LONG POST!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! THIS IS ALSO POSTED ON VITAL, BUT I THOUGHT A FEW PEOPLE MIGHT NOT READ VITAL
Caveats:
I was speaking with Mike Burkeen who works for the AMA. I’m sure his thoughts and opinions don’t necessarily reflect the AMA’s corporate stance. I am relaying the conversation I had this evening to the best of my ability. I did not record the call, but wrote down notes about an hour after the call ended.
Details:
I called the AMA earlier today to express my displeasure about not being able to race my Stark Varg in AMA sanctioned motocross. Mike Burkeen called me back about four hours later and we had a lengthy phone conversation. Mike is both friendly and very knowledgeable about the subject. Also, it’s easy to understand he truly loves motocross and genuinely cares about the sport. He is the father of motocross YouTuber Matt Burkeen, whose videos I enjoy very much.
Regarding E-bikes in general, the AMA has two major concerns which are: parity in competition and safety.
Mike acknowledged that the four stroke rules didn’t turn out the best, and the AMA really wants to avoid a repeat mistake with regard to electric bike rules. He said that peak HP is not the solution for parity, as electric bikes make more horsepower and torque at throttle opening. He also stated that electric powered machinery does not complete with ICE bikes in any other competition.
On the safety issue, the AMA sees two different problems with electric bikes. The first is that riders can not hear nearby riders, thus increasing the chance of cross jump, cutting off, etc other riders. This issue is hazardous to both other riders and the electric bike rider themselves. The second safety issue relates to leaving jump faces. With an ICE bike, it’s fairly easy to determine if the rider in front of you chops the throttle up a jump face. With a silent electric bike, this is much more difficult to judge, increasing the possibility of jumping on top of another rider. This issue is also dangerous for both riders.
Regarding Stark in particular, he relayed that Stark hasn’t been working hand in hand with the AMA. When the OEMs were working to create the electric 50s, they worked with the AMA for three years prior to the 50s release to ensure the AMA had time to create the correct classes and regulations. It seems like Stark hasn’t been doing this well. He also said they have been in talks with Starks frequently and communicated the safety issue regarding noise to Stark over eight months ago. Stark hasn’t responded with any solutions to the noise issue that he is aware of. He also stated that Stark hasn’t homologated the bikes yet. I forgot to ask if this was required for professional SMX only, or also applied to amateur racing.
WHAT I AGREE WITH:
1. Parity should be figured out. However, I feel that because electric dirt bikes can change power output with an app in a matter of seconds, it doesn’t have the same “can’t get it wrong” scenario as the 250cc and 450cc rules that were made for four strokes. Once the manufacturers invested millions of dollars in engineering and tooling, the AMA couldn’t just change it to 200cc and 380cc the next year. If the AMA decides that 50HP on electric bikes is parity for the 450 class, they can literally change it the next race with very little issues. All the Stark riders can simply set their maximum HP to 48 the next weekend.
2. Safety should be figured out. I feel that a Bluetooth or wired speaker could be connected to the Stark Varg phone and modulate decibel/pitch level depending on throttle position. I have a tech background and this problem is about 1/1000 the difficulty of designing and manufacturing the Stark.
WHAT I WANT STARK TO DO:
1. Have a working relationship with the AMA. I believe the United States is the largest market for dirt bikes in the world. It’s insane not to work together with the AMA for the good of everyone. I understand Stark was basically a start up for many years, but it’s time to grow up and invest time/money in relationships, especially the important ones.
2. Design a speaker for the bike!!!
WHAT I WANT THE AMA TO DO:
1. Please develop a working relationship with Stark, even if they haven’t been the easiest to work with. They were trying to create a brand-new electric bike in the depths of the Covid supply chain nightmare. Cut them a little slack for the good of all motorcycle riders.
WHAT I WISH ALL STARK OWNERS WOULD DO:
1. Put pressure on Stark to develop the speaker. Put pressure on Stark to work with the AMA.
2. Put pressure on the AMA to work with Stark.
WHAT I WISH ALL ICE DIRT BIKE OWNERS WOULD DO:
1. Realize that more options for people owning dirt bikes is a good thing. Nobody will make you buy/ride an electric dirt bike against your will.
