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I'm guessing its similar to how car manufacturers will put a similar pattern on the prototype cars so its hard to see the bodylines when they start driving them on public streets.
I think its just their version of that, trying to make it feel more raw and less production, like the early supercar prototypes that get a funky pattern on them. And the production cars never come with the pattern on them. They do it to hide bodylines and changes ,I think Yamaha did this to give it a more sneak peek /exotic feel. I would bet If and when it comes out, it will likely look just like the gas bikes, maybe have an optional color that makes it stick out as something different.
Yeah this doesn't look better than one of your kits. Without any info about power and battery capacity, I can't see this competing with Stark.
Having ridden a few e trials bikes, a clutch was a necessity.
But smooth clutch action is paramount in trials, WAY more finesse than other disciplines...
No one is saying you can't love or have a 4 stroke MX bike...you just can't ride it anywhere. Why? Fkng Karens all over this great country. They hear a frog fart and they call it in. Embrace the electric bike...it may save the sport.
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Fair enough! I hear ya
EICMA Show
https://youtu.be/7s4fQ2OxRRE?si=t4RVbDf81MqyF2XJ
Or put a damn electric start on the 2 stoke.
I rode an Alta years ago and the throttle was a problem. Very sensitive, and we bought the rear hand brake to help, but it needs a clutch for riders that have been riding with one your whole life.
And just think, it's only going to get more realistic in the next couple years. It's basically in its infancy currently...and that's tech available to the public random people are making and postin, and it's already difficult to tell if it's real or not, just imagine what sort of AI the government has (has had, likely for several years) access to that we aren't aware of. That's even more terrifying, regardless of what side of the political isle people are on, that isn't good for any of us.. I think it should be banned because It'll beabused in order to push poltical agendas and propaganda, both politically and socially... just my opinion, but we know it never will be banned, it's too valuable of a tool..and even if it was banned from the public, the government would still be utilizing it. Social media sites need to atleast make it mandatory for the creator to let people know it's AI generated or else it'll be deleted.
Looks fine to me, what would you change about it?
Looks electrical...
I know this stuff is polarizing but I think this bike is really cool. I finally rode a Stark this year and it was super impressive. Part of me would love to get one. I have thought since the Honda proto years ago, that it would be interesting to see how the main MX OEMs handle this. And if/when they do release a machine, how will it compare to the Stark? So far, the 2 Japanese bikes are heavily based on their proven 450 platforms. I could see how that is both good and bad. The Stark being a ground-up design, being electric only from day 1, gave reason to believe it might take a while to sort things out, but you ride it and it's amazing. It handles unreal and feels very balanced. So I never thought that would happen. And I wonder if that caught Honda and Yamaha off guard. So I would love to try a production version of the YZ. The clutch is a great idea. But I also like the double hand brake on the Stark, I'd just need to commit to it and get used to it. Interesting times, as we see e bikes pop up.
Put a cable clutch on it and I'll think about it.
Riding a RMZ converted to electric, I see why the a real clutch would be great in two situations.
- Riding wood it makes it a lot easier to pop the front wheel and/or do a pivot turn. If your throttle is mapped to be smooth and easy to manage in ruts and 99% of the riding situations, it makes it awkward as you need to twist the throttle a lot while trying to do a technical move.
- When being in an awkward position that can lead to whiskey throttle (yes rider error, 100%), having a clutch could avoid some loop-out for instance. It is true for any bike but when you have 100% of the potential power of your bike in a single throttle twist this becomes even more problematic.
In that regard, the fake clutch for the Stark and that is developed on the Flux bike can solve problem 2, but it doesn't do anything for the woods riding. If you only ride MX and have good technique, a clutch becomes pretty irrelevant. This leads me to think that Yamaha is maybe considering a woods bike but then when you see the size of the battery, considering current battery tech or what is about to be released, it will never have enough autonomy to be relevant. At most I would be on half of what a Stark EX has, you need at least 70% of the Stark EX to have a good woods session.
Pit Row
This is just to show the market that they are doing something.
I don't think we will ever see a great electric dirtbike that has been designed with the frame off an traditional ICE bike. Early EV and Hybrid cars from the legacy car manufacturers did this too, they put batteries in the ICE platforms just because they were in a hurry, and non of them were good enough compared to properly designed electrical cars like the Tesla. Now they have finally caught up with their own proper EV cars.
So yeah, Yamaha (and Honda) are obviously working on something but this wont be it. Why would you base it off the ICE frame when there is better ways of doing it (having the battery be a structural part of the bike for more capacity).
The problem with rule makers is they stoke fear of losing relatively mild-impacted ideas, like dirt bikes (or even lawn care equipment). With that said, I was surprised to learn how much emissions a vehicle emits vs a typical dirt bike. A bike ridden for 1 hour emits more than the driving to and from the track, at least in my case.
Nonetheless, people feared losing 2 strokes when 4 strokes came out. E-mountain bikes were going to take over and haven't. It is only a matter of time before Chinese OEMs start making full size electric dirt bikes and sell them as motocross bikes. The big Japanese companies will want a piece of that. I guarantee Honda and Yamaha (who also makes e-MTBs) have designs ready to go. They are technically fewer parts to produce.
Either way, just embrace it all. The biggest impact to e dirt bikes will be the law makers cracking down on kids in the street. Already happening now - in Queensland 3 teenagers have died after crashing their e-not bicycles. And even pedestrians have been killed or injured too. So, any anti-electrics need not worry - misuse or more of a factor of them being banned or heavily regulated than anything else.
With that said, even with an EV are our family car (which costs peanuts to run), and hopefully a future electric dirt bike... there will always be a place for a crsip 2 stroke to have some fun on. Its the same old argument - 2 strokes for fun, 4 strokes for speed and electrics... so the karens are happy.
If you made something that ugly, you wouldn't want your name on it either
wheres the 2026 MXEP SILLY SEASON topic, guys?
🙃
To me, that is 1 part that is very interesting. I sort of alluded to that earlier as well. Stark's chassis probably exceeded most people's expectations, especially for a first effort. So I was curious if the Japanese brands do end up going that route (ground-up electric build), into production, or if these prototypes are pretty close to what they have planned. I could've swore in the one Canard interview, he seemed to touch on this and was basically saying that Honda has the chassis figured out how they want it, on their 450, so it would also be applied to the electric bike. So that plus now seeing this Yamaha concept, essentially look just like the YZ450F has be wondering what they will do, for a production model.
did someone say YE?
Can confirm. Sold my YZ250 and bought a Stark. I'm never going back.
I would maybe need to check out if Canard really said that. But if he did, it sounds like towing the company line and being positive just because he is employed by Honda.
I cannot see how an ICE frame that has been designed for an ICE with lots of moving parts in it would also work optimally with a battery powered powerplant in it. I would guess it's a good way of keeping cost down by having one platform for both types, but it will not be a good way of actually making the best possible electric bike.
I would think that leaving the top tubes, head tube and rear suspension geometry the same but cutting out the engine cradle and substituting a battery case as a stressed member wouldn't change the chassis characteristics all that much compared to a crf450.
Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but didn't Canard say on Pulp recently that he didnt think that bike will actually ever come out?
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