John Adamo, Author at Asphalt & Rubber

News

US Highland Deal Could Lead To 20,000 Units/Year By 2012

By John Adamo 05/06/2010 7 Comments

Oklahoma powersports startup US Highland recently announced they have one or two deals in the works. First they have a “tentative agreement” with a “global OEM” to license their motor technology. They are also discussing a deal to build bikes for a company to rebrand. It is unclear if the “global OEM” interested in their engines is the same one looking to rebrand the Highland machines.

However, both deals could bring US Highland from it’s original plan of building 700 motorcycles in 2010 and 1500 motorcycles next year to 20,000 units per year by 2012. To accommodate this growth US Highland will hire 200 to 300 people at their Oklahoma headquarters by the end of 2010. Hear more about US Highland and see the full press release after the break.

Keep Reading

News

Zero MX Frame Failure In Switzerland

By John Adamo 04/28/2010 14 Comments

Last weekend Tommy Heimburg, owner of ERIDE Motorcycles crashed his Zero MX at Motocross Wohlen track in Switzerland. The frame of the Zero MX broke behind the head tube. It seems this failure may have caused the crash. The history of this Zero bike is unknown as it was owned and race by a private party but obviously there is concern that this could happen to other Zero MX motorcycles and may cause a risk to owners.

Keep Reading

News

Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi

By John Adamo 02/27/2010 11 Comments

Zero Motorcycles and other electric manufacturers are rising stars in the motorcycle industry where few American companies have seen large scale success. Late last year one of the most loved to hate American motorcycle companies in history closed it’s doors just as it was starting to win AMA races and claimed an AMA Daytona Superbike Championship.

Years of motorcycle experience hit the streets after Buell closed it’s doors and it appears Zero was able to grab 14 years of it by bringing on Abe Askenazi as Vice President of Engineering. With that much knowledge of motorcycles under his belt, it is a great sign companies like Zero are on the right track. Check out the press release after the break for more details.

Keep Reading

News

2009 TTXGP Champions Confirm All Three TTXGP Regionals For 2010

By John Adamo 02/26/2010 2 Comments

Team Agni took first place at the 2009 TTXGP at Isle Of Man by a large margin upsetting many favorites. Many eyes have been on Arvind Rabadia to see where his team would go racing for 2010. There are currently three separate electric race organizations, TT Zero (Isle of Man), e-Power (FIM) and TTXGP (eGrandPrix). For those new to the electric race landscape don’t confuse these 3 separate organizations with the 3 separate regional series that make up the 2010 TTXGP. The 8 highest placing teams from each of these regional series meet in Albacete, Spain for a final to decide the champion for 2010.

At this point not many of the major electric race teams have revealed their 2010 plans. Team Agni competing at all three TTXGP regionals could be a big draw for teams who want to beat the 2009 champions. It will be interesting to see if Team Agni signs on for e-Power as well. It seems Team Agni will not be at TT Zero as it falls on the same weekend as the second stop of the North American TTXGP round at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin as they fall on the same date. MCN mentions some feel Team Agni will soon sign on for the TT. It is very possible they will just skip Elkhart Lake or if they have the budget a team at both events. Stay tuned, we should learn more shortly. See the full press release after the break.

Keep Reading

Racing

FIM Cuts Two Races From e-Power Championship

By John Adamo 02/19/2010 3 Comments

The FIM has cut Doha and Assen from it’s e-Power electric motorcycle racing program’s list of 6 race venues. Keeping with e-Power tradition, FIM gave no reason for the decision. FIM claims interest from teams is high but it appears it’s not high enough to support six races in 2010.

In only about 6 months, the electric motorcycle racing world went from one high profile race in 2009 at the Isle Of Man, to three competing organizations and an abundance of high profile of venues. Three crowns are up for the taking and it appears there is not enough incentive or teams to fight for all of them. In racing, the value of the crown is usually measured by the caliber of teams fighting for it.

Keep Reading

News

Chip Yates On SWIGZ.com Pro Racing Electric Superbike Progress

By John Adamo 02/09/2010 7 Comments

Last week I had a chance to ask Chip Yates some questions over email about the progress of the SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing Electric Superbike program. Chip’s responses tell us his team’s ambitious performance goals are on track and they are quickly signing on sponsors. SWIGS.COM Pro Racing remains the only electric motorcycle race team to put the cards on the table for 2010 in regards to target performance.

In late 2009, Chip announced he had assembled a team including two MIT grads turned aerospace engineers to develop an electric superbike to compete in the TTXGP race series. The press release mentioned some very impressive and somewhat controversial goals for the SWIGZ.COM bike including the ability to turn AMA SuperSport lap times (GSX-R600) and a KERS system to return braking energy back to the battery.

