I've had a ride on one of the electric TT bikes this weekend!!

It's just a development hack; a load of mobile phone batteries and a
motor shoehorned into an old SRAD GSXR750 rolling chassis. It's all
supervised by a big computer controlled regulator that sits between
the batteries and the motor.

What's it like?? Weird; to an X-Files extent. There's no noise at all;
none. No vibration. The nearest thing I can relate it to is when
you're rolling a bike downhill to bump-start it.... except that then
you open the throttle and it just *goes*.

And it does go... top end of 110 to 130 depending on gearing, feels
like 90 odd bhp. There's no "power band"; open it up at whatever speed
and you get the same amout of torque delivered (until the computer
cries enough!).

Controls are simple; normal key (only it's not an "ignition" key any
more!) a throttle and the stock GSXR brakes. Switch on, turn throttle,
go.

Handling is as you'd expect from a stock and fairly tired GSXR... with
a bit of set-up it's be better; it's 30kg lighter than the original
donor bike. No engine braking *at all*.

I have to say; I'm enormously impressed. The bike put up with pretty
much everything you'd expect a bike to put up with when brought to the
IoM for a weekend and then some... it got hooned around to test the TT
course transponder system, thrashed around the island by various
journalists (including getting wrists slapped by Plod for jumping
Ballaugh bridge!!), suffered a slight case of van rash (fairing
bracket welded up by Phil Wall, we hacked down to his workshop 2 up
just as you would on any bike!) and booted round Jurby Airfield by
various dignitaries and race hoodlums.

Alas I suffered the only hiccup of the weekend here when the computer
slid through "get you home" mode to "wait for the AA" mode but
considering I was following on from one Steve Parrish and there were
stopwatches involved that's not really unreasonable... I think the
batteries were glowing red hot by that time!

I can see a few more problems; the *complete* silence is going to cost
us a few inattentive pedestrians once this technology makes it on to
road bikes (and it will... at an equivalent of less than 2 quid to
fill the "tank", you'd be mad not to), and we'll have to add "Sorry
mate, I didn't hear ya" to the list of excuses we hear as we're
picking ourselves off the tarmac.

The bottom line is, this development hack, thrown together on a tiny
budget and a tiny timescale really *works* as a motorcycle. It's
didn't get mollycoddled at all; it got roared around in all conditions
by all sorts of people and suffered only one fault... if any petrol
driven prototype could have done as well, I'll eat my leathers.

Once the fully developed race bikes get here for the TTXGP, I think
folks are going to be very, very pleasantly surprised!