Motorcycle Maniac: Mission R Is The Fastest, Most Powerful Electric Bike In Existence
[caption id="attachment_15125" align="alignright"
width="300"] Companies like Mission Motors are
bringing about a new age of gas-free motorcycles to the
racetrack.[/caption]
Electrified cars and motorcycles are becoming increasingly common,
and while battery-powered cars and trucks may be a bit more popular
than their two-wheeled counterparts, there's still a market for
bikes that don't require gas. Not only are there more options for
street-legal electric bikes than ever before, but companies like
Mission Motors are bringing about a new age of gas-free motorcycles
to the racetrack.
I'm talking about the Mission R, a powerful racing bike that has
been tested on and off the track by professional riders. Since the
bike isn't publicly available, and probably won't ever be, I
haven't gotten the chance to even sit on this one-off electrified
motorcycle. But from what I have gathered from seeing this
two-wheeled beast in action, the world of motorsports is going to be
completely reinvented in the very near future.
This sportbike looks just like any other, but when the engine
starts, you know immediately that you're not about to see any old
bike race around the track. Instead of the rumbling of sport
touring motorcycles or the high-pitched whine of a speed bike, the
Mission R sounds like it's straight out of a science fiction movie.
Since it's completely electric, it also has zero emissions, which
is a bonus if you place a premium on going green.
[caption id="attachment_15123" align="alignleft"
width="300"] This sportbike looks
just like any other, but when the engine starts, you know
immediately that you're not about to see any old bike race around
the track.[/caption]
The Mission R is not like any electric motorcycle on the market
today. It's faster, more powerful and certainly more exciting. It's
got 161 horsepower and about 140 ft.-lbs. of torque, which is
impressive even for an electric car. Plus, it's got a serious
acceleration rate - this bad boy only needs three seconds to reach
60 miles per hour (MPH) from zero. Did I mention it reaches speeds
of 160 MPH? I'm fairly certain that there's no electric motorcycles
and very few electric cars that can claim anything even close to
that.
Mission designed this bike for the track, and the designers
equipped it with WiFi and 3G data connectivity so pit crews can
tweak the controls without the rider having to stop and manually
calibrate. If this is the direction motorcycles are heading, I am
pretty excited and I can only hope that one day I'll get the chance
to ride the Mission R myself, or at least test out something
similar.
Mission R Image Gallery
(Click for full size images)