Electrified .

SONOMA COUNTY, California — Team Electra’s entry in the TTXGP electric motorcycle race looks like something from the 1960s.

That’s because it is.

Team Electra is among the 12 teams here at Infineon Raceway to kick off the TTXGP North American electric motorcycle race series this weekend, and it is the only one coming out of the old school.

The heart of the team’s gorgeous café racer is a 1966 Norton Featherbed frame wrapped in a copy of a fairing from the 1972 John Player Special Norton grand prix bike. It is one of the slickest bikes on the grid here at Infineon Raceway, and it stands in stark contrast to the converted superbikes and purpose-built machines like Zero Motorcycles’ impressive racers.

Brian Richardson, who built and owns the bike, says the retro approach makes perfect sense because, for all their high-tech hardware, electric motorcycles don’t put down much more power than the café racers of his youth.

“Anyone can use a Yamaha R6 chassis, and you’d think that would be the way to go,” Richardson said. “But you’ve only got 50 horsepower. Why not start with racing machine that only had 50 horsepower to begin with?”

Batteries! for a bike, little [or preferably no battery] is best, those leaden lumps are antithetical to motorcycling. If electrical power is wanted, then an ex-NASA plutonium fuel cell will provide juice - or a whip antenna to connect with overhead power cables on tram runs... but not batteries.

But theres NOTHING WRONG with our Li Po Batteries .



http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/t519305p1/

I beg to differ with the assertion that this is a CAFE RACER. I vomited in my mouth a little when it appeared on the Cafe Racer tv show.

IT IS NOT A CAFE RACER. PERIOD.

It IS a featherbed-based bike.

It IS a race bike.

It IS an electric motorcycle.

It IS NOT a cafe racer.

Don't get me wrong, I like it. I would love to ride it, especially on a track like Barber's or Road America. It's just not a cafe racer, and likely never will be.

Li Po? - Is that the Chinese bike you are riding these days, Matt? L.O.L