E bikes in the Dakar Motion 1000 race

Whilst Stark won't get to race in AMA sanctioned MX/SX or FIM sanctioned rounds of SX/MX/Enduro the world of electric is being tested in the most arid of race environments in Saudi Arabia as a side event of Dakar 2024
Three E-bike brands Arctic Leopard from China with Italian race team and another Italian team Eco Galicia and Italian manufacturer Tacita Battle it out in the desert. Google Dakar mission 1000 on Youtube and see what goes down.

Here they are:

Mission 1000 Highlights - Stage 1 - #Dakar2024

Exciting times! Arctic Leopard did pretty good.

[Link]

Yeah, Stark and other electrics might not be allowed in AMA or FIM races yet, but it’s cool to see e-bikes getting tested in real extreme conditions like Dakar.

There will be a Stark Varg in 2026. Dakar race.


I look forward to see how he adapts the bike, but with nothing to show with just a few weeks before departure is concerning.

EV bikes in previous years were a bad joke. It was like watching para-Olympics.

Much as I love the Stark, there's things that it's good at and things that it's not. It's a brillant MX and hard enduro bike. It's not a rally bike. So why take it on a rally?

What's that going to prove except that it's not a rally bike?

happyinmotion said:

Much as I love the Stark, there's things that it's good at and things that it's not. It's a brillant MX and hard enduro bike. It's not a rally bike. So why take it on a rally?

What's that going to prove except that it's not a rally bike?

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This effort is not related to Stark company.
Guy is an exhibitionist who rides different vehicles for fun and exposure.

The EV category in the Dakar race is purely also-ran. They follow different, shorter route and under different (if any) rules from the main event. They don't even race the course.
It's little more than green washing for the ASO, the organizer.

Battery powered bike will not be feasible for a Dakar stage even in the long run.
Gas bikes are required to have 250-300km autonomy and they get one refueling mid-special that is usually 300-500km. On top of that there is a liaison of 300-500km that is also timed. Totals of 1000km to be completed in 8-12h are typical.

To return to your point above,
Varg is so uniquely adapted to Enduro that I'm forever surprised more people don't notice it.
Everybody is focused on it's limitation (range) in MX while ignoring it's advantages.
And then come the oddballs like this Rally or, God forgive us, Adventure riding.

OpaTsupa said:

Varg is so uniquely adapted to Enduro that I'm forever surprised more people don't notice it.

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I have now taken the Varg EX on two multi-day enduro trips which were a pretty good mix of everything including participating bikes and terrain. The point with the Varg is preparation and calculation which many just do not want to cope with on such trips. If the ICE bike run out of gas you have a friend bring a bottle of fuel or maybe get some from another bike which has still plenty - on the Varg it is a major operation most likely ending with towing the bike. On the last trip which included ICE and electric trials bikes as well the EMs would run out of power first and all had to be picked up by a truck. Some of the ICE trials bikes would run out of gas as well, but as written above it was no such drama. In such a scenario the EX had no issues with the big battery lasting all day. On a more enduro oriented trip I just had to plan very carefully and when reaching 30% I turned around - cut my days a little short vs the ICE bikes, but not by a lot.

Another issue is charging - even if you bring your charger (or have it delivered) don't even think of getting a worthwhile charge at a rest stop for more than one electric bike from a household outlet; this just doesn't happen. Only way to do that is from an EV charging station with an adapter so you have to plan for that too. Even at your home base you run out of electric power quickly when trying to charge a couple of electric bikes over night.

Above all of that stands the ability of the Varg to make such trips an extremely pleasant riding experience, at least as long as it lasts

Michael

You need to enable wireless charging in the settings.
I just park mine under a powerline and it charges from 30% to 80% for the time it takes to take a few selfies.