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Last weekend I rode from Arizona to Hollister Hills SVRA for an Alta Redshift MX factory demo day. I wrote down my impressions and I just have to share!
First, of course, I was impressed with the bike itself. The engineering is top-notch! Solid components, very good design, everything is extremely well-thought-out. The bike is a blast to ride. There is no kickstarter, no clutch, no gears, and no gas tank. It has a power inlet plug, an on/off switch, and a power map switch. It also has an onboard computer with an LCD display. Other than that, it's just a regular dirt bike. You can do everything on it that you can do on any other dirt bike.
The NorCal people I met
Second, I was extremely impressed with the people that I met at the Hollister Hills state vehicle recreation area. From the guys who helped me find the campground at night, to the campground management who was welcoming and accommodating, to two new Alta Redshift owners -- Butch and his friend Eric the Dakar racer -- Butch let me ride his Alta Redshift before I got my leg over the official demo bike, and of course Marc the CEO, who was right there at the demo. Marc doesn't really look like he's the CEO, he looks like a really cool engineer dude, which is super cool. We chatted about the rear suspension kinematics, regenerative braking, brake piston sizing, and all the various hardware that the bike has. Marc said the bike has a gyro and accelerometers, and he (almost) promised to add the wheelie control software so that we could ride wheelies like on a Segway all day long. The other thing he said they might be making the reverse button so that the rider could get the bike out of a tight spot by engaging the electric motor in reverse. He was also talking about some interesting mountain bike suspension kinematics, but he didn't want to be too revolutionary with his first dirt bike design. He also thinks about a front electric motor -- an all-wheel drive electric bike. If this idea ever materializes, I am immediately sending my resume to Alta asking to hire me as a janitor / test rider! There were also other interesting guys there at the ORV area. One came to talk to me about the moto van conversion. In Michigan, and even in Arizona, people like my nice new van, but perhaps they have nothing to say, but in NorCal everyone looked at my van and made positive comments. It seems like the average income of the people that I met is also higher, the people are more open to socializing, they are more open minded, willing to offer help, offer advice and conversation. Some guy rolled in on an all-wheel drive off-road motorized skateboard with a wireless throttle control. There was also a bunch of kids with RC models. I got complimented on my rare Android BlackBerry keyboard slider phone twice in one day. The Bay Area is smart, high income, and is actually a lot of fun.
The Peoples Republic of California vs. the fishes, and the heavy rains
Of course, there is this man-made drought in California, where the population doubled but there haven’t been any water supply infrastructure projects in the last fifty years. They don't allow people to diverge or prevent the rain water from flowing into the San Francisco Bay. There are some fishes in the Bay who like to drink that fresh water, and the Green people are more concerned about those fishes than the people. But that's typical California. The green Mafia would rather feed the people of California to the fishes.
And there is a plenty of rainwater! There is no drought. All the fields were under water this week from all the rains, as if everyone is growing rice. I also toured the NorCal on a motorcycle in December, and I had to stay in a hotel for 2 days because of heavy rains. The streams and the rivers are overflowing. Everything is so green. I was afraid because of all the standing water nobody would show up at the track. I didn't get a cancellation notice from Alta. So I thought I had a weekend to kill, and so I went anyway.
And finally…. the Alta Redshift MX motorcycle!
How wrong I was! Despite all the recent heavy rains, the ORV area was full or riders! The Alta motorcycle demo spots filled up in the first half an hour, and so I was late, despite having stayed on site overnight. But Butch came to the rescue! He offered to switch bikes and go riding. So I rolled out my Husky 250cc 2-stroke and off we went: Butch, Eric and me.
The bike pulls very well. It does not have the same crazy off-the-line torque as gasoline bikes in 1st gear, but it still can still pop wheelies throw a plenty of roost. Sometimes it feels like a 250cc bike in 2nd gear that revs to all the way to the moon.
Despite the bike’s being 20 pounds heavier than a typical dirt bike, it feels very light. It does not feel any heavier than my 2015 Husky/KTM 250cc 2-stroke. There's no flywheel gyro effect, so leaning the bike left or right was super easy.
I didn't have the GoPro rolling when I rode myself, but here are some videos of me following Butch and Eric. I haven't trimmed them, so feel free to fast forward.
