Alta Motors is flipping motocross upside down with their ground breaking electric dirtbike.
If you were looking at the timeline of motocross you would see several innovations made to the dirt bikes that gave the riders more control, power, and comfort. Some that come to mind is how suspension replaced rigid frames, the invention of the swing fork rear suspension, and the transition from two-strokes to four-strokes. There is no sexier innovation than swapping out the gasoline powered internal combustion engine(ICE) for a lithium-ion battery(LiB) powered engine. Here we’ll be exploring what makes this technology so damn cool, and the impact it has on the people who ride bikes, maintain bikes, and watch motocross.
In the last decade the list of manufacturers that compete for championships has consisted of: Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, KTM and most recently Husqvarna. However, the electric vehicle company Alta Motorsports has been making tremendous strides towards becoming the first electric dirt bike to rival gasoline powered alternatives.
Specs
Torque
The main difference between the Alta electric dirt bike in comparison to ICE dirt bike is how it generates torque. In the ICE, fuel and air are compressed by the piston, which are then ignited by the spark plug, causing combustion therefore pushing the piston up and down in the cylinder. The motor in the Redshift is powered by a battery which minimizes any impediment of the polar moment of intertia. This basically means that by having fewer moving parts powering the motor allows for better handling(Images below). With the battery being electric, it allows for immediate access of power. Redshift has 120 lbs-foot of torque, more than doubling the the 40 lbs-foot power of a typical motor. I’ll dive into how this impacts rider experience later.
Frame
By not having to provide the motor with cool air intake it allowed the engineers to rid the bike of an air-box and focus on making a light weight subframe built out of composite plastic. This subframe gives the bike more flexibility which can make a cased triple a little more forgiving on your body…and your wallet. By having more space in the main frame, the Alta team was able to rearrange the motor so that it could be dead centre of the bike.
User Experience
Rider Experience
The rider experience has more to do with what’s missing from the bike, rather than what is added. Drawing from the above mentioned engineering changes it’s easy to explain why the bike feels so smooth to ride. Our bodies have adjusted to the inertia that a ICE bike exerts, so riders are not conscious of it until they throw their leg over an LiB powered dirt bike. By not having the inertia that makes the bike vibrate as well as having the motor dead centre it allows the rider to feel more at one with the bike. The lack of vibration and sound also allows the rider to hear aspects of riding they could never sense. From the sound that the dirt makes, the feeling of their suspension, to the roar of fans in the stands. Test riders have said the weirdest part to get used to is the absence of a clutch and gear shifter, but once they got past that aspect it allows them to focus more on their line choices, race strategies, and their breathing.
Here’s a video of Jake Weimer testing the Alta, and giving some insight about the feel of the bike! watch
Ownership Experience
When looking to by a Redshift bike the first thing that you’ll notice is the hefty MSRP of $14,995 (USD). Of course this is much more expensive than than it’s ICE counterparts; however, those who ride/race know how much a pain in the ass it is to stay on-top of the typical dirt bike.
Before you even get to ride a ICE bike you need to make sure you’ve changed the oil, have a clean air-filter, topped up the anti-freeze, and of course filled it up with gas. Long-term these tasks take a ridiculous amount of time and money that you would have otherwise spent riding on an Alta bike. The everyday maintenance is one thing, but after 200 hours of riding the bike, you have to drop 800–1500 dollars because you need a new transmission it makes the price tag of a $15,000 Alta bike that you’re guranteed 1000 hours a no brainer.
The ability to make changes to the mapping system of the bike makes the mechanic work much easier. When you want to tune your ICE bike to give it more top end acceleration or bottom end torque it takes knowledge and time, to do it yourself or money if you want to outsource it. With the Alta bike you are able to change the mapping with a simple press of a button on the handle bars. In the future making drastic changes to your bike could be as simple as plugging in a USB stick and uploading code to tweak your bike.
Over time, and as more people buy the Alta bike the price will decrease because they are not covering the cost of product development.
Location
Motocross tracks are limited to rural areas secluded from the public in order to avoid noise complaints and fines. This acts as a barrier of entry to becoming a motocross fan when you live in an urban setting. For other sports it’s an easy commute to your nearest football stadium or hockey arena.
The Alta could change this by allowing races to happen closer to urban areas due to it’s quiet hum.
Alta has already burst onto the scene by entering in the RedBull Straight Rhythm event that takes place on a one mile course. This was the first professional event that an electric bike has competed and won against ICE bikes. Although the Alta has a battery life of about three hours to a charge and is capable of running long moto’s this type of event is perfect to showcase the bikes speed and torque.
With technological innovation there are social groups that will be in favour of it, and just as many who are resistant to it. We have already seen it in the sport with riders who just can’t give up the majestic two stroke. I must admit I’ve ridden a two stroke all my life, I mean who doesn’t love the sound, smell, and flickability of a two banger. In the pro ranks, racers started to see more four-strokes ahead of them than behind them and with that the tides started to change. It’s just a matter of time before the same thing happens with the Alta MX bike.
I’m a huge fan of the Alta’s journey to become a driving force of change in the motocross industry, and saving up to by an Alta of my own!
If you want to find more information on Alta check out their website! https://www.altamotors.co
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