected, the Mission R by Mission Motors lives, albeit in a new company and with a new name. Coming from Mission Motorcycles, the now-called Mission RS (race special) is the realization of what we consider to be the finest road-going electric motorcycle…and we should know, we’ve ridden them all.

Essentially the electric race bike that Steve Rapp piloted to Supersport class lap times at the Laguna Seca MotoGP/AMA/e-Power round in 2011, but with a headlight, taillight and mirrors, the Mission RS boasts some impressive figures.

Sport bike enthusiasts will enjoy the quoted 160hp horsepower, 120 lbs•ft of torque across the rev range, and 17 kWh battery pack, which Mission says is good for a 200 mile range (140 mile real world) and a 150 mph top speed. However, the $58,999 price tag may take some getting used to (insert sticker shock joke here, as well as corresponding eye roll).

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Rumors

Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

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Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production.

The stars have been aligning these past few months for such an occasion, with rumors that an old Mission Motors investor was back in the mix, and looking to bring the Mission R to production. You may recall that Mission Motors made a course correction away from the two-wheeled world, focusing instead on supplying the automotive world with electric-drive components.

That change of course saw the departure of two Mission Motors founders, and the heartbreak of two-wheeled enthusiasts, petrol and electric alike, who wished to see the Mission R come to market. With layoffs reported at the San Franciscan startup just six months ago, it would seem more changes are afoot for the EV company, but we think you will like the sound of this.

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News

Layoffs Reported at Mission Motors

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Asphalt & Rubber has gotten word that Mission Motors has let go of a significant portion of its staff, both on the engineering and non-engineering sides of the San Francisco based startup. With the layoffs presumably the result of a lack of funding, the news comes interestingly just a few months after the departure of Mission’s Chief Financial Officer, Chris Moe, who made his return back to Vectrix in July of this year.

The bulk loss of its workforce is certain to be a blow to Mission Motors, which according to our sources, still has a core team in place to continue basic business operations. Making the switch from being an electric motorcycle company to supplying electric drive components to OEMs in Q1 2010, it wouldn’t surprise us if some of the now former Mission Motors employees found their way into other electric motorcycle manufacturers, and today’s news paints an interesting picture for the future of the Mission R electric superbike.

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