Polaris is returning to Pikes Peak this summer with Project 156, and they’re bringing their Empulse superbike along as well.
Last year, Polaris subsidiary Victory announced a new “performance-oriented” direction for their lineup, getting Roland Sands Design on board to help them assemble a tracker-style one-off, purpose-built with Pikes Peak in mind. The bike was dubbed Project 156. It was a promising machine, but rider Don Canet (of Cycle World) crashed it in practice, and they didn’t manage to pull off the win a few days later, despite fixing it on a tight timetable.
This year, they’re bringing Project 156 back, and they’re also going to race their electric superbike. Jeremy Toye, who won the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10 (when fully-faired bikes were finally allowed to officially compete), will ride the bike. Considering all the other best riders were tied up by Ducati, this is a smart move.
There’s been no word on changes to the Project 156 bike. Considering they’re tied to the existing base powerplant (as used by Polaris in the Victory Octane and Indian Scout), there’s only so much they can do to the engine, particularly considering Pikes Peak’s notorious problems with fueling, due to elevation changes.
The engineers involved with the project are also working on prepping a Victory Empulse RR for the race. Bringing an electric bike to Pikes Peak is a canny maneuver, as battery bikes don’t suffer from the same fueling issues on the mountain. However, the Empulse is hardly the latest in electric motorcycle technology. Another manufacturer bringing a more up-to-date bike to the fight (cough cough, Alta Motors, cough cough) would make this more interesting.
Don Canet will run the Empulse for Victory.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the first race at Pikes Peak. Rumours had this year’s motorcycle race canceled due to rising insurance costs, but that has proved not to be the case.
