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Just a few months since its first motorcycle, the Redshift, became available to the US market, Alta Motors is set to roll out a new concept model. Inspired by flat track machines, the Street Tracker is conceived as a road-legal battery-powered motorcycle built around the Redshift platform.
Californian startup Alta Motors spent six years setting up a production facility, organizing a dealer network, and developing its first model from the ground up ahead of its market launch in 2016. The Redshift is a lightweight electric off-road motorcycle available in a motocross (MX) and a street-legal supermoto (SM) version.
The American company builds the motorcycle's engine, frame and battery cases in-house, as well as all the electronic gear tasked with controlling the motor's 40 hp (29.8 kW) power and 122 lb-ft (165 Nm) torque output. These are complemented by equipment outsourced from industry leading brands, like WP suspensions and Brembo brakes.
Is there a market for silent motorcycles?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 09 2017, @03:39PM (1 child)
Completely false. Sound makes absolutely no difference to motorcycle safety. It hasn't mattered since car windows and high wattage stereos were invented.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 09 2017, @04:39PM
I scoff at the "loud pipes save lives" crowd myself. But, I'm not entirely sure that sound "makes absolutely no difference". We talked in another post about silent electric cars, and the hazards they will pose. A reasonable motorcycle is hardly any louder than a car - and cars aren't silent. I can hear them most of the time when I am outside of the car. School kids can usually hear a car, pedestrians of all ages can usually hear a car approaching. The streets will be less safe with electric cars and motorcycles, unless they are required to make an audible hum or something. Gotta have some noise, even if it's just the knobby tires slapping the pavement - except, knobbies are usually illegal on the highway.