The Single Track Jungle:
Mudding:
Hillsides:
I'm very thankful to Butch for letting me ride his bike on a motocross truck track as well. Alta didn't have a motocross track as part of their demo program, so I would have missed out. It seems that Alta’s current target market is off-road riders first, then maybe motocross riders. Motocross riders are a conservative bunch, they do not want to trust a new bike with their lives and bones. But off-road riders come in all kinds of creeds, and I am sure Alta will find their customers among them and then among motocross riders as well, right after they start racing Arenacross next year, according to Marc the CEO.
At the motocross track the bike felt great. The suspension is way too soft though. Even for trail riders, I think, it is still too soft. Alta should not spring their bikes for 16 year old beginner riders; they should spring them for people who actually buy new bikes, such as intermediate level 40 year old rich guys. This is what the Motocross Action magazine keeps telling to all the dirt bike manufacturers. That 40 yo rich guys is who buys new bikes. And those guys often have potbellies, they weigh closer to 180 pounds, and they have fat and muscles, if they have been riding dirt bikes their whole lives. The suspension is so soft that I was bottoming out the suspension on the faces of the jumps. On some jumps the suspension would compress and soak in the face of the jump and the bike would undershoot the landing. On other jumps the suspension would bottom out and the bike would catapult higher and farther, as if I were seat bouncing. The landings were smooth though, despite of the soft springs. Alta did an excellent job fine-tuning the tricky 4CS fork. The fork really works. The 4CS fork is plush, and offers a very good bottoming resistance. It does not need to be revalved right from the showroom. Heavier and faster riders can just install stiffer springs and increase the low-speed rebound damping to match the springs. And swapping springs on the 4CS fork is super easy, it can be done in 10 minutes right at the track.
At the MX track:
I was not a fan of the stock tires. They are okay for hardpack and intermediate terrains, but they get plugged up with dirt very quickly on any softer terrain. I would recommend that Alta switches to Dunlop MX3S, like KTM recently did. These tires work amazing on call types off terrains. The only drawback is sometimes the knobs come off the front tire if you corner too hard on hardpack, but Alta's trail riders probably do not blast through flat track sweepers much. So I think the Dunlop MX3S tire would be a good choice.
It felt like my 2-stroke had more traction in mud, and not just because of the tires. The stop-and-go power of gasoline powertrains offers some part-time static friction, whereas the electric motor keeps churning at a steady speed maintaining a constant slip. In this respect, the gasoline motor has a better way of modulating its traction. On the other hand, I can see how an electric motor can be much more beneficial in cases where a steady slip ratio needs to be maintained. Imagine, in Supermoto or dirt track racing, where the bike is sideways, and the rider has to keep the rear wheel spinning at a precise rate in order to maintain the exact balance between the lateral and longitudinal forces. This is the case where an electric motor’s precisely controlled power could outshine any sophisticated traction control.
Riding together with two Alta Redshift bikes was interesting. A few times I found myself as a disadvantage. The electric bike guys need to develop some trail etiquette when riding with their kickstarter kicking friends. If they decide to stop, chat and rest, and then all of a sudden continue going, they should wait for their kickstarter impeded friends to kick their bikes until their bike begins making noise again. As it was, I had to play catch-up a few times after they rolled away silently. This could be an advantage in a motorcycle race, when a gasoline-powered bike falls down, and then a rider has to lift be bike, climb on it, and then restart the motor. With an electric bike you just hop back on and get going again, not losing much time.
The Awesome Alta Motors
Luckily, after hearing that I drove all the way from Arizona to ride a Redshift, Marc the CEO was able to get me in the one of the last demo ride spots after everyone else has had their rides. I'm so glad I waited. The bikes that Alta used were fast! I heard Butch's bike has a longer throttle, and it was low on battery in a limp mode when I was at the MX track, but the Alta's bikes were the latest and greatest and fully charged. They were even a bit too fast for me for trail riding. I could get myself into trouble very quickly with their power.
As a lined up to start the demo ride, a guy aimed a camera at me. As a joke, I asked whether I should pop a wheelie. I then blipped the throttle and the front end went right up! An Alta guy rushed to me and asked to switch from from Map 4 to Map 1 in the pit area, haha!
I commented about the sizing of the pistons on the rear brake. The rear brake is too touchy. It is way too easy to engage and lock up the wheel. The sizing of the pistons is probably the same as on regular motocross bikes, but on regular motocross bikes the brakes have to overcome the inertia of the engine and the flywheel whereas there is almost no drivetrain inertia on this electric bike. It feels as if you are braking with the clutch pulled in. It is extremely easy to press the rear brake too hard and lock up the rear wheel. Different piston sizes, leverage ratios, or pads should improve this issue.
