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Mugen Confirms “Shinden Go” for 2016 Isle of Man TT

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Development for properly fast electric racing motorcycles has fallen onto the shoulders of one brand: Team Mugen, and the Japanese firm has confirmed that it will continue to push boundaries at the Isle of Man TT this year.

Confirming this week that it would race the 2016 Isle of Man TT, in the SES TT Zero electric race, Mugen also announced the return of its two-rider team of John McGuinness and Bruce Anstey.

In addition to that news, Mugen formerly divulged the fifth edition of its electric superbike, called the Shinden Go  – in case you haven’t caught onto Mugen’s naming scheme, “go” is “five” in Japanese.

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News

Energica IPO Set for January 29th on AIM Italia Index

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It looks like Italian electric motorcycle maker Energica has finalized the details of its initial public offering of stock on London’s AIM Italia stock market.

As such, Energica’s IPO will take place January 29th, with over 1.65 million shares being offered at €3.20 a piece, this makes Energica’s IPO worth potentially €5.3 million.

With this money, Energica hopes to become the worldwide market leader of electric motorcycles within three years.

That will be at tall order, for the Italian company, as America’s Zero Motorcycles already boasts a much larger dealer network, and proven track record of sales.

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Bikes

Alta Motors Makes First Redshift Customer Delivery

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It has been a long time coming for Alta Motors (the electric motorcycle company formerly known as BRD) to bring its electric motorcycles to market, but that day has finally arrived.

Alta Motors has delivered its first motorcycle to a customer yesterday, with Eric Gauthier and Jeannine Smith of Suspension Performance taking delivery of their new Redshift MX.

“We’ve been quietly driving towards this moment for over 8 years in pursuit of creating the best motorcycles money can buy,” said Marc Fenigstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Alta Motors.

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Bikes

Wunderlich Hybrid BMW R1200GS LC with Electric 2WD

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BMW aftermarket parts specialist Wunderlich really knows how to promote itself. The German company is known for its one-off machines and concepts, some which have tipped BMW’s hand when it comes to new models. For a boutique German brand, it is impressive that it is known around the world.

So, it shouldn’t surprise us that Wunderlich is grabbing headlines once again, this time with an intriguing concept: a two-wheel drive BMW R1200GS that uses a hybrid drivetrain with an electric front-end that was developed with Italy’s electric specialist Evolt.

Wunderlich calls its creation the BMW R1200GS LC, and it features a 10 kW hub motor on its front wheel, in addition to the GS’s boxer-twin gas engine. The electric motor has regenerative braking, which helps charge its modest battery pack (located under the front beak, to our eye).

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Bikes

Energica Eva Debuts Again at EICMA

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The Energica Eva is debuting again at the EICMA show, after first appearing at last year’s EICMA show in a semi-finished state. We were very impressed with Energica’s superbike, the Ego, and have been looking forward to the Italian company’s sequel, the Energica Eva.

The electric streetfighter first debuted with the same 136hp PMAC motor, but Energica has changed this up so the unit now makes 95hp. That is a noticeable power difference, but street riders will be happy to hear that peak torque is still very potent, at 125 lbs•ft.

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Bikes

BMW eRR Electric Superbike Breaks Cover

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BMW Motorrad is ready to get into the electric motorcycle world, and as such has debuted an electric superbike concept, the BMW eRR.

Built in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich, the project explores the German brand’s options when it comes to electric motorcycles.

BMW Motorrad is pretty light on details when it comes to the eRR, and even states that it will announce technical details on the BMW eRR at a later date.

Considering how much vaporware is already in this space from up-start companies, it is a little surprising to see some coming from BMW, a company that is normally very forthwith on its plans.

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Announcement

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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Bikes

Would You Rock This Electric Dirt Bike from Yamaha?

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Astute readers will realize that if there’s a Yamaha PES2 electric concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, then surely there must be a Yamaha PED2 concept as well, as the two electric concepts were two-sides of the same coin, back in 2013.

Yes Virginia, there is a PED2 concept, and while it looks closer to being production ready than its predecessor, Yamaha seems content to simply call this electric motorcycle a concept…for now.

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Bikes

Yamaha PES2 Electric 2WD Concept to Debut in Tokyo

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Back in 2013, Yamaha debuted two electric motorcycle concepts: the Yamaha PES1 street bike and the Yamaha PED1 dirt bike. This was a big deal, because Yamaha said it planned to bring an electric motorcycle to market by 2016.

Well, here we are just a few weeks from the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, where 2016 models from the Japanese manufacturers would typically debut…and it seems Yamaha has more electric motorcycle concepts for us.

The Yamaha PES2, as the name suggests, is an evolution of the PES1, though it does look slightly more ready for production than its predecessor.

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News

Honda EV-Cub Concept Debuts, Yet Again

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We’re not really sure why Honda is debuting the EV-Cub concept again at the Tokyo Motor Show, but it is. Taking the iconic Honda Super Cub design, and adopting it to a new electric platform, Honda is making an obvious play with one of the “nicest” machines it ever created.

Unlike Big Red, we won’t rehash the idea again, other than to say just build it already, Honda – electric scooters make a lot of sense, especially in dense urban environments. The Honda Super Cub is the best selling motorcycle of all time, and we’re sure the EV-Cub will continue that heritage.

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