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5405
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10/1/2013
Location
Davis, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
9/16/2018 8:55pm
https://youtu.be/8wdS7eUvGQc
I had the chance to test ride the Alta MXR out at Diablo (Sand Hill) MX last weekend, and wanted to give a little review.
While I only got two laps on the bike, it was enough to get an idea of how the bike behaves. The first thing I noticed was the incredible front end traction. I was immediately taking corners faster than on my yz250, and I found that the front end steering style of the Alta fit me better than the rear wheel steering on the yz. Not to say the YZ turns poorly, but you need to adjust your riding style which for me isn't really a problem, I'm used to jumping back and forth between vastly different bikes from racing hillclimb, where different classes demand different types of bikes. Now, Alta claims a 50/50 weight bias between the front and rear, saying that every manufacturer strives for it but are unable to achieve it with a gas engine. After riding the bike, I'm a believer, I think this is something that is vastly overlooked between different bikes and makes a big difference. With the increased front end tractions, however, you're going to sacrifice some stability, but for me that is a welcome trade off because I have a very smooth riding style that makes stability a little less of an issue for me. The weight of the bike was also a non issue. You might feel it a bit when you're coming into a corner, but as far as actually riding the bike it's hardly noticeable since it's all so close to the center of mass. Static weight isn't the issue when riding, dynamic weight is, and the Alta does well in this respect.
As another point of interest, I timed what I would say was an average lap on my 250 and compared it with my second lap on the Alta. I was only 1.5 seconds slower on the Alta.
I had the chance to test ride the Alta MXR out at Diablo (Sand Hill) MX last weekend, and wanted to give a little review.
While I only got two laps on the bike, it was enough to get an idea of how the bike behaves. The first thing I noticed was the incredible front end traction. I was immediately taking corners faster than on my yz250, and I found that the front end steering style of the Alta fit me better than the rear wheel steering on the yz. Not to say the YZ turns poorly, but you need to adjust your riding style which for me isn't really a problem, I'm used to jumping back and forth between vastly different bikes from racing hillclimb, where different classes demand different types of bikes. Now, Alta claims a 50/50 weight bias between the front and rear, saying that every manufacturer strives for it but are unable to achieve it with a gas engine. After riding the bike, I'm a believer, I think this is something that is vastly overlooked between different bikes and makes a big difference. With the increased front end tractions, however, you're going to sacrifice some stability, but for me that is a welcome trade off because I have a very smooth riding style that makes stability a little less of an issue for me. The weight of the bike was also a non issue. You might feel it a bit when you're coming into a corner, but as far as actually riding the bike it's hardly noticeable since it's all so close to the center of mass. Static weight isn't the issue when riding, dynamic weight is, and the Alta does well in this respect.
As another point of interest, I timed what I would say was an average lap on my 250 and compared it with my second lap on the Alta. I was only 1.5 seconds slower on the Alta.
Weight bias on the MXR is roughly 48.5% front / 51.5% rear, and never changes unlike a gas bike as fuel gets used, and allows for amazing front end traction. Typically gas bikes are in the 44-46% front range. I weighed my bike on bath scales. Look here: https://altaownersforum.com/threads/has-anyone-measured-their-bike-weig…
The Alta's use an AC motor. The picture you posted is that of a DC motor. They are vastly different in their torque profiles.
Here is a dyno of an Alta Redshift MXR in each of the 4 maps:
Changing the gearing on the Alta simply slides the above dyno curve left or right if you go short or taller in the final drive ratio, respectively. Gearing on the bike isn't that critical because of the lack of transmission and the characteristics of the motor. That said, the motor uses electricity most efficiency between 6000-8000 rpms, which equates to 30-40mph on the MXR and happens to be a good medium for motocross. If you average faster than that, in the sake of energy usage you should probably lower the final drive ratio, and vice versa.
Many of us owners agree that having map tuning app similar to the Yamaha one would be sweet to have. We've heard from an Alta employee that bluetooth connectivity is coming in 2020, so it may very well happen.
The Shop
Also after watching you ride. can you imagine Thursdays at Glen Helen with the Pro's mixed in with those guy's ?
I can't even imagine how it would be for the pros. If there's no blind jumps it's really not that huge of a deal because you're looking ahead and scoping things out anyways, but if you can't see that someone hasn't jumped something in front of you that's pretty sketchy. Tracks here generally split practice three ways and it works really well, I'm spent after my 20min session anyways and once it's time to go out again I've had time to get a drink of water, check the bike over, and cool myself off. For the top guys there's no way I'd be riding a crowded amateur track, it's just inevitable for something to happen as we've seen. . .
Those bikes are very vast and capable of shredding at serious speed...
Josh loves his.
Once we get to the midrange, the bike really begins to shine. It just pulls, and pulls, and pulls, which is pretty evident in the chart Bryan posted above. Once you get into the higher power area of the curve, I think comparing it to a slower 450 is definitely not out of the question. If anything I would compare it more to the KTM that has a smoother power curve, than to the Yamaha that has pretty brutal power right from the get go, but less overall power than both. You aren't going to be pulling your friends in a drag race, but the power is impressive, I might be more inclined to compare it to a very smooth 250 2t power wise. Where you really see it shine is the fact that the power doesn't fall off if you were to make a mistake and slow down a bit on an uphill, you just keep it twisted and the bike will pick up where it left off without you having to scramble to downshift or murder your clutch. From my seat of the pants test I would say the bike might be alright in the 250 class for amateur racing, but without really having some time on it to compare on multiple tracks I'm really reaching to make a conclusion like that, so take it for what it's worth. You would absolutely be outgunned in the 450 class, but with how smooth the power is it might not be as bad as you'd think.
In the air it's definitely an interesting change. I feel like throttle input doesn't have as big of an effect in leveling the bike out, but again with such a short time in it I really can't say a whole lot about it. Keep in mind absolutely nothing was set up for me suspension/ergos wise, so everything would be effected by that. The cornering was superb though, I was taking corners faster than on my YZ almost immediately. Front end traction was just awesome, and a welcome change from the pushy YZ front end. This might be partially due to the smooth roll on power that doesn't squat the bike back so much, but again with so little time on it I'm reaching a bit here. The weight can be noticed a bit when you're braking for a corner, but aside from that it feels just like any other four stroke really. Not as lively as my yz250, but not an ill handling bike by any means. I can ride just about any bike and be alright with it, so maybe I'm not the best at critiquing handling, but for any average guy the chassis and handling of this bike is not going to slow you down as far as I'm concerned.
Sorry for the novel, hopefully that helps a little. I really need to spend more time on one to give a better classification of the bike, but those were my initial thoughts on it.
I wonder both a) how the bike reacts and b) if this is hard on the motor/drivetrain
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