Owner's Review Stark Varg vs Alta MXR

[F451]

Interesting Alta MXR vs Stark Varg comments from my friend who bought my '18 Alta MXR from me, I bumped into him at my club property and he told me that he had recently ridden another buddy's Varg. He said the Varg is great, but that he didn't feel that it is much better then the Alta. He said the Varg has better suspension, more power, but overall, not a huge difference. He commented that the Varg felt heavy like the Alta, throttle response was similar between the two. He said he was expecting the Varg to have more "snap" for lofting the front tire, etc, but that it did not. He was interested in buying a Varg after owning the Alta, but now he's planning on hanging onto the Alta and waiting to see what comes along in the future.

He said he rode the Varg in 40 & 50 hp modes on the track and trails.

For reference, he's a B level rider, fit, rides moto and trails, can't remember what his gas bike is at the moment, thinking a KTM 250SX smoker, or possibly a 450SX, he's been through a few bikes since I've known him. Good guy, no axes to grind.

From what he told me, I'm glad I cancelled my Varg order, I was hoping for next level performance, sends like its more of an iterative improvement over the Alta. Another buddy in my riding club is picking up a Varg soon so I'm hoping to get a ride on it and seeing what its all about for myself.

Thought some of you might be interested to hear what he had to say.

*fyi, this is not an owners review obviously, but I had to pick a prefix, so selected owner v media, didn't mean to mislead.

 

[wfopete]

My major concern with the Alta would be the no-longer-made-electronic parts availability.

 

[F451]

My major concern with the Alta would be the no-longer-made-electronic parts availability.

Yes of course. My post was not to suggest people should choose an Alta over a Varg, rather for folks that are considering buying a Varg, its just another riding impression that people here could relate to since so many are familiar with the Alta.

 

[Rashid510]

My major concern with the Alta would be the no-longer-made-electronic parts availability.

It was a major concern, but over the past few years the parts are pretty repairable. Hardest one is the A pack top cover, but the remaining parts for the R packs along with batteries are replaceable, repairable and usable.

 

[JP racing]

It was a major concern, but over the past few years the parts are pretty repairable. Hardest one is the A pack top cover, but the remaining parts for the R packs along with batteries are replaceable, repairable and usable.

Can confirm, I have an A pack top cover I have not been able to repair.

Remember to turn off your bike key while charging.

 

[Rashid510]

Can confirm, I have an A pack top cover I have not been able to repair.

Remember to turn off your bike key while charging.

@JP racing we should get to fixing that top cover

 

[Viktor]

Interesting Alta MXR vs Stark Varg comments from my friend who bought my '18 Alta MXR from me, I bumped into him at my club property and he told me that he had recently ridden another buddy's Varg. He said the Varg is great, but that he didn't feel that it is much better then the Alta. He said the Varg has better suspension, more power, but overall, not a huge difference. He commented that the Varg felt heavy like the Alta, throttle response was similar between the two. He said he was expecting the Varg to have more "snap" for lofting the front tire, etc, but that it did not. He was interested in buying a Varg after owning the Alta, but now he's planning on hanging onto the Alta and waiting to see what comes along in the future.

He said he rode the Varg in 40 & 50 hp modes on the track and trails.

For reference, he's a B level rider, fit, rides moto and trails, can't remember what his gas bike is at the moment, thinking a KTM 250SX smoker, or possibly a 450SX, he's been through a few bikes since I've known him. Good guy, no axes to grind.

From what he told me, I'm glad I cancelled my Varg order, I was hoping for next level performance, sends like its more of an iterative improvement over the Alta. Another buddy in my riding club is picking up a Varg soon so I'm hoping to get a ride on it and seeing what its all about for myself.

Thought some of you might be interested to hear what he had to say.

*fyi, this is not an owners review obviously, but I had to pick a prefix, so selected owner v media, didn't mean to mislead.

I'm B lever rider too and feel the same like your friend. When I compare 18 MXR and Varg, the biggest difference is range and charging time, but the rest is similar for me. I actually have two Altas and this option is better than one Varg for me.

My third bike is Lizcat, but that was definitely mistake to spend money for this ''Swiss'' bike. Bought it on January 2024 and still some issues. After last problem, when the motor has some burried winding inside, they told me that it is not under warranty :-(
Be carefull about this company ....

 

[Motophyllic]

Can confirm, I have an A pack top cover I have not been able to repair.

Remember to turn off your bike key while charging.

I didn’t know you were supposed to turn the key off, I leave it on during charging so I can see what state I am at. Is this something I should be concerned about? I have an R pack and have been doing it for five years now.

 

[rayivers]

Here's what I had in my notes:

"Leaving the bike on while charging can leave the BCU running & fry critical 12V components + the DCDC, which is usually why the bike dies." I thought there was a reference to the 12V battery dying too, can't find it now. I left mine on once for about 5h, freaked me out a little.

 

[Motophyllic]

Here's what I had in my notes:

"Leaving the bike on while charging can leave the BCU running & fry critical 12V components + the DCDC, which is usually why the bike dies." I thought there was a reference to the 12V battery dying too, can't find it now. I left mine on once for about 5h, freaked me out a little.

That’s great to know, thank you for the info. I do everything I can to keep my bikes running.

 

[Chaconne]

Interesting Alta MXR vs Stark Varg comments from my friend who bought my '18 Alta MXR from me, I bumped into him at my club property and he told me that he had recently ridden another buddy's Varg. He said the Varg is great, but that he didn't feel that it is much better then the Alta. He said the Varg has better suspension, more power, but overall, not a huge difference. He commented that the Varg felt heavy like the Alta, throttle response was similar between the two. He said he was expecting the Varg to have more "snap" for lofting the front tire, etc, but that it did not. He was interested in buying a Varg after owning the Alta, but now he's planning on hanging onto the Alta and waiting to see what comes along in the future.

He said he rode the Varg in 40 & 50 hp modes on the track and trails.

For reference, he's a B level rider, fit, rides moto and trails, can't remember what his gas bike is at the moment, thinking a KTM 250SX smoker, or possibly a 450SX, he's been through a few bikes since I've known him. Good guy, no axes to grind.

From what he told me, I'm glad I cancelled my Varg order, I was hoping for next level performance, sends like its more of an iterative improvement over the Alta. Another buddy in my riding club is picking up a Varg soon so I'm hoping to get a ride on it and seeing what its all about for myself.

Thought some of you might be interested to hear what he had to say.

*fyi, this is not an owners review obviously, but I had to pick a prefix, so selected owner v media, didn't mean to mislead.

I only test rode a friends Alta never owned. I do think the Varg is an iterative upgrade but I think the performance improvements with the Varg are pretty substantial. I own the 80HP Varg.

For Gas bikes I own a KTM 300 tpi 2T and a Yamaha WR450 4T as well. And the Stark is better than both of those for me at least. And at least compared to KTM ICE bikes not all that much more expensive either.

My only real complaint with the Stark so far is some of the Euro quirks --but overall I would buy it again compared to most other Es and ICE bikes out there that I have tried. I would have probably bought the Alta back in the day but I ended up with the TPI back then because Alta was going through the business churn at that time.

 

[JP racing]

Here's what I had in my notes:

"Leaving the bike on while charging can leave the BCU running & fry critical 12V components + the DCDC, which is usually why the bike dies." I thought there was a reference to the 12V battery dying too, can't find it now. I left mine on once for about 5h, freaked me out a little.

This may be specific to the A pack… which is where I had the problem.

 

[Rashid510]

This may be specific to the A pack… which is where I had the problem.

Its technically both. But the A pack BCU is more suspect to the DCDC dying (which is why this happens)