Also, a Left Hand Rear Brake (LHRB) addition or conversion would do wonders for this bile. You could keep both feet on the footpegs and use the left hand’s one or two fingers for rear braking. I have a Rekluse clutch and a Rekluse LHRB on my 250cc 2-stroke Husky, and I love it. I often drag the rear brake through technical sections, and through downhills. It is truly indispensable there. And this is even more important on the Redshift because it doesn't seem to have enough of the engine/regenerative braking. I told Marc that the bike would benefit from more engine braking, it would give the rider more control and the rear end will be more stable off-throttle. I also said it would be cool for the rider to be able to adjust or set different levels of engine braking. To which he replied: “Look at the throttle, it can be rotated it a little forward. This feature does not have any function added to it, but anything can be added.” So, Alta can add user controllable engine braking, if it is decides to.
As I said, I didn't feel comfortable with applying the rear brake aggressively. Consequently, I didn’t feel comfortable going fast in unknown tight sections because I didn't know whether I could stop quickly enough. Modulating the rear brake on a light rear wheel is really tricky! It is much easier to modulate the brake precisely when sudden wheel deceleration and instant lockups are "hampered" by a rotating flywheel of the gasoline motor. Apparently, the electric “Virtual Flywheel” does not work in braking. Yet.
Processional racecar drivers always say that they can brake much harder when they are in gear. Motorcycle riding schools teach to always brake with the clutch out. With a heavy flywheel you can control the degree of its deceleration. With a zero inertia flywheel all you can control is whether it is stopped or not. And, remember, the rear wheel unloads and bounces in braking, so partial lockups are inevitable. I've heard an argument that since the LHRB works on a mountain bike, then it should work just as well on a motorcycle. But nobody rides mountain bikes at 80 mph, or does panic braking on from 80 to zero, while trying to avoid various things like cars, curbs, light poles, and pedestrians.
I mentioned to Marc that I think I missed the clutch. Sometimes I just want to pull it in, rev up the engine to the moon, and dump the clutch. This is sometimes needed, and it is used by top riders on supercross tracks, or on trails by trail riders, when they want to lunch from a small kicker and cover a long distance. Without the clutch it may not be possible. But Marc said that they could add a tiny boost to the electric motor for a split second. Turns out the power of the bike is not limited by the motor or the battery but by the heat that it can consistently dissipate. But for short bursts it doesn't matter! It is possible to program the controller to give the bike a short burst of power if say the rider blips the throttle very quickly from fully closed to fully open, or just opens the throttle very quickly.
If Marc wants to work on an AWD prototypes, I'd have to brush up my janitorial skills and send in my resume. I want to ride all the prototypes that they make. I also want to learn to ride Segway style nose wheelies in both the forward and the reverse directions!!!!
Is there an Alta Redshift in the future for me?
Apparently, the bike can last about 2 hours of trail riding, and about 0.5 – 1 hour on a motocross track, depending on the rider’s skill level. Of course, pro riders might tax the battery very heavily and might run out of juice in just 30 minutes. But non-pro riders, and professional practice riders, should be able to get a plenty of motos before the battery is empty.
If I get this bike, I will be taking a power inverter or a generator with me to the track, so that I could keep the bike plugged in between the motos. Burning gas to create electricity…. this probably is not what the Green mafia had in mind. The bike is best charged from a 220V source, it takes two hours, but it charges from 110V as well, although it takes longer.
When am I going to buy my own Redshift? I should probably wait until there is a dealer in my home state of Michigan, or in the Northern Ohio. I would also like a dealer somewhere near Phoenix or Las Vegas. However, if Alta decides to give me a laptop cable and their software, then should be able to get by without a local dealer support just fine. There is no maintenance or frequent repairs that need to be done on the electric motor or the battery, and the rest of the work I can either do myself or take the bike to any other motorcycle shop. Maybe then I could also support other Alta Redshift riders in the area, and run a Tesla Alta store from my garage!
I am not an environmentalist, or a fanboy of electric cars, bicycles, or motorcycles. But I do appreciate and I am very intrigued by the advantages and new opportunities that the electric motors generate. Riding can become safer, faster, more controllable, and with features and tricks that no one has imagined, like Segway-style wheelies in forward and reverse. Hell, if I become good at it I might make it a goal to leave the front wheel at home and wheelie through my favorite trails all day long non-stop. Or maybe power drift through some twisties sideways, in one fluid and perfectly controlled slide.
