Let There Be Torque
Honda has an electric dirt bike it’s working on, and now there’s a video of it doing its thing. I reported on the bike a while back. The bike broke cover in prototype form at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show. According to RideApart, the bike did a demonstration run at the All Japan Motocross Championship held at HSR Kyushu. The rider of the Honda CR electric prototype was Kazumasa Masuda, a well-known rider.
As you can see in the video the bike takes off with some serious gusto. That electric torque could be a real boon for off-roaders looking for instant power. The track looks fairly muddy, and the bike shoots around it with ease. It looks downright quick.
I have to be honest, the video made me giggle like a little kid. I think it’s the mixture of the speed and the sound. There’s something funny about the Power-Wheels-like noise coming from a machine that isn’t a child’s toy. While there’s no denying the CR electric prototype’s prowess out there, that noise makes me want to not take the thing seriously.
This is a hurdle electric bikes have to get over. People talk about them as silent machines, but you’ll get a fair bit of whirring or whining from an electric motor. I assume bike manufacturers will start to focus on adjusting and altering the sound as they do with exhaust notes. This Honda CR could definitely use it. Watch the video below to see what I mean.
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