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This is the Mugen Shinden (神電) TT Zero Electric Race Bike

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UPDATE: Added more information & technical specifications from Mugen’s press release.

This morning we learned that John McGuinness will be Mugen’s rider in the team’s bid to break the 100 mph barrier at the 2012 TT Zero. Heavily speculated to be a stealth project by Honda (?? / Mugen was started by Hirotoshi Honda, the son to Honda founder Soichiro Honda), much speculation has been done over what sort of bike Mugen would be bringing to the Isle of Man TT, and now we have that answer.

Called Shinden (??), meaning “God of Electricity” in Japanese, the machine may not have the same exquisite lines of the Honda RC-E electric superbike concept, but upon closer inspection, Mugen’s electric race bike seems like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Breaking cover at a press conference in Suzuka, the Mugen Shinden features a brushless three-phase 90 kW (120hp) DC motor, carbon fiber swingarm, and a carbon fiber twin-spar frame design.

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John McGuinness to Ride Mugen/Honda in TT Zero

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When it was announced that Mugen would be racing at the Isle of Man TT in the TT Zero event, a bevy of speculation began to hit the newswires. Of course, the biggest topic of conversation was that Mugen’s entry was really a front for Honda to race its electric bike unofficially against the privateer efforts of teams like Lightning, Mission Motors, and MotoCzysz.

With the entire electric motorcycle racing community believing there to be a connection between Mugen’s entry and Honda’s recently debuted RC-E electric race bike concept, it seemed that an established motorcycle OEM would finally have some sort of presence in electric motorcycle racing this year.

Of course if Honda is involved with the TT Zero race, then surely the company would tap its main man, seventeen-time Isle of Man TT race winner and King of the Mountain, John McGuinness. McGuinness hasn’t been shy about his desire to get on an electric bike after watching MotoCzysz’s Michael Rutter and Mark Miller narrowly miss the 100 mph average speed mark at last year’s TT.

Confirming his entry in the TT Zero race during a video shot in what looks to be the Morecambe FC locker room (yeah, we have no idea), McGuinness also lets it slip that he will be in Japan next week testing the Mugen/Honda electric bike — boom goes the dynamite. Video is after the jump, skip to the nine minute mark.

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Mugen Will Compete in the 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero

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As of today, famed Honda tuning house Mugen will be tackling a new kind of project: the 2012 TT Zero. Announcing and confirming their entry into the Isle of Man TT’s electric motorcycle race, Mugen will be showcasing not only the company’s lesser-known motorcycle tuning chops, but also its hand at prepping electric vehicles for racing duty. Found in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda (son to Honda founder Soichiro Honda), Mugen has previously made its name mostly on the automotive side of things, though the company offers a bevy of prepared Honda motorcycles as well.

Said to be campaigning an all-new original electric motorcycle, if we had to take a stab at what Mugen could be bringing to the Isle of Man TT, we doubt we’d have to dive too deep into our imagination. While it may not be quite as big of news as Honda itself racing in the TT Zero, we can expect Mugen to bring a very competent and polished machine to the Isle of Man, and we can also officially begin the speculation between Mugen’s entry and its connection to a certain Japanese motorcycle manufacturer.

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Confirmed: TT Zero for 2012 Isle of Man TT

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Some chatter was created when the provisional 2012 Isle of Man TT calendar was published and the TT Zero electric motorcycle race was absent from the listing. Putting the “provisional” in provisional calendar, our sources close to the Isle of Man TT belayed any fears that the TT Zero race was cancelled from the TT. Now confirming the news we already published, the Isle of Man TT has formally announced that the TT Zero race will return for the 2012 schedule, along with the £10,000 bounty for the first bike to average 100mph over the course.

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Rumors of TT Zero’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

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Getting word from our sources close to the Isle of Man TT, the TT Zero race will make its third consecutive appearance on the TT schedule despite the fact that the event is still mysteriously absent from the 2012 IOMTT preliminary schedule (as noted by the astute Mark Gardiner). With a £10,000 check still up for grabs to the first electric-powered sportbike to crack a 100 mph average lap speed, plans for the 2012 TT Zero are apparently still being put together by TT officials, and will be announced once they have been finalized.

