Of all the electric motorcycle prototypes we’ve seen floating around the last couple of years, the bikes from BRD have been some of the most interesting. Now, they just unveiled the latest versions at AIME.
BRD is an electric motorcycle manufacturer based on the west coast of the US; they’ve got an emphasis on light weight and handling, instead of the musclebike approach taken by many other manufacturers. And, as of this week, they’re not called BRD anymore – they’ve changed their company name to Alta.
But what of their new bikes? BRD/Alta came to the forefront originally with their RedShift, a motocross-styled bike that was intended to duplicate a 250-class MX bike’s performance. They’ve kept with that platform for their latest machines, dubbed the RedShift MX (a dirt bike) and RedShift SM (a supermoto).
The RedShift MX is pictured on their website without lights, but their promotional blurb seems to indicate a street-legal version is coming. The battery-powered motor puts out 25 hp, with 40 hp peak. The battery has a 5.2 kwh capacity, with an estimated 2 hrs of usage on recreational trails or mixed road use. With street lighting, the bike will weigh 260 lbs; in race trim (sans lights), it’ll weigh 250 lbs.
Front and rear suspension are full adjustable, with 12 inches of travel. There’s a 21-inch wheel in front and a 19-inch wheel in back, and seat height is 37 inches. Wheelbase is 57.3 inches. MSRP will be in the $15,000 range in the US.
What about the supermoto version? The Redshift SM is based on the same platform; Alta reckons it has a 50-mile street range, weighing 265 lbs with street lighting and 255 lbs without. It has the same fully adjustable suspension with 12-inches of travel, but rolls on 17-inch wheels in front and back, and seat height is only 35.5 inches. Wheelbase is 56.6 inches.
The supermoto will cost around $15,500 when it hits market in the US, so neither of these toys are cheap. Also, neither of them are available in showrooms right now, although you can pre-order a bike on their website.
GALLERY
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[…] but they continue to plug away on their motocross and supermoto projects. Their goal? To build an electric bike with the power of a 250-class MXer, but with 1000-hour engine service intervals. We can’t emphasize enough how that would be […]