MX (Philip)
First, of course, I was impressed with the bike itself. The engineering is top-notch! Solid components, very good design, everything is extremely well-thought-out. The bike is a blast to ride. There is no kickstarter, no clutch, no gears, and no gas tank. It has a power inlet plug, an on/off switch, and a power map switch. It also has an onboard computer with an LCD display. Other than that, it's just a regular dirt bike. You can do everything on it that you can do on any other dirt bike.
The NorCal people I met
Second, I was extremely impressed with the people that I met at the Hollister Hills state vehicle recreation area. From the guys who helped me find the campground at night, to the campground management who was welcoming and accommodating, to two new Alta Redshift owners -- Butch and his friend Eric the Dakar racer -- Butch let me ride his Alta Redshift before I got my leg over the official demo bike, and of course Marc the CEO, who was right there at the demo. Marc doesn't really look like he's the CEO, he looks like a really cool engineer dude, which is super cool. We chatted about the rear suspension kinematics, regenerative braking, brake piston sizing, and all the various hardware that the bike has. Marc said the bike has a gyro and accelerometers, and he (almost) promised to add the wheelie control software so that we could ride wheelies like on a Segway all day long. The other thing he said they might be making the reverse button so that the rider could get the bike out of a tight spot by engaging the electric motor in reverse. He was also talking about some interesting mountain bike suspension kinematics, but he didn't want to be too revolutionary with his first dirt bike design. He also thinks about a front electric motor -- an all-wheel drive electric bike. If this idea ever materializes, I am immediately sending my resume to Alta asking to hire me as a janitor / test rider! There were also other interesting guys there at the ORV area. One came to talk to me about the moto van conversion. In Michigan, and even in Arizona, people like my nice new van, but perhaps they have nothing to say, but in NorCal everyone looked at my van and made positive comments. It seems like the average income of the people that I met is also higher, the people are more open to socializing, they are more open minded, willing to offer help, offer advice and conversation. Some guy rolled in on an all-wheel drive off-road motorized skateboard with a wireless throttle control. There was also a bunch of kids with RC models. I got complimented on my rare Android BlackBerry keyboard slider phone twice in one day. The Bay Area is smart, high income, and is actually a lot of fun.
The Peoples Republic of California vs. the fishes, and the heavy rains
Of course, there is this man-made drought in California, where the population doubled but there haven’t been any water supply infrastructure projects in the last fifty years. They don't allow people to diverge or prevent the rain water from flowing into the San Francisco Bay. There are some fishes in the Bay who like to drink that fresh water, and the Green people are more concerned about those fishes than the people. But that's typical California. The green Mafia would rather feed the people of California to the fishes.
And there is a plenty of rainwater! There is no drought. All the fields were under water this week from all the rains, as if everyone is growing rice. I also toured the NorCal on a motorcycle in December, and I had to stay in a hotel for 2 days because of heavy rains. The streams and the rivers are overflowing. Everything is so green. I was afraid because of all the standing water nobody would show up at the track. I didn't get a cancellation notice from Alta. So I thought I had a weekend to kill, and so I went anyway.
And finally…. the Alta Redshift MX motorcycle!
How wrong I was! Despite all the recent heavy rains, the ORV area was full or riders! The Alta motorcycle demo spots filled up in the first half an hour, and so I was late, despite having stayed on site overnight. But Butch came to the rescue! He offered to switch bikes and go riding. So I rolled out my Husky 250cc 2-stroke and off we went: Butch, Eric and me.
The bike pulls very well. It does not have the same crazy off-the-line torque as gasoline bikes in 1st gear, but it still can still pop wheelies throw a plenty of roost. Sometimes it feels like a 250cc bike in 2nd gear that revs to all the way to the moon.
Despite the bike’s being 20 pounds heavier than a typical dirt bike, it feels very light. It does not feel any heavier than my 2015 Husky/KTM 250cc 2-stroke. There's no flywheel gyro effect, so leaning the bike left or right was super easy.
I didn't have the GoPro rolling when I rode myself, but here are some videos of me following Butch and Eric. I haven't trimmed them, so feel free to fast forward.
The Single Track Jungle:
Mudding:
Hillsides:
I'm very thankful to Butch for letting me ride his bike on a motocross truck track as well. Alta didn't have a motocross track as part of their demo program, so I would have missed out. It seems that Alta’s current target market is off-road riders first, then maybe motocross riders. Motocross riders are a conservative bunch, they do not want to trust a new bike with their lives and bones. But off-road riders come in all kinds of creeds, and I am sure Alta will find their customers among them and then among motocross riders as well, right after they start racing Arenacross next year, according to Marc the CEO.
