Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I just found out a mate of mine had followed through with his threat to get a Cannondale. He sent me a picture of the last model VMax he'd just got, and I noticed a bloody Cannondale sitting behind it.
He's got the rolling chassis and 2 engines. He didn't get the 'upgraded' ADB / ATK engines I'd suggested, long ago, when he was (repeating his) musing about finally getting a CDale. .
I'm going to do my very best to not get drawn into his bloody Cannondale obsession
Alta had everything right going for them, they were ahead of the time. Triumph should aim to best Alta with electric bike technology and performance.
Also a 125 and 300 2-stroke would be dope.
The once often times "hit or miss" process of design, engineering and manufacturing has matured (due to knowledge and technology) so that even highly complex systems can developed successfully virtually first time out. The Chinese are killing it now using reverse engineering along with these new manufacturing technologies to build some pretty darn impressive stuff on the first try. Can you name a car built anywhere in the world and sold in the US today that's not of high quality and reliability? That's a testament to the rigor and discipline of the process and technology available today.
That's not to say that stupid engineers can't make stupid decisions, after all, it's GIGO. No system/process is immune to stupidity. However, with proper checks and balances, even stupid decisions can be mitigated.
Back to electric . . . . What some of us KNOW today and what the masses will come to realize soon enough it that electric is already within spitting distance of knocking any current MX model off the top of the box. No magic, no gimmicks, no hype, just good old fashioned engineering knowhow being applied to new technologies. Thanks Alta!
Listen to what AJ has to say. Alta's out of business and there's nobody else stepping up the the plate, so he's not getting paid to say anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1l3aynN3O0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoEbVPTCziw
Just need to add off road tyres !
Theres a huge opportunity here and shifts like this only happen once in a generation. The big brands are already at the top of ice bikes, but nobody has risen to the top of electric. Its not inevitable that the big ice companies will just smoothly shift over to electric, look at the electric car market. We could end up with some entirely new brands that are better at programming and iterating with electronics. If alta hadnt went under they would have been the company to beat in this market. Its wide open right now so theres a huge opportunity. As much as i love ice dirtbikes from a business standpoint entering the market there makes no sense in 2021. If I were them Id be trying to be the top company of the next thing vs playing catchup with the current bikes only to have to switch eventually anyways.
-Engine thats optimized to be reliable under heavy load with slightly less hp and slightly more long lasting heavier parts. -May as well just make a ribi front end and use that. Long wheel base unbeatable sand machine - job tidy.
p.s hi Triumph design team that are no doubt looking at vital. I hope Ozzy is on the team. Im frothing at the bit excited for y'all
Pit Row
1. Triumphs all have steel frames. So will these new bikes.
2. Triumph already uses Ohlins suspension components. The bikes will come stock with Ohlins.
3. Triumphs are not budget bikes. These won't be either.
4. Triumph is very British. The bikes will be very British, and will be either dark green or black.
5. Triumph is feeling cocky: There won't merely be a 450F. A 250F too, or they'll be electric.
6. Triumph doesn't have a factory MotoGP race team. They will look to moto to establish their racing reputation.
7. Triumph loves Steve McQueen, as do we all. They will work that angle.
1 : Go to Triumphs website - you'll find both Steel and Aluminium frames. They know how to make either type.
2 : Yes, some Triumphs use Ohlins , as their various models top of the line specification - but, most have other brand suspension.
3 : You're probably right on that - with what we hope to be "Real, Performance Dirt Bikes". Though, with other types of small capacity bikes, that they and other manufacturers (can) make Big money on, and their involvement with Bajaj, And their (I think, at least 4?) Factories in Thailand, they surely have plans past "Real Performance Dirt Bikes".
4 : On the Black, I sure as hell hope not. But, you never know, Triumph might be able to make it look better that the usual try at it. British Racing Green - it sure would be something different.
5 : Capacities - yes, probably . Electric? Well to have a future, they / all manufacturers, are working on that.
6 : Yes, they've no MotoGP program. But heck, they've an entire class in Moto2, with their 765cc engines in use. So, they Are in modern, current Racing, already, in a pretty big way.
7 : Steve McQueen - yes, he's cool
I doubt they will be green, but I just saw an interesting take on 'British Racing Green' on a 2022 Orange Alpine Evo:
It's metallic ( I think) , so probably far from possible, but could look good, with no Kawasaki confusion, but a bit of a Brit Heritage 'thing' to it.
The idea they'll one day perform better is a moot point because manufacturers build their bikes largely around the limits set out by the FIM. A manufacturer could could a 250 twin cylinder Di 2-stroke and probably smash anything else being made today.
Electric vehicles on great from a utilitarian point of view, especially road cars. Once they don't their one-rtick of hard accelerations they descend into the void of nothingness.
But dirt bikes arent utilitarian. It's a cultural phenomenon that makes very little coherent sense, i am sure companies will be bringing out electric options, but they know full well it's going to be a mighty challenge.
Also, electric propulsion will probably be a shared platform. From a competitive standpoint single-spec batteries might be mandated and that'll affect the geometry of the bike. Manufacturers will be hesitant to invest when the possibility of spec-components are in the equation.
If rider A is better than rider B, but rider B beats him every weekend at the track on an electric, what do you think rider A is gonna buy the next time he's/she's shopping for a new bike? That's what happened when everyone's buddy started beating them on that new fangled and hated 4 stroke. You simply had to switch to be competitive, like it or not.
All it's going to take is a good electric (slightly better than the Alta in some respects) and a critical mass of good, young, up and coming riders aboard them and you'll see. The wave will be launched and the company at the pointy end will reap the benefits just like Yamaha did in the late 90s. The AMA can help enable or hinder the evolution, but they'd be crazy if they didn't because eventually, the bikes racing SX and the Nationals will not represent the bikes being bought by the public and raced on the weekends. Folks will lose interest, ratings will fall and the series will languish. Meanwhile, a smart business person will see an opportunity to start a new inclusive series which understands electric tech and embraces it. The AMA will find itself outside looking in.
This talk about "shared platform" battery packs among manufactures will probably only apply to their non-competition/street models. That makes sense in the future. Pull in to a service/charge station and simply swap packs. However, the mfgs would be crazy to agree to the same for the competition/race models. Battery tech is like suspension tech in the mid seventies. There's so may options and new ideas/products being tried that there's no "right answer" at the moment or in the foreseeable future. That's what will differentiate the different brands and give them that competitive advantage if they engineer a better pack. And a better pack will equate to better sales. Why would they agree to forfeit what probably will be the biggest product differentiator since we went from dual shock to links? Bottom line, they wont.
IN terms of desire to win. The point is, that is entirely down to the governing body. The reason people switched to 4-stroke was because they were allowed double the capacity by the governing body for racing. Why would Triumph invest in a technical platform when the governing body has made not moves to change towards that?
Electric tech in a racing context is still unproven from a commercial standpoint. Formula E basically survives on government subisides that come via hosting fees and big manufacturers. Also they aren't selling the cars like bike manufacturers do with SX/MX. It doesn't represent a market of buyers like bike racing does. FE also use spec batteries.
So in terms of business risk Triumph absolutely will have 'electric' as something to look at, but their first models will have to be 250/450 otherwise they risk wasting millions of pounds. Coming out with an electric bike you can't race anywhere, and not eliciting the kind of emotion attached to motorbike would be an overwhelmingly risky thing to do, with little reward.
I am not 'anti-electric', I am just very skeptical about the ease at which people think a sport can transition.
Post a reply to: You're the designer of Triumph, with a clean sheet of paper. What do you do?