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Biomimicry, And What Humpback Whales & Electric Motorcycles Have in Common

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Lost in a story about testing for this year’s TT Zero, the all electric motorcycle race on the Isle of Man, was an image that portends great things for the future of long-range, high-speed battery-powered biking.

A trick learned from two giants: the Boeing 787 and the Humpback whale.

2009 was a watershed year for motorcycling. Globally sales of new bikes vaporized, forcing the giants to shut plants and kill brands.

The major brands, like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki all pared down to the bare minimum, while European brands clung to life by their fingernails. In America, Harley-Davidson quietly asked for a loan.

But 2009 was also a touch-point for the modern electric vehicle. Tesla unveiled its first car; governments invested billions to support EV development; and the TTXGP, the world’s first all-electric motorsport event was held at the historic Isle of Man TT.

Within five years, street-legal electric motorcycles were commercially available and the annual TT Zero race (as it was called after 2010) became the place to watch the amazing potential of battery-powered vehicle technology.

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Bikes

Suzuki Patents Hybrid 2WD Scooter with Goofy Front-End

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An interesting find from the folks at Motorcycle.com, it looks like Suzuki is getting crazy with its scooter designs, as a patent for a two-wheel drive scooter has popped-up at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and that is not the only item of interest when looking at the front-end of the motorcycle.

The 2WD system features an electric hub motor on the front wheel, which assists the gas-powered rear wheel, making this a hybrid-powered motorcycle. The patent also shows a a non-conventional front-end suspension setup, on what looks like Burgman scooter design.

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Podcast

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #50 – Pity the Fool

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Episode 50 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast celebrates our favorite day of the year, April Fools Day. As such, we start off the show with a re-cap on some of the best pranks that the industry had to offer this year.

We then turn our attention to two events we attended in the past few weeks, as we visited the World of Speed in Wilsonville, Oregon and Quentin was at the Desert 100 race in Eastern Washington. Both are items you should mark on your calendar, and it is great to see them showcasing motorsport in the Pacific Northwest.

We then turn our attention in the show to MotoAmerica’s call for volunteers, to help shoulder the workload at the track during this year’s racing events. We also discuss the very interesting Mugen E.Rex electric dirt bike, which has to be seen to be believed.

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. Enjoy the show!

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Bikes

Energica Adds More Power To Ego and Eva Motorcycles

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Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer has two announcements for us today. The first is one is perhaps not that shocking (figuratively), because the Energica Ego and Energica Eva motorcycle have both been homologated as Euro4 compliant.

The second piece of news is a bit more shocking (literally) though, as both the Ego and Eva will see power increases for the 2017 model year. As such, the 2017 Energica Ego will see a 145hp peak power figure, while the 2017 Energica Eva will top the sheets at 108hp.

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News

This Jet Ski Is Powered by Zero Motorcycles

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The idea of an electric personal watercraft is a little troubling at first, I mean…we are talking hundreds of volts and hundreds of amps surrounded by water, in an inherently unstable vehicle…what could go wrong, right?

But, for those who aren’t adverse to a little wake-up jolt, the all-electric Free Form Factory Gratis X1 personal watercraft might be an interesting way to spend a sunny afternoon.

And for savvy motorcyclists, the electric bits on the Gratis X1 should be familiar, as Free Form Factory is using Zero Motorcycles’s Z-Force powertrain to propel its watercraft.

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Bikes

Mugen Shinden Roku Electric Superbike Breaks Cover

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In Japanese, “roku” is how you say the sixth ordinal, which means the electric superbike you see above, the Mugen Shinden Roku, is the Japanese firm’s sixth entry into the Isle of Man TT.

Piloted this year by John McGuinness and Guy Martin, the expectation is that the Mugen Shinden Roku will be the first electic motorcycle to do a 120 mph lap (from a standing start, no less) at the TT – a barrier that was nearly broken last year.

Team Mugen has progressed rapidly each year it enters the TT Zero class at the Isle of Man, and for 2017 they once again are bringing a new machine to the starting line at Glencrutchery Road.

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Bikes

Mugen Debuts an Electric Motocross Race Bike

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At the Isle of Man TT, Mugen is the team to beat, with the company’s Shinden electric superbike showing the state of the art, when it comes to electric motorcycles.

The asphalt is apparently not enough for Mugen though, as the Japanese tuning house has “partnered” with Honda to build an electric motocross dirt bike.

What you are look at here is the Mugen E.Rex, and don’t let the horrid dinosaur theme put you off, there is some seriously bad to the bone (sorry, couldn’t resist) pieces on this roost-maker.

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Bikes

Italian Volt Lacama Electric Motorcycle Brings Some Style

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Italian Volt’s debut model, the Lacama, isn’t the most beautiful motorcycle that we have ever seen, but the Italian brand certainly has done a good job making a stylish machine for motorcycle enthusiasts.

Capable of hiding up to 15 kWh of batteries in its brick-like case, the Italian Volt Lacama does a good job of tackling one of the biggest design problems that motorcycle manufacturers face with electrics: styling the massive battery packs that these machines require.

Taking things a step further though, Italian Volt will offer the Lacama in several different form-factors, with owners able to choose from options that include café racer, scrambler, and roadster designs.

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Recall

Recall: Zero Motorcycles S, DS, & FXS

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Zero Motorcycles is recalling several of its electric motorcycle models for issues with their anti-lock braking system (ABS) hydraulic control units (HCU). The recall affects 61 units from the Zero S, DS, and FXS model lineup.

According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the wrong vehicle model information was loaded into the HCU on the affected machines, meaning that the ABS settings on those motorcycle were not the correct ones for that particular bike.

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Racing

Dorna Starting An Electric Motorcycle Race Series

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Dorna Sports, the media rights holder to the MotoGP and World Superbike Championships, wants to start its own race series for electric motorcycles, so said Carmelo Ezpeleta while talking to Spain’s respected AS publication.

Hoping to begin racing by 2019, Dorna’s electric motorcycle racing series would pick up where the now defunct FIM e-Power Championship left off, though it would come with some major differences from its predecessor.

As such, Ezpeleta outlined a plan that would see a five-round format, which piggybacks off existing rounds on the Grand Prix calendar, and operates as a support class to the usual Grand Prix weekend.

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News

Indian Working on an Electric Motorcycle?

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Polaris Industries says it is working on a new electric motorcycle, to replace the now discontinued Victory Empulse TT model that was scrapped when the Minnesota company closed the doors to the Victory brand earlier this year.

According to a report from Reuters, the new electric motorcycle will be released under the Indian Motorcycle brand name, and will be focused towards riders who ride for pleasure, rather than those who commute or do long-distance trips.

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