Alta Motors has announced an official partnership with the AMA’s EnduroCross series, and will be racing in the Pro Class this season.
Alta Motors’ Redshift MX electric bike has already run an EnduroCross event; Kurt Nicoll won last year’s race in Phoenix aboard one of the battery bikes. But this year, Alta’s machine is expected to take part in the entire seven-race event, starting in Las Vegas on August 19.
How well will the bike do? Alta’s marketing spokesthingie said that “The extreme obstacles encountered during an EnduroCross race allow the Alta Redshift MX to demonstrate its benefits over the competition … Riders no longer need to worry about a clutch or shifting during competition and the bike will not stall, which makes those moments less disruptive. Now our riders can focus on clearing the obstacles, which is a big advantage.”
All that is true. But it’s also true that no matter how well your engine works, other factors like suspension also play vital roles in racing, so Alta might have a learning curve ahead this year. But, the company has already proved it can win, so there’s no point in second-guessing them before the races even start.
This moment is very important for Alta, as it’s about to finally get its machines into AMA-sanctioned competition. The next few weeks could be crucial to the development of battery bikes in North America. If Alta does well, the question is whether or not it will be able to then get its machines into other series with more fans, or will the manufacturers sponsoring those other series conspire to keep the electric motorcycles out of competition, to avoid embarrassment? And if Alta doesn’t do well, how much further is the company willing to go to develop the bike? It’s already been a long, long road to get it to this point.
