Damon Motorcycles Announces Component Deals

Damon Motorcycles appears to still be working hard to get their electric hyperbike to market, with two recently announced deals to source custom-built components before production begins.

Based in British Columbia, Damon rose to prominence with much-hyped CES appearances, where it teased battery bikes that integrated its safety technology as well as high-performance electric motors and a chassis that adapted to a crouched racing position for high-speed riding, or a more upright position for cruising comfort.

Five years after they announced they’d be building bikes, we still have seen no production Damon models. As they raised money, founders said they planned to manufacture their bikes in Surrey, but that plan has been abandoned. Now, the plan is to build their motorcycles in California.

However, not all components will see their genesis in the U.S. According to a press release from Damon this week, they’ve been busy making deals with overseas manufacturers for smaller components, which will be shipped to California for final assembly.

Swiss die-casting specialists Aluwag AG are one of those partners; they will make Damon’s die-cast aluminum battery case. The PR says:

The Swiss company … has received the final tool designs from Damon to produce its large, 20kWh patented assembly battery case that not only acts as a watertight enclosure for the HyperSport’s 500-volt liquid-cooled pack, but also doubles as the motorcycle’s chassis. Damon’s novel approach to integrating its pack with the chassis into a single unit significantly reduces mass, parts count, complexity and cost, setting a new standard for electric motorcycle design.

Damon also has a deal with a Taiwanese manufacturer to build its electric motor-gearbox assemblies. Again, from the PR:

Fukuta Elec. & Mach. Co. Ltd has received the final tool designs to produce Damon’s patented high-speed electric motor-gearbox, a compact powerhouse weighing just 30kg, but capable of delivering 500Nm of torque at the output shaft and over 150kW of power.

Does this mean we might actually see production Damon models this year? Hard to say, but without deals like this, we certainly wouldn’t have, so these moves are positive news. We’re still a long way from seeing most of the millions in pre-orders filled, though.