Honda CR Electric! Yes!

[F451]

Re the most efficient way to develop and build this bike, using an existing model bike and converting it to an EV, or doing a ground up, from scratch design.

Remember, this is Honda. They have the resources to start from the ground up, its not like they're a start up company. Besides their motorcycle business, they are of course one of the worlds largest auto mfr's, they have a huge segment of the small engine business, and they also mfr business class jets, and who knows what else.

They have the coin to start from scratch, it would practically be a drop in the bucket for them. And its the Honda way.

In my mind, its just a matter of if they want to do this. If anyone can pick up where Alta left off, its Honda.

I'm on the edge of my seat here to learn whether this is a teaser, or whether its a sneak peak of what is right around the corner (1-2 years).

 

[F451]

FYI:
It;s the real deal.
Mugen was all over us @ RBSR.
Welcome to the Motorcycle Industry. lol

Can you elaborate more?

Are you saying Honda has plans to put this into production? If so, any timeline? Target price?

Inquiring minds MUST know. Now. (I'm going to bed in 10 mins, so if you could get back to me before that I'd really appreciate it otherwise I'm going to by up all night trying to figure this out from the little info you offered above, Lol.

 

[Philip]

2017 Mugen E.Rex concept:



New 2019 Mugen E.Rex Electric Dirt Bike prototype:

 

[Philip]

Same powertrain as the CR Electric. This is telling me that the Honda bike that we saw was not an empty box mockup. This is very likely a real powertrain that actually works.

The Asphalt & Rubber article New Mugen E.Rex Electric Dirt Bike Looks Very...Familiar is actually worth reading:

"One thing is for certain though, these machines were designed to be Alta-killers, and they look very close to coming to market. Stay tuned. Below is the press info we got from Mugen.

Electric Motocross machine “E.REX Prototype”

2 years ago MUGEN unveiled an electric motocross concept named “E.REX”, and this year at the Mugen booth the company showed just how far the programme has come with the “E.REX Prototype”.

E.REX Prototype continues the powerful dinosaur visual theme, with the “T” from T-Rex substituted by“E” to denote the electric powertrain.

The EV MX programme is a collaborative project between Honda and MUGEN, with MUGEN, drawing on experience gained through the highly successful Shinden programme, taking responsibility for development of the battery and drivetrain."

They are calling this bike a "protorype".

 

[F451]

Same powertrain as the CR Electric. This is telling me that the Honda bike that we saw was not an empty box mockup. This is very likely a real powertrain that actually works.

The Asphalt & Rubber article New Mugen E.Rex Electric Dirt Bike Looks Very...Familiar is actually worth reading:

"One thing is for certain though, these machines were designed to be Alta-killers, and they look very close to coming to market. Stay tuned. Below is the press info we got from Mugen."

Oh my G - O - D.

It's happening people...Lol.

No seriously, I think we all knew it was just a matter of time. I hope that time is finally here (that one of the majors would get into the game in a serious way).

And an Alta killer? Wow. I have been thinking that if any of the major produced an Alta equivalent they would have a run away hit, anything superior, wow.

Where do I send my check? My second kid can figure out how to pay for UC Davis on her own. Sorry about that kid.

 

[Oded]

KTM also produced an electric bike - Freeride E.
No one can blame KTM for not having the resources for it.

They came up with a mediocre bike, range & performance wise.
The small company "Alta" outperformed it in any way.

I am saying that Honda's bike is a big step in the right direction, but I'd wait with the celebrations.

 

[autohog]

Great to see a step in the right direction but I don’t think it will be happening anytime soon. Not getting any hopes up until I start seeing a functional bike in some magazines. It would have been much more promising if it had come from Yamaha considering they have a really bitchin electric trials bike. I would have been jumping up n down.

 

[autohog]

It is something Honda (Mugen) could build and potentially produce if it is in their business plans. Mugen has won the last four or five Isle of Man TT Zero races in a row. Last year the bike (with Michael Rutter onboard) averaged over 120 mph for the full 38 mile lap of the Mountain Course.

View attachment 2693

Holy smokes, that’s impressive! Thanks for this Well then, my hope meter just went up.

 

[autohog]

2017 Mugen E.Rex concept:

View attachment 2699

New 2019 Mugen E.Rex Electric Dirt Bike prototype:

View attachment 2700

I wanna know if the E Rex plastic up top will fit my KTM 2stroke

 

[Rix]

While it looks fantastic, there's no way the (future) production version will look like that. That bike has nearly every works part they can throw at it. Probably easily a $20k dirtbike.

And i'm not seeing any indication of a decent sized battery. I'm assuming the black area infront of the motor with the carbon fiber looking cover over it is the battery. Looks less than half the size of our battery packs.

I would say 20k is the best case scenario, the forks alone are almost 6k, at least to guys like me on the street.

 

[Rix]

View attachment 2690

My Alta needs a friend!

+1. If we were to look at the social stratification of all the Alta owners on the forum, I am certain I would be at the bottom of the list for house hold income. But, I was able to finance my Alta with zero down which is what made owning my EXR doable. That said, That said, I like electric dirt bikes so much more than gassers, I would do it again if this Honda comes to market. All that said, I will have my Alta paid off in 4 years or less, hopefully it keeps running till the note is paid off.