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Video: MotoCzysz’s Isle of Man TT Winning Lap(s)

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One distinction that got overlooked from this year’s Isle of Man TT is the fact that MotoCzysz currently holds the top seven fastest laps ever put down by an electric vehicle around the TT’s Mountain Course. What makes this feat perhaps more noteworthy is that two of those laps have been captured in a single video, due in part by MotoCzysz’s two-bike strategy this year at the TT Zero. With American Mark Miller on the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc and Michael Rutter on the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc, the two competitors lapped a thinking man’s race down the course, with each rider trying to conserve power, and get into position for a final-stretch breakaway

Pulling around and ahead of his teammate down the final stretches of the course, Rutter was disappointingly just shy of the 100 mph mark, leaving the Isle of Man’s bounty on the average lap speed to stand until next year. Still, the pair both set the fastest times ever in the TT Zero, and improved on the pace from last year. MotoCzysz has now been kind enough to share their lap records with us in a video that shows not only the race telemetry (Contour cameras for the win!), but also has Mark Miller and Michael Rutter commentating. Watch the 23 minute video of Rutter’s and Miller’s race over on MotoCzysz.com.

Source: MotoCzysz

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IOMTT: 100 mph Barrier Remains after 2011 TT Zero

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The second running of the TT Zero at the Isle of Man TT, made for the Isle’s third electric racing occasion on the Manx island. With 2011 being the 100th year of the Isle of Man TT running over the fabled Mountain Course, all eyes were focused to see if the fitting 100 mph barrier would drop as the electrics made their race today. Heavily favored were the bikes from the Segway MotoCzysz Racing team, which brought a modified version of its 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc that was being raced again by last year’s winner Mark Miller, as well as the company’s new 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc that Michael Rutter would swing a leg over. Also on the Isle was MotoCzysz rival Lightning Motorcycles, an entry from Japan, and a bevy of strong university teams.

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Up-Close with the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc

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MotoCzysz was out at Jurby Airfield yesterday, turning a wheel for the first time on the Portland company’s 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc electric superbike. With TT Zero’s first practice session tonight on the Mountain Course, the team has been busy getting ready to field two bikes for riders Mark Miller and Michael Rutter.

While Miller will ride the updated 2010.5 MotoCzysz E1pc, Rutter will be on MotoCzysz’s new machine that features the 200+ hp MotoCzysz D1-11 VDR D1g1tal Dr1ve electric motor. With more power at the motor, more battery on-board, and a lighter overall package, MotoCzysz has its eyes on the 100 mph mark, and the £10,000 check the Isle of Man TT has put up as bounty for the milestone. Photos after the jump.

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2011 MotoCzysz E1pc Tests at Jurby

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We spent the today at the Jurby course, as teams for the Isle of Man TT came out to the short airfield race track to test their machines before the TT starts in earnest tomorrow with its first races. Among those teams in attendance was MotoCzysz, and the team debuted its 200+ hp 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc for the first time to the public (we brought you a sneak peek yesterday). With Michael Czysz and Michael Rutter both taking laps on the new electric superbike, today was the first time the new E1pc had ever turned a wheel. Photos and more after the jump.

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First Shot: 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc

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We’ll have to wait just a bit longer to get a better glimpse of MotoCzysz‘s new bike, but we do have a teaser photo of the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc. Spending an hour or so in the MotoCzysz pit, we’ve gotten a good look at the electric motorcycle, though we’ve been sworn to secrecy about revealing the bike’s details.

We’ll have to wait a while longer before we can spill all the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc’s secrets, but we can say that the                                      is all new and made out of                   , and is going to make the whole thing                    as hell. The                    has also been revised, and the                    is damn sexy, though what’s really going to blow your mind is the                                      you know what…you’ll see.

Source: MotoCzysz (Twitter)

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2011 MotoCzysz E1pc Features 200+hp Motor

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Bikes are starting to come out of the woodwork, as the TT Zero at the Isle of Man TT gets closer and closer. Now up is the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc that will be piloted by Michael Rutter (Mark Miller will be on a modified version of the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc at the Isle of Man as well), which features the MotoCzysz D1-11 VDR D1g1tal Dr1ve. According to the Portland-based company, the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc will be capable of over 200hp, from what looks like a 3-phase AC motor.

If our sources are right, the motor was built with help from Remy, and should be the real-deal come race time as it spins to over 10,000 rpm (electric racing fans, get ready for a power grudge-match between MotoCzysz and Lightning Motors). Of course, what you really came to this post looking for is a video of the motor and 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc testing on the company’s dyno. Find that goodness after the jump, though it should be noted the identities of the criminally fast have been concealed.

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