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2016 Alta Motors Redshift MX Electric Bike Review | First Impression
By Michael Allen & Kris Keefer December 16, 2016
We recently got a the call from Jon Bekefy from Alta Motors asking us if we wanted to be the first US off-road media outlet to test the Alta Redshift. By now you have seen what the Redshift is capable of after seeing Josh Hill take it to a first round win at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm in October. With that being said we thought we would give our first test a more off-road direction and see what it can do on some technical trails, hills, and even some wide open sand washes of the California high desert. When something as new and different as an electric dirt bike comes out, most people would expect us to say “forget everything you know about how to ride a conventional motorcycle”. However, after riding the 2016 Alta Redshift you would be more likely to hear us say “forget anything you’ve heard about electric motorcycles of the past”.
Alta’s Redshift electric motorcycle is unlike any other dirt bike you have seen before.
Photo by Jeff Allen
1 of 10
The first thing we took notice of was the obvious lack of a clutch and shifter, which is the first thing every rider goes to touch when he or she takes off for a ride. This only felt odd to us the first couple times we came to a stop as once we became acclimated it never crossed our minds again. In fact, not having to worry about slipping the clutch or being in the correct gear let us focus more on enjoying our riding experience. On a full charge the electric motor on the Redshift will last about a little over an hour when trail riding at medium to fast pace (averaging 30mph or more), and about 30 minutes when on a motocross track. Where the bar pad normally lies there is a “dashboard” on the Redshift that tells the rider: map position, battery life, and speed. There is also four pre-installed maps that can be changed on the fly with the press of a button on the left side of the bars. Map one was very useful as we were becoming familiar with the bike, and how it reacted to throttle input. Like stated at the beginning of the story, every electric bike we’ve ridden in the past has had a very “light switch feeling” throttle response, but that wasn’t the case with the Alta. Delivering the throttle gives the rider a very linear feel and comes on smooth similar to a four-stroke and never reacts too quickly to your throttle hand. Map two gives the rider slightly more power when coming from a stop, but keeps the rear wheel spin to a minimum. The third map gave significantly more power to the rider, allowing for harder hitting acceleration, but still retaining an impressive amount of traction in slippery or dry conditions.
The Redshift’s engine produces 120 foot-pounds of torque and 40 horsepower and is very linear to ride.
Photo by Jeff Allen
2 of 10
This third map was really good for a fun fast trail pace because it limited wheel spin in rocky situations, but still allowed for a snappy throttle response when we needed more power to loft the front end over trail obstacles. The fourth map was flat out impressive when it came to putting power to the rear wheel as well as transferring that raw power to the ground. Since there is no shifting or clutch slippage necessary when accelerating on the Redshift, you are able to concentrate much more on throttle delivery and are able to hear (due to lack of engine noise) the rear wheel starting to break loose than an internal combustion bike. From zero to top speed (around 72mph) there is a constant hard pulling torque that in our opinion, up to a certain speed, would have no problem keeping up with almost any production 250F, which is the class that Alta was aiming for when designing the Redshift. We will be riding a 250F back to back with the Alta Redshift in our next test to see how it stacks up on the track against a new production 250F.
WP suspension comes stock on the Alta and is set up for a 170-180 pound rider.
Photo by Jeff Allen
3 of 10
Weighing in at 250lb the Redshift is a tad on the heavy side when compared to the 250F competitor, but out on the trail that weight doesn’t correlate. Being that there is no rotating mass inside the motor, there is no gyro effect, which gives the bike a very light nimble, feeling. This makes makes direction changes possible with minimal input from the rider. We have to admit not having any engine noise was a little hard to get used to at times, but making noises inside your helmet while you ride the Redshift always works as well. The noises that an internal combustion engine masks on a normal dirt bike are magnified on the Alta, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they just take a little time to get used to. Numerous times throughout the day, we pulled off the trail to see if we had a flat tire not because it felt funny, but because when not masked by engine noise, tires sound hollow and flat. Another thing not commonly heard on a traditional dirt bike is the forks topping out when going through whoops or jumping. The electric motor does have an audible “whining” tone when accelerating, along with chain slap/noise. The suspension on the Redshift is from WP incorporating a full linkage rear suspension and 4CS forks. While these forks have somewhat of a bad reputation in the industry we didn’t have much to complain about since the bike stayed plush with minimal deflection in rocky terrain. The suspension also stayed up in the stroke when speeds picked up and had decent bottoming resistance on flat landings. The rear suspension was comfortable and compliant in most situations, but did seem to slightly step out in flat corners (possibly due to rider error). The only real complaint we have about the Redshift is that the foot pegs are slightly small and dull; the rear brake pedal could stand to be a bit sharper for extra grip on he soles of our boots.
