Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Mission R

Browsing
Racing

Mission Motors Laps at AMA Supersport Pace at Laguna Seca

By 4 Comments

While the REFUEL event a few weeks ago was Mission Motors’ true first public race with the Mission R, the San Francisco company is on a mission (oh sweet jesus) to prove a point at Laguna Seca this weekend, after previously being out of the electric racing gig for the past year. Undoubtedly by now you’ve seen photos of the Mission R electric superbike, and while it certainly looks fast standing still, the question had also been raised if it’s only good for standing around and looking pretty.

Taking those talking points to heart, Steve Rapp silenced those critics today, as the Mission Motors rider smashed the standing “best lap” time from last year’s e-Power Championship race at Laguna Seca, which was set by competitor MotoCzysz. Posting a 1’33.714 lap time, Rapp was nearly 11 seconds quicker than last year’s pace, and did so at will on the Mission R, posting half of his laps below the 1’34 mark (his slowest hot lap was a 1’36).

To put that pace into perspective, Rapp would have been fifth on the grid had he been lapping in AMA Supersport’s Free Practice (which occurred early in the day, and thus on a cold track), and thirteenth in AMA Supersport’s Qualifying Practice 1 (which was later in the day, and in similar conditions as the e-Power/TTXGP session). Boom goes the dynamite.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

One Lap on the Mission Motors Mission R at Laguna Seca

By 9 Comments

The Mission Motors crew was out at Laguna Seca this past weekend with the Mission R electric superbike. Taking part in the Refuel Time Trial, Steve Rapp piloted the Mission R around the historic coastal Californian track, clocking in a top lap time of 1:43.700 according to the Mission stopwatches. With that pace, it would put the Mission R as backmarker in the AMA Supersport race at Laguna Seca last year, and about 15 seconds off Steve Rapp’s own Daytona SportBike time at the same event.

While true sportbike parity isn’t here yet, this is to only the second time that Mission Motors has had the Mission R on the track (Mission somehow sneaked the Mission R onto Thunderhill Raceway without our Bothans informing us), which makes the lap a pretty impressive starting point for the design. Check the video after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Up-Close with the Mission R at Infineon Raceway

By 11 Comments

It’s a good thing for Mission Motors that the Mission R looks fast standing still, as the electric superbike was unable to race in this weekend’s TTXGP series opener at Infineon Raceway. The Mission crew did bring the bike out for fans to see though, which gave us a chance to get up-close and personal with the machine with a camera in-hand. Electricity aside, the Mission R is one of the most attractive motorcycles we’ve seen in a while (even without its clothes on), and the fit & finish on the bike is superb…now if only it actually ran.

We can’t wait to see how the Mission R fares on the track, especially with Steve Rapp on-board. Mission tells us it will be at some of the upcoming TTXGP events, which would be an unfortunate place to launch the Mission R, considering A&R has a strict rule about blogging from New Hampshire. We’ll see what our Bothans can do about sneaking a peak of the bike testing before the next TTXGP round; until then, here are 25 photos to ruin your Monday productivity.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Mission Motors Racing at Infineon with Steve Rapp*

By 3 Comments

More news from the Asphalt & Rubber Bothan Spy network (that’d be a great spin-off site by the way…if George Lucas wouldn’t bullseye us like womp rats from a T-16 for our copious use of Star Wars references in our posts), as we’ve gotten word that Mission Motors is gearing up to go racing at the TTXGP season-opener at Infineon Raceway in two weeks’ time. At the helm of the gorgeous Mission R electric superbike will be AMA Pro Racing’s Steve Rapp.

The caveat to this news is that it all is contingent on Mission Motors getting its race bike ready to race in time for the event. The Bothans go on to tell us that the bike’s battery pack still needs to come together, which is something we’ve heard for some time now, but could suggest that the team has advanced its tech further and is upgrading the Mission R for even more on-board energy/power. As always, time will tell.

Keep Reading
By
News

Motorcycle Porn: Mission R Swingarm by Speedymoto

By 7 Comments

UPDATE: According to Mission Motors’ Edward West, the single-sided swingarm weighs 13.6 lbs alone, and 18.8 lbs with the slider for the chain tensioner/wheelbase adjuster installed.

The Mission R electric superbike by Mission Motors is one of those motorcycles that looks great by itself in a photo, and then looks even better once you see it in person. Up-close it is easier to appreciate the finer details that went into making the Mission R, like the all-carbon “fuel tank” and battery enclosure, the chrome-moly trellis frame, and of course the single-piece billet aluminum swingarm that was produced by Speedymoto.

Like most things built by Speedymoto, the Mission R swingarm could be a piece of art in its own right (I’ve got a few Speedymoto parts on my Streetfighter for this very reason), and the Oregon-based company has posted some behind the scenes shots and details of its work. Photos and more after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
News

The Mission R with Its Clothes Off

By 10 Comments

The Mission R, the latest creation to come from San Francisco-based Mission Motors, looks like any typical gasoline-powered sportbike (well, any really good looking gasoline-powered sportbike), and that’s sort of the point behind the machine: an electric motorcycle that can excite petrol-heads and electron nerds alike. Although the Mission R was made to draw mainstream appeal, today we see further proof that any resemblance to modern ICE motorcycles was made to be only skin deep.

Beneath the carbon-laid fairings of the Mission R, we see a hint of the bike’s unique chrome-moly trellis frame that mates to a previously hidden headstock/front sub-frame unit that was made by Speedymoto and designed by James Parker (of GSX-RADD fame). With the Mission R’s mass centralized around the 141hp 3-phace AC induction motor, Parker also had to contend with Mission’s carbon enclosed two-tiered battery pack that comprises the bulk of the race bike’s weight.

Read after the jump as Parker walks us through his process and thoughts on designing the Mission R, and be sure to check out the photo galleries for an up-close look.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Mission R Electric Superbike Breaks Cover

By 20 Comments

After teasing us earlier last month with its silhouette, Mission Motors has finally taken the wraps off its Mission R electric race bike.

Boasting some big numbers, namely a 14.4 kWh battery pack and a 3-phace AC induction motor that makes 141hp and 115 lbs•ft of torque, the Mission R ticks all the right performance boxes with its 160mph top speed, 100 kW motor controller, regenative breaking, and barely race legal 545 lbs weight.

Taking lessons learned from the Mission One, Mission Motors has built the Mission R from the ground-up, and tapped some well known names to help the company make this striking motorcycle.

With James Parker (of GSX-RADD fame) designing the chassis, and Tim Prentice of Motonium working on the industrial design, the Mission R is not only a very pleasing motorcycle to look at (drool over that billet single-sided swingarm), but also incorporates some advanced concepts to make it a potent and compact racing weapon.

Oh, and did we mention the bike looks freaking fantastic?

Keep Reading
By
News

Mission R – Mission Motors Teases Its 2nd-Gen Racer

By 3 Comments

Mission Motors is teasing the silhouette of its new Mission R race bike, which is set to go racing in 2011. While details are scarce on the Mission R’s technical aspects, we’ve been told that the new design looks very promising, and is more palatable visually to a larger audience than the original Mission One. It doesn’t take much for us to guess some aspects of the Mission R though, as Mission Motors was on-hand for Specialty Equipment Marketing Association show (SEMA) this week (you know that other industry trade show that’s going on), with a bevy of announcements.

The most prominent piece of news from the San Franciscan-based company is that it is making available its proprietary electric drive system, which will come from a special group inside the company, dubbed MissionEVT, which is focused on bringing EV tech to other companies and applications beyond motorcycles.

Keep Reading
By