2. Realize that no matter what you ride, we are all having fun riding our bikes, and we share that in common!!
Caveats:
I was speaking with Mike Burkeen who works for the AMA. I’m sure his thoughts and opinions don’t necessarily reflect the AMA’s corporate stance. I am relaying the conversation I had this evening to the best of my ability. I did not record the call, but wrote down notes about an hour after the call ended.
Details:
I called the AMA earlier today to express my displeasure about not being able to race my Stark Varg in AMA sanctioned motocross. Mike Burkeen called me back about four hours later and we had a lengthy phone conversation. Mike is both friendly and very knowledgeable about the subject. Also, it’s easy to understand he truly loves motocross and genuinely cares about the sport. He is the father of motocross YouTuber Matt Burkeen, whose videos I enjoy very much.
Regarding E-bikes in general, the AMA has two major concerns which are: parity in competition and safety.
Mike acknowledged that the four stroke rules didn’t turn out the best, and the AMA really wants to avoid a repeat mistake with regard to electric bike rules. He said that peak HP is not the solution for parity, as electric bikes make more horsepower and torque at throttle opening. He also stated that electric powered machinery does not complete with ICE bikes in any other competition.
On the safety issue, the AMA sees two different problems with electric bikes. The first is that riders can not hear nearby riders, thus increasing the chance of cross jump, cutting off, etc other riders. This issue is hazardous to both other riders and the electric bike rider themselves. The second safety issue relates to leaving jump faces. With an ICE bike, it’s fairly easy to determine if the rider in front of you chops the throttle up a jump face. With a silent electric bike, this is much more difficult to judge, increasing the possibility of jumping on top of another rider. This issue is also dangerous for both riders.
Regarding Stark in particular, he relayed that Stark hasn’t been working hand in hand with the AMA. When the OEMs were working to create the electric 50s, they worked with the AMA for three years prior to the 50s release to ensure the AMA had time to create the correct classes and regulations. It seems like Stark hasn’t been doing this well. He also said they have been in talks with Starks frequently and communicated the safety issue regarding noise to Stark over eight months ago. Stark hasn’t responded with any solutions to the noise issue that he is aware of. He also stated that Stark hasn’t homologated the bikes yet. I forgot to ask if this was required for professional SMX only, or also applied to amateur racing.
WHAT I AGREE WITH:
1. Parity should be figured out. However, I feel that because electric dirt bikes can change power output with an app in a matter of seconds, it doesn’t have the same “can’t get it wrong” scenario as the 250cc and 450cc rules that were made for four strokes. Once the manufacturers invested millions of dollars in engineering and tooling, the AMA couldn’t just change it to 200cc and 380cc the next year. If the AMA decides that 50HP on electric bikes is parity for the 450 class, they can literally change it the next race with very little issues. All the Stark riders can simply set their maximum HP to 48 the next weekend.
2. Safety should be figured out. I feel that a Bluetooth or wired speaker could be connected to the Stark Varg phone and modulate decibel/pitch level depending on throttle position. I have a tech background and this problem is about 1/1000 the difficulty of designing and manufacturing the Stark.
WHAT I WANT STARK TO DO:
1. Have a working relationship with the AMA. I believe the United States is the largest market for dirt bikes in the world. It’s insane not to work together with the AMA for the good of everyone. I understand Stark was basically a start up for many years, but it’s time to grow up and invest time/money in relationships, especially the important ones.
2. Design a speaker for the bike!!!
WHAT I WANT THE AMA TO DO:
1. Please develop a working relationship with Stark, even if they haven’t been the easiest to work with. They were trying to create a brand-new electric bike in the depths of the Covid supply chain nightmare. Cut them a little slack for the good of all motorcycle riders.
WHAT I WISH ALL STARK OWNERS WOULD DO:
1. Put pressure on Stark to develop the speaker. Put pressure on Stark to work with the AMA.
2. Put pressure on the AMA to work with Stark.
WHAT I WISH ALL ICE DIRT BIKE OWNERS WOULD DO:
1. Realize that more options for people owning dirt bikes is a good thing. Nobody will make you buy/ride an electric dirt bike against your will.
2. Realize that no matter what you ride, we are all having fun riding our bikes, and we share that in common!!
MONEY 