Very distinctive curvatures are one of the first eye-catching features.
Photo by Jeff Allen
4 of 10
After spending a day of testing on the Alta Redshift, our eyes have truly been opened to the real possibility of electric bike being competitive with internal combustion bikes. Before you roll your eyes and come back with a snide comment, like we hear about electric bikes from time to time, try one for yourself. Alta will be having demo days all over the country so you can go ride one for yourself to see. You can go to www.altamotors.co for more information on demo days and find out where your local dealership is near you.
Notice anything missing? Yes, that is right there is no shifter or clutch on the Redshift. It took our test rider an hour or so to get used to not having a finger out in corners and not having to downshift.
Photo by Jeff Allen
5 of 10
If it has two wheels, knobbies and throttle we are in! Don’t get us wrong there is nothing we like more than the smell of pre-mix in the morning, but we are also excited about the current state of the high voltage fun that comes with the 2016 Alta Redshift. Especially since our friends can now hear us making dirt bike noises in our helmets.
As you can see here tester Michael Allen had no problems moving some dirt in corners. The Redhshift is very capable to get out of a soft berm in a hurry.
Photo by Jeff Allen
6 of 10
Check back to dirtrider.com for a full video to see the Alta Redshift in action in the coming days. Also, we will be continuing to put more time on the Alta Redshift to really compare it back to back with a couple 250F motocross machines that are in our fleet.
Tapping the rear brake or giving it throttle in the air on the Redshift gives the rider the same mannerisms that a combustion chamber dirt bike has.
Photo by Jeff Allen
7 of 10
With the throttle map in the one or two position the Alta has a very high traction rate and can climb over boulders fairly easy.
Photo by Jeff Allen
8 of 10
On the left side of the handlebars there is a “on the fly” map switch that has four maps. You can control how much wheel spin you want with a simple flick of the thumb.
Photo by Jeff Allen
9 of 10
The dash is very easy to read and bright while riding.
Photo by Jeff Allen
10 of 10
Source: DirtRider.com
By Michael Allen & Kris Keefer December 16, 2016
We recently got a the call from Jon Bekefy from Alta Motors asking us if we wanted to be the first US off-road media outlet to test the Alta Redshift. By now you have seen what the Redshift is capable of after seeing Josh Hill take it to a first round win at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm in October. With that being said we thought we would give our first test a more off-road direction and see what it can do on some technical trails, hills, and even some wide open sand washes of the California high desert. When something as new and different as an electric dirt bike comes out, most people would expect us to say “forget everything you know about how to ride a conventional motorcycle”. However, after riding the 2016 Alta Redshift you would be more likely to hear us say “forget anything you’ve heard about electric motorcycles of the past”.
Alta’s Redshift electric motorcycle is unlike any other dirt bike you have seen before.
Photo by Jeff Allen
1 of 10
The first thing we took notice of was the obvious lack of a clutch and shifter, which is the first thing every rider goes to touch when he or she takes off for a ride. This only felt odd to us the first couple times we came to a stop as once we became acclimated it never crossed our minds again. In fact, not having to worry about slipping the clutch or being in the correct gear let us focus more on enjoying our riding experience. On a full charge the electric motor on the Redshift will last about a little over an hour when trail riding at medium to fast pace (averaging 30mph or more), and about 30 minutes when on a motocross track. Where the bar pad normally lies there is a “dashboard” on the Redshift that tells the rider: map position, battery life, and speed. There is also four pre-installed maps that can be changed on the fly with the press of a button on the left side of the bars. Map one was very useful as we were becoming familiar with the bike, and how it reacted to throttle input. Like stated at the beginning of the story, every electric bike we’ve ridden in the past has had a very “light switch feeling” throttle response, but that wasn’t the case with the Alta. Delivering the throttle gives the rider a very linear feel and comes on smooth similar to a four-stroke and never reacts too quickly to your throttle hand. Map two gives the rider slightly more power when coming from a stop, but keeps the rear wheel spin to a minimum. The third map gave significantly more power to the rider, allowing for harder hitting acceleration, but still retaining an impressive amount of traction in slippery or dry conditions.
The Redshift’s engine produces 120 foot-pounds of torque and 40 horsepower and is very linear to ride.
