Comments on: TTXGP North America 2010 – Teams Announced – Who is Missing?

By: Mark Armenta

Mark Armenta — Wed, 19 May 2010 19:10:20 +0000

I saw the electric practice this weekend at Infineon in Northern California.
The audience stared in silence, the bikes were silent too. you could hear the chains and tires as they went by. The announcers said there were no stats as this was the first electric races in the USA, so no way to compare motors, sizes, etc.
it was surreal, and I want one!

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:12:56 +0000

I´am missing Roehr Motorcycles with there new eSuperbike RR.

By: Cameron Nicol

Cameron Nicol — Thu, 06 May 2010 05:30:47 +0000

the first 24 hour endurance races saw everything fron 250cc to 1000cc+ competing against each other. The rules came with time but the winners were always the average motorcyclist everywhere. Factories and individuals tried everything imaginable in the early years just to finish. When you can have an RD400 and a Goldwing in the same race everyone wins because someone learns something. Race what you brought is my belief. If we all learn something we all benefit. Any electric race series will benefit us all.

By: Merlin

Merlin — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:44:02 +0000

The cool thing about these races, as some others have alluded to, is the “race” of technology, not of the actual bikes. This is a series in which design changes are revolutionary, rather than simply evolutionary. Systems are being built from the ground up or cobbled together from a range of startups. This is no longer a game of “who can shave 2 pounds off their bike while squeezing out 5 more hp” but instead a game of “whose technology is going to determine the future of electric motorcycles.” As with the early days of any technology, from AC vs DC to Blu ray vs HDDVD, the people who do well now are going to determine the shape of things to come.

It’s not about who launches the first satellite, its about who makes it to the moon.

By: kneeslider

kneeslider — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:29:50 +0000

The "racing improves the breed" idea is very valid, I understand that. But, instead of finding out who's capable of even running a race during the actual race, why not have a pre-qualification like DARPA does with its urban challenge? They had a competition for autonomous vehicles over a tough course, but, before anyone gets to compete in that, they have to show they can complete a test course so when the real competition starts, the competitors have at least some chance of completing the challenge. With a pre-qualifier in the TTXGP series, the real race might have some real racing. On the other hand, the early races are a sort of pre-qualifier in themselves for the later races and maybe the idea is just too much complexity for this very young series, but it's a thought.