Since the announcement, the electric motorcycle racing landscape has changed dramatically with the entrance of the FIM e-Power series and the TT Zero race replacing TTXGP at the Isle Of Man. Some races have conflicting schedules that will force teams to choose one event or the other. Chip explains what series the team will run and which they will not. Unfortunately the team is not releasing any of the electric drive specs and vendors yet but some details should be announced next month.

See the full Q&A with Chip Yates after the break.

Keep Reading

News

Isle Of Man Gives Their Take On TT Zero Replacement Of TTXGP [UPDATED]

By John Adamo 02/08/2010 10 Comments

Late last month it was announced that the eGrandPrix who ran the 2009 TTXGP clean emission race at Isle Of Man TT would be replaced by TT Zero. TT Zero would be run without the involvement of eGrandPrix and instead the responsibilities would be split among the IOM Department of Tourism And Leisure and the ACU. Speculation followed about the FIM’s role in the TTXGP’s departure and the reasons for TT Zero coming into existence.

The Isle Of Man issued a statement in response to speculation on why TTXGP was replaced by TT Zero at the Isle Of Man TT for 2010. We are waiting for a response from TTXGP which we will add to this post. Please check back for updates. Click the break to see the full statement from the Isle Of Man.

Update: A response from TTXGP is posted at the end of this blog post.

Keep Reading

News

Jackie Chan’s JCAM To Distribute Brammo In Asia

By John Adamo 01/26/2010 8 Comments

Just when you think Brammo has taken a breather on their marketing and game changing developments in powersports they decide team up with a master of motion picture martial arts. Jackie Chan apparently co-founded JCAM Advanced Mobility Company Ltd., the Hong Kong distributor of Segway for South Korea, China PRC, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia. Now JCAM are adding Brammo electric motorcycles to their distribution in Hong Kong and Singapore. More after the break…

Keep Reading

News

DERBI GPR EV Geared Up To Shock The Competition

By John Adamo 01/22/2010 5 Comments

Last month a video of the DERBI GPR EV showed up on YouTube. It was posted by someone who appeared to be working with Sevcon and it was hard to tell if DERBI was behind the bike. I recently found the blog of Derbi Project Manager Carles Carrera. And guess what, he has a detailed picture of the Derbi GPR EV front and center.

Carles describes the ground up development methodology DERBI and their partners used in designing and building the bike over the course of 3 months. He cites flaws in Brammo, Zero, Quantya, Vectrix mentioning thier “poorly developed mechanical platform” and saying they fail to deliver an electric motorcycle that has all drive components communicating in an orderly fashion.

Keep Reading

News

Epo-Bike First Confirmed FIM ePower Entry

By John Adamo 01/20/2010 7 Comments

Christian Amendt, an engineering student out of Germany is the first confirmed entrant of the FIM ePower Electric Motorcycle Race series. Using what might be called a quantified version of Lotus’s “performance through low weight” philosophy, Christian converted a Honda RS125R to electric using a “half the weight, half the power” design.

The 115kg (253.5lbs) electric race bike weighs 187 lbs less than the triple motor MotoCzysz e1pc. The theory is that the light weight will allow the 96 Volt, single motor, 3 kWh Epo-bike to out perform a 2 or 3 motor bike that weighs over 400 lbs with the batteries needed to power them. The Epo-Bike uses a Lemco D135 DC motor, LiFePO4 batteries from an undisclosed manufacturer and an Alltrax AX7425 controller to achieve 74Nm of torque and reach a top speed of about 111 mph. See more pictures and a video of the epo-bike on the track after the break.

Keep Reading

News

CRP Racing Unveils Its eCRP 1.0

By John Adamo 01/13/2010 7 Comments

Lord Drayson, UK Minister of Science and Technology, took the wraps off the TTXGP exclusive CRP Racing eCRP 1.0 today at the 4th Annual Cleaner Racing Conferance. CRP’s goal is to innovate in the world of motorcycle roadracing and the all electric race bike seems to be a good fit for the company. The eCRP 1.0 dual motor electric drive is based on 2009 TTXGP winning Team Agni X01, while the rest of the bike was designed and built in house by CRP and incorporates 30 years of race proven technological know-how.

CRP Racing does not have plans to field an electric race team but will make the bike available to teams who want to race in the TTXGP. The bike will not be available to teams wishing to run races in the competing FIM ePower Series who has yet to announce a race team entry.

Keep Reading