Photo by Jeff Allen
2 of 10
This third map was really good for a fun fast trail pace because it limited wheel spin in rocky situations, but still allowed for a snappy throttle response when we needed more power to loft the front end over trail obstacles. The fourth map was flat out impressive when it came to putting power to the rear wheel as well as transferring that raw power to the ground. Since there is no shifting or clutch slippage necessary when accelerating on the Redshift, you are able to concentrate much more on throttle delivery and are able to hear (due to lack of engine noise) the rear wheel starting to break loose than an internal combustion bike. From zero to top speed (around 72mph) there is a constant hard pulling torque that in our opinion, up to a certain speed, would have no problem keeping up with almost any production 250F, which is the class that Alta was aiming for when designing the Redshift. We will be riding a 250F back to back with the Alta Redshift in our next test to see how it stacks up on the track against a new production 250F.
WP suspension comes stock on the Alta and is set up for a 170-180 pound rider.
Photo by Jeff Allen
3 of 10
Weighing in at 250lb the Redshift is a tad on the heavy side when compared to the 250F competitor, but out on the trail that weight doesn’t correlate. Being that there is no rotating mass inside the motor, there is no gyro effect, which gives the bike a very light nimble, feeling. This makes makes direction changes possible with minimal input from the rider. We have to admit not having any engine noise was a little hard to get used to at times, but making noises inside your helmet while you ride the Redshift always works as well. The noises that an internal combustion engine masks on a normal dirt bike are magnified on the Alta, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they just take a little time to get used to. Numerous times throughout the day, we pulled off the trail to see if we had a flat tire not because it felt funny, but because when not masked by engine noise, tires sound hollow and flat. Another thing not commonly heard on a traditional dirt bike is the forks topping out when going through whoops or jumping. The electric motor does have an audible “whining” tone when accelerating, along with chain slap/noise. The suspension on the Redshift is from WP incorporating a full linkage rear suspension and 4CS forks. While these forks have somewhat of a bad reputation in the industry we didn’t have much to complain about since the bike stayed plush with minimal deflection in rocky terrain. The suspension also stayed up in the stroke when speeds picked up and had decent bottoming resistance on flat landings. The rear suspension was comfortable and compliant in most situations, but did seem to slightly step out in flat corners (possibly due to rider error). The only real complaint we have about the Redshift is that the foot pegs are slightly small and dull; the rear brake pedal could stand to be a bit sharper for extra grip on he soles of our boots.
Very distinctive curvatures are one of the first eye-catching features.
Photo by Jeff Allen
4 of 10
After spending a day of testing on the Alta Redshift, our eyes have truly been opened to the real possibility of electric bike being competitive with internal combustion bikes. Before you roll your eyes and come back with a snide comment, like we hear about electric bikes from time to time, try one for yourself. Alta will be having demo days all over the country so you can go ride one for yourself to see. You can go to www.altamotors.co for more information on demo days and find out where your local dealership is near you.
Notice anything missing? Yes, that is right there is no shifter or clutch on the Redshift. It took our test rider an hour or so to get used to not having a finger out in corners and not having to downshift.
Photo by Jeff Allen
5 of 10
If it has two wheels, knobbies and throttle we are in! Don’t get us wrong there is nothing we like more than the smell of pre-mix in the morning, but we are also excited about the current state of the high voltage fun that comes with the 2016 Alta Redshift. Especially since our friends can now hear us making dirt bike noises in our helmets.
As you can see here tester Michael Allen had no problems moving some dirt in corners. The Redhshift is very capable to get out of a soft berm in a hurry.
Photo by Jeff Allen
6 of 10
Check back to dirtrider.com for a full video to see the Alta Redshift in action in the coming days. Also, we will be continuing to put more time on the Alta Redshift to really compare it back to back with a couple 250F motocross machines that are in our fleet.
Tapping the rear brake or giving it throttle in the air on the Redshift gives the rider the same mannerisms that a combustion chamber dirt bike has.
Photo by Jeff Allen
7 of 10
With the throttle map in the one or two position the Alta has a very high traction rate and can climb over boulders fairly easy.
Photo by Jeff Allen
8 of 10
On the left side of the handlebars there is a “on the fly” map switch that has four maps. You can control how much wheel spin you want with a simple flick of the thumb.
Photo by Jeff Allen
9 of 10
The dash is very easy to read and bright while riding.
Photo by Jeff Allen
10 of 10
Source: DirtRider.com
