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I didn't put my money down for Stark (should have), but I absolutely will buy the Honda. I have a psychological impairment with leaving the Honda brand so with a CRE I can keep my OCD.
I'm holding out for an RM-ZEEE
Honda always does bikes right. Though personally I would rather they rerelease the 125 and 250 2stroke. E bikes are neat, but aren't really saving on emissions when they have to be charged by gas generators. And they should have their own class, period. I really hope that Feld and MXSports never let these matriculate with gas powered bikes.
Cool! Looking forward to seeing Canard ride after all this time…and how well the ‘lectric Honda does against the conventional gas bikes.
BTW…that’s a damn good looking bike!
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There’s no way on earth it will be over 50% in 2-3 years. Even if, everyone said they wanted one, it wouldn’t.
Honda unveils a competitive electric motocrosser.
In other news Lorettas just found a class for them.
So you guys want a bike with less power and less battery because it has a Honda logo on it? Unless they go the route of smaller, swapable battery packs (which it doesn't look like is the case here) there is absolutely zero chance this performs at well as a Stark just based on space constraints alone.
Waiting on the KTM/GasGas version
Honestly this is great news, it means that Honda is becoming serious about this bike.
Either it disappoints in the race, which would highlight the Varg's performance, or it gets decent results which will mean more competitive electric bikes in the near future.
Obviously Honda is not going to wild card in their national championship without thorough testing so they must expect respectable (marketable) results.
And maybe, one day, they'll even release the spec sheet
You guys can watch the livestream for every MFJ race on YouTube. The commentary is mostly in (broken) English, but still fun to watch if you have nothing else to watch!
Haha.
It seems like so far theyre leaning towards CR-E but imo that doesnt roll off the tongue very well at all. I think ECR sounds better and flows better off the tongue.
As far as the bike is concerned its interesting seeing the Honda going for a regular frame vs Alta and Stark.
A few people mentioned that this could cause the honda to have less battery life. My question is would the honda have a better handling chassis due to having the tried and true crf chassis vs a chassis that had to be formed to fit around the battery. Maybe thats the tradeoff theyre making?
I feel like this announcement has gathered more hype than what it is. If Honda makes an electric bike it probably wont look anything like this. This is pretty much the same as the other hundreds of electric built conversions guys have been doing for years on various existing frames.
If I had to guess Honda is using this more as an ongoing testing bike trying out the motor/components/cooling systems etc.
Hopefully they can get the weight down on this thing.
My guess is that it is the same weight as a CRF450.
I think they've been the easy/lazy/clever way reusing crf250r frame (at least in the early versions). It's a chassis they know so well, have already studied extensively, so it removes one parameter from the equation to help them optimize the packaging, dimensioning and positioning various elements of the bike and see how it influences handling.
Once they're satisfied with the data collected I would expect them to build a proper prototype frame best suited to the different requirements and characteristics of an electric bike.
Just like Alta, Stark and other full size electric bike manufacturers do. Totally different beast (twice the power, twice the weight, three times more battery capacity) but take a look at what Ducati did for its MotoE, it is a prototype frame like no other, the very specifically shaped carbon fibre case of the battery pack acts as a stressed part of the chassis (which is a concept they initially developed with engines in MotoGP and now use on their sportbikes).
https://www.epaddock.it/en/motoe-technical-data/the-ducati-motoe/
As to handling better than the Varg, we'll see about that, but that's a seriously tall order considering the number of pro riders stating that the Varg is the best handling bike they've ever ridden.
The black rims look so incredibly ugly on that specific color scheme. Silver or gold wouldn't make it look so bottom heavy.
Isn’t it the same/previous gen CR chassis based bike that they’ve been running for a few years with some revamped plastic and graphics?
I’m guessing they’re holding out for the “next-gen” CR chassis for a production variant. 2025-2026…?
it literally says "electric CR" on the shroud. thus ECR.
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As crazy as it may sound. YES a lot of people would do just that. In the UTV world, Honda and Yamaha sport models are underpowered compared to the other SXS's in their class. They win people over with a reputation for reliability and being a good base to work off of. So far none of the Japanese brands have tried to build anything that is on the same level power or chassis wise as Polaris,Can am and now Speed. They do cost a lot less than those crazy top of the heap high powered models though.
Honda may also have some insight on what the rules will be for racing. And be building something that aligns with those rules? Or perhaps this bike is going to be a 250 class bike ? And they are running it in the 450 class because that was how they are able to get entered.
I feel like a bike designed from the ground up to be electric should handle better than an adapted chassis will. To an extent a battery can be designed to be a certain shape and I feel like You would be shaping the battery around the chassis to an extent on either the Varg or a converted bike like the Honda. And chassis design would not be built around the shape of a battery.
I'm happy to see a brand like Honda bringing out an electric MX bike and racing it. It should be cool to see . I wonder if Stark could enter a Varg in the Japanese series? That would be even cooler to see,Josh Hill on a Varg and Trey on the Honda.
Yet it was previously introduced by Honda as the CR-E and its wildcard entry is now CR ELECTRIC PROTO. Maybe they have not made up their mind!
No it's a newer chassis, it looks like the battery pack, motor and inverter have been redesigned, original patent on left, original prototype in the middle, new prototype on the right...
Using an existing frame is a compromise, it allows them to develop the drive train, but reduces potential battery size, and therefore range...
If the Honda's battery does have the same storage capacity as the Starks, center of gravity will be higher.
Thought the same thing, maybe to handle the torque like hill climbers?
Would be cool if stark found a way and rider to enter the same race…
Stark has as much chance of race the All Japan Motorcross Championship, as racing the AMA Supercross or AMA Motocross Championships, you can't rock up with any bike, it needs to be approved by the governing bodies.
I guess you didn't ride a first gen aluminum frame, or a 2009 450, or a first gen crf250r with the factory butter valves
It’s hard to beat the look of the stark. But the Honda is close.
It's the performance that matters!
I would imagine that 450s will still be developed for many years to come. I am all for electric though. Perfect for someone with a home track on a small block of land (hopefully me one day!). I'll still keep my 125, but an electric bike would be fun as heck.
I mean, the Tesla we have is great too. Low running costs, tax breaks, cheap "fuel" - not much to hate.
I was about to say the same, it was the first thing that popped up in my head when i saw that.
No way that Honda's full production E-MX bike will be based on a ICE frame. I see this bike as only some kind of very early testing/concept testing. Otherwise it would be a rather letdown when they eventually have a production bike ready.
Post a reply to: Honda CR ELECTRIC PROTO in All Japan Motocross Championship 2023 Round 8, Saitama