 

[Redwolf]

+1. If we were to look at the social stratification of all the Alta owners on the forum, I am certain I would be at the bottom of the list for house hold income. But, I was able to finance my Alta with zero down which is what made owning my EXR doable. That said, That said, I like electric dirt bikes so much more than gassers, I would do it again if this Honda comes to market. All that said, I will have my Alta paid off in 4 years or less, hopefully it keeps running till the note is paid off.

Whatever your situation, owning an Alta makes you rich!

 

[F451]

I'm running down to my local Honda dealer this afternoon to get my name on the top of the waiting list. If they don't have one (a list), I'm getting out a piece of paper and creating one for them, Lol. I've been joking with my buddy who is a sales guy there for years "Hey man, one of these days I will buy a brand new bike from you" and we laugh. I usually buy 1 or 2 year old dirt bikes, but if this thing, or something simliar comes to market, I'm buying one.

And I'll be willing to pay a premium for it. 58 yrs old, not getting any younger, not getting any healthier.

I also know a guy that is in the mc industry, he has contacts with all the majors and I'm doing all I can NOT to call him up and tell him to get on the horn with his Honda contacts. We grew up across the street from each other and don't really talk nowadays, except very occasionally, usually about something going on in the mc business, but I think it would be imposing on him as I'm thinking if Honda has not made any real info on the bike public, then they don't want their employees leaking info.

Still....I'm dying here, Lol.

 

[Philip]

More pics and media coverage:

https://motocrossactionmag.com/amp/first-look-honda-crf-shinden-all-electric-prototype/

 

[Rix]

Whatever your situation, owning an Alta makes you rich!

No shit! This is a Lone Ranger heavy deep philosophical statement here. I never thought of it this way, but you are right. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Rix]

More pics and media coverage:

https://motocrossactionmag.com/amp/first-look-honda-crf-shinden-all-electric-prototype/

Thanks for the link Philip, the close ups indicate that this bike prolly has around a 4.5kwh battery. I don't think it could be much more than that. We will know for sure if the machine comes to market.

 

[F451]

So I was (probably foolishly) expecting some type of follow up with additional info on this Honda CR-E bike prototype, all the usual things we would want to know: battery pack, motor, expected range, performance, charge time, and the biggest one, target release date. Seems odd that they haven't provided even the most basic target specs. Althought I did read they were aiming for an "Alta Killer" -oohh my dog! And I see the moto internet has blown up over it, but no real info or even speculation on all the usual sites.

Me this morning:



Do you guys expect additional info in the next few days, at least for Honda's performance goals and expected release date?

Or do you guys think this is just a trial balloon that is going to float away in the wind and we don't hear anything about it for the next 5 years or something?

My bottom line is if this thing is going to be equivalent (or better) performing then the MXR, and priced close to a modern 450 mx bike, or even significantly higher, and going to be released in the next year or two, I think they will sell like hot cakes and I will buy one.

On the other hand, if its just a flash in the pan, and no additional info is offered, I guess I will just forget about it and keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Thoughts?

Anyone know anyone at Honda Corp that can enlighten us?

I'm kinda dying here and its all about me so, I'd really appreciate an update Honda, like, now, Lol.

 

[Redwolf]

Based on exactly no facts, my opinion is that this Honda is just a cake topper, no plans yet to take it to market. It was just another opportunity for the r&d guys to put together a what if bike and have a laugh.

But if enough of the public shows interest, in a couple years they might make another prototype, and publish some specs to more carefully gauge the market. In five years they may possibly be fielding a production model, but who knows.

 

[Philip]

MXA said that the bike is based on the CFR450. But an American Honda guy in Tokyo said it is based on the CRF250. Nobody knows any specs, that's certain.

My guess that, at best, the first bike that comes out will be a 250cc equivalent, and it might come out in very limited numbers 2-3 years from now.

But it could also be just Honda testing the waters and gauging interest as a marketing exercise. If they were indeed serious about making a mass-produced electric MX bike, they wouldn't have let Mugen lead the design and reuse an old frame. They would have build the electric bike properly from ground up. I think this is a more likely scenario.

I think they were spot-on when they said it was a prototype. Meaning, it is just for R&D and not for production. And the R&D that they are doing is obviously on the electric powertrain, and and not on the aluminum frame. This is why the battery looks small -- they didn't want to hang a 70 lbs battery pack on it and make it an exercise in managing the extra weight. Besides, they always have mechanics on hand to swap battery packs quickly, so why bother doing your R&D with using a bulky and heavy pack?

It could be that they are also waiting for the battery tech to advance enough to make electric motorcycles profitable and dominant performance-wise, while they are developing the various control systems for their future use. This would be a really sad scenario, if true, but with the new generation being more interested in Playstations and Xboxes, rather than motorcycles, this is also likely.

 

[Mark911]

Nobody (except Alta, and we saw what happened to them/us) wants to be the first to this particular market. If one of the big 6 invests in something that'll be as good as or better than our bike it'll be lots more than $25-50M down the tubes if it fails to sell. Way more. So, just do enough R&D to be READY to deploy your production designers and engineers only after someone else proves the market is ready. The market in this case includes the consumer, environmental/political forces, AND various organizations like the AMA and FIM. Also, all major manufactures have a strategy of planned obsolesce and the timing must be right as the budgets for such projects must be allocated years ahead of time. So, in a way it's now a big game of chicken. Who's going to flinch first?