First post on here so Hi to everyone.
We are pleased to be able to announce that Team Mugen will be on the island again this year, with 2 new bikes and retaining the best possible rider line-up, to see if we can once again raise the bar for electric bikes on the Mountain course.www.mugeneuro.com

Now that we have made our entry public hopefully I can post a bit more and keep you up to speed with our preparations.

Once again, MUGEN (M-TEC Co., Ltd., Shin NAGAOSA, President) will, as “TEAM MUGEN”, participate in the TT Zero Challenge class※１ at the 2015 Isle of Man TT races, to be held from May, 30th (Sat.) through to June, 12th (Fri.), 2015 on the Isle of Man.

The challenge of participating in the Isle of Man TT electric motorcycle races, which is a new discipline to us and completely different from our core strengths as a manufacturer and developer of high-speed internal combustion engines, started in 2012 as our unique project to foster young engineers and conduct developments in a new area. We achieved our initial goal of 2014 which was to exceed an average speed of 115 mph (185 km/h), and in doing so captured the long-sought after victory, with a one-two finish for the team, in a time that beat the previous record lap record in the TT Zero Challenge class by more than one minute (00:19:17.3 lap).

For this year we will participate with a machine named “SHINDEN YON”, which has been newly developed to improve over last year’s model, “SHINDEN SAN”.

For this year, we will continue with John McGuinness and Bruce Anstey as our riders, and will strive to win our second championship in a row.

John has won the Isle of Man TT races 21 times in total, and took victory in the TT Zero Challenge class last year, while Bruce updated the outright course record for the mountain course with an average speed of 132.298 mph (00:17:06.682) during the TT races of 2014.

“SHINDEN YON” will be exhibited*2 at the 2015 Tokyo Motorcycle Show, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight in March, 2015.



[TT Zero Challenge 2014 class results]

John McGuinness

#1 Position: First                        Average speed: 117.366 mph (188.84 km/h)         Time: 19’17”300

Bruce Anstey

#5 Position: Second        Average speed: 115.048 mph (185.11 km/h)         Time: 19’40”625



※1 The Isle of Man TT Race (The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race) TT Zero Challenge 

The Isle of Man TT race, which started in 1907, is the oldest high-speed motorcycle race that