At the motocross track the bike felt great. The suspension is way too soft though. Even for trail riders, I think, it is still too soft. Alta should not spring their bikes for 16 year old beginner riders; they should spring them for people who actually buy new bikes, such as intermediate level 40 year old rich guys. This is what the Motocross Action magazine keeps telling to all the dirt bike manufacturers. That 40 yo rich guys is who buys new bikes. And those guys often have potbellies, they weigh closer to 180 pounds, and they have fat and muscles, if they have been riding dirt bikes their whole lives. The suspension is so soft that I was bottoming out the suspension on the faces of the jumps. On some jumps the suspension would compress and soak in the face of the jump and the bike would undershoot the landing. On other jumps the suspension would bottom out and the bike would catapult higher and farther, as if I were seat bouncing. The landings were smooth though, despite of the soft springs. Alta did an excellent job fine-tuning the tricky 4CS fork. The fork really works. The 4CS fork is plush, and offers a very good bottoming resistance. It does not need to be revalved right from the showroom. Heavier and faster riders can just install stiffer springs and increase the low-speed rebound damping to match the springs. And swapping springs on the 4CS fork is super easy, it can be done in 10 minutes right at the track.
At the MX track:
I was not a fan of the stock tires. They are okay for hardpack and intermediate terrains, but they get plugged up with dirt very quickly on any softer terrain. I would recommend that Alta switches to Dunlop MX3S, like KTM recently did. These tires work amazing on call types off terrains. The only drawback is sometimes the knobs come off the front tire if you corner too hard on hardpack, but Alta's trail riders probably do not blast through flat track sweepers much. So I think the Dunlop MX3S tire would be a good choice.
It felt like my 2-stroke had more traction in mud, and not just because of the tires. The stop-and-go power of gasoline powertrains offers some part-time static friction, whereas the electric motor keeps churning at a steady speed maintaining a constant slip. In this respect, the gasoline motor has a better way of modulating its traction. On the other hand, I can see how an electric motor can be much more beneficial in cases where a steady slip ratio needs to be maintained. Imagine, in Supermoto or dirt track racing, where the bike is sideways, and the rider has to keep the rear wheel spinning at a precise rate in order to maintain the exact balance between the lateral and longitudinal forces. This is the case where an electric motor’s precisely controlled power could outshine any sophisticated traction control.
Riding together with two Alta Redshift bikes was interesting. A few times I found myself as a disadvantage. The electric bike guys need to develop some trail etiquette when riding with their kickstarter kicking friends. If they decide to stop, chat and rest, and then all of a sudden continue going, they should wait for their kickstarter impeded friends to kick their bikes until their bike begins making noise again. As it was, I had to play catch-up a few times after they rolled away silently. This could be an advantage in a motorcycle race, when a gasoline-powered bike falls down, and then a rider has to lift be bike, climb on it, and then restart the motor. With an electric bike you just hop back on and get going again, not losing much time.
The Awesome Alta Motors
Luckily, after hearing that I drove all the way from Arizona to ride a Redshift, Marc the CEO was able to get me in the one of the last demo ride spots after everyone else has had their rides. I'm so glad I waited. The bikes that Alta used were fast! I heard Butch's bike has a longer throttle, and it was low on battery in a limp mode when I was at the MX track, but the Alta's bikes were the latest and greatest and fully charged. They were even a bit too fast for me for trail riding. I could get myself into trouble very quickly with their power.
As a lined up to start the demo ride, a guy aimed a camera at me. As a joke, I asked whether I should pop a wheelie. I then blipped the throttle and the front end went right up! An Alta guy rushed to me and asked to switch from from Map 4 to Map 1 in the pit area, haha!
I commented about the sizing of the pistons on the rear brake. The rear brake is too touchy. It is way too easy to engage and lock up the wheel. The sizing of the pistons is probably the same as on regular motocross bikes, but on regular motocross bikes the brakes have to overcome the inertia of the engine and the flywheel whereas there is almost no drivetrain inertia on this electric bike. It feels as if you are braking with the clutch pulled in. It is extremely easy to press the rear brake too hard and lock up the rear wheel. Different piston sizes, leverage ratios, or pads should improve this issue.
Also, a Left Hand Rear Brake (LHRB) addition or conversion would do wonders for this bile. You could keep both feet on the footpegs and use the left hand’s one or two fingers for rear braking. I have a Rekluse clutch and a Rekluse LHRB on my 250cc 2-stroke Husky, and I love it. I often drag the rear brake through technical sections, and through downhills. It is truly indispensable there. And this is even more important on the Redshift because it doesn't seem to have enough of the engine/regenerative braking. I told Marc that the bike would benefit from more engine braking, it would give the rider more control and the rear end will be more stable off-throttle. I also said it would be cool for the rider to be able to adjust or set different levels of engine braking. To which he replied: “Look at the throttle, it can be rotated it a little forward. This feature does not have any function added to it, but anything can be added.” So, Alta can add user controllable engine braking, if it is decides to.
As I said, I didn't feel comfortable with applying the rear brake aggressively. Consequently, I didn’t feel comfortable going fast in unknown tight sections because I didn't know whether I could stop quickly enough. Modulating the rear brake on a light rear wheel is really tricky! It is much easier to modulate the brake precisely when sudden wheel deceleration and instant lockups are "hampered" by a rotating flywheel of the gasoline motor. Apparently, the electric “Virtual Flywheel” does not work in braking. Yet.
Processional racecar drivers always say that they can brake much harder when they are in gear. Motorcycle riding schools teach to always brake with the clutch out. With a heavy flywheel you can control the degree of its deceleration. With a zero inertia flywheel all you can control is whether it is stopped or not. And, remember, the rear wheel unloads and bounces in braking, so partial lockups are inevitable. I've heard an argument that since the LHRB works on a mountain bike, then it should work just as well on a motorcycle. But nobody rides mountain bikes at 80 mph, or does panic braking on from 80 to zero, while trying to avoid various things like cars, curbs, light poles, and pedestrians.
I mentioned to Marc that I think I missed the clutch. Sometimes I just want to pull it in, rev up the engine to the moon, and dump the clutch. This is sometimes needed, and it is used by top riders on supercross tracks, or on trails by trail riders, when they want to lunch from a small kicker and cover a long distance. Without the clutch it may not be possible. But Marc said that they could add a tiny boost to the electric motor for a split second. Turns out the power of the bike is not limited by the motor or the battery but by the heat that it can consistently dissipate. But for short bursts it doesn't matter! It is possible to program the controller to give the bike a short burst of power if say the rider blips the throttle very quickly from fully closed to fully open, or just opens the throttle very quickly.
If Marc wants to work on an AWD prototypes, I'd have to brush up my janitorial skills and send in my resume. I want to ride all the prototypes that they make. I also want to learn to ride Segway style nose wheelies in both the forward and the reverse directions!!!!
Is there an Alta Redshift in the future for me?
Apparently, the bike can last about 2 hours of trail riding, and about 0.5 – 1 hour on a motocross track, depending on the rider’s skill level. Of course, pro riders might tax the battery very heavily and might run out of juice in just 30 minutes. But non-pro riders, and professional practice riders, should be able to get a plenty of motos before the battery is empty.
If I get this bike, I will be taking a power inverter or a generator with me to the track, so that I could keep the bike plugged in between the motos. Burning gas to create electricity…. this probably is not what the Green mafia had in mind. The bike is best charged from a 220V source, it takes two hours, but it charges from 110V as well, although it takes longer.
When am I going to buy my own Redshift? I should probably wait until there is a dealer in my home state of Michigan, or in the Northern Ohio. I would also like a dealer somewhere near Phoenix or Las Vegas. However, if Alta decides to give me a laptop cable and their software, then should be able to get by without a local dealer support just fine. There is no maintenance or frequent repairs that need to be done on the electric motor or the battery, and the rest of the work I can either do myself or take the bike to any other motorcycle shop. Maybe then I could also support other Alta Redshift riders in the area, and run a Tesla Alta store from my garage!
I am not an environmentalist, or a fanboy of electric cars, bicycles, or motorcycles. But I do appreciate and I am very intrigued by the advantages and new opportunities that the electric motors generate. Riding can become safer, faster, more controllable, and with features and tricks that no one has imagined, like Segway-style wheelies in forward and reverse. Hell, if I become good at it I might make it a goal to leave the front wheel at home and wheelie through my favorite trails all day long non-stop. Or maybe power drift through some twisties sideways, in one fluid and perfectly controlled slide.
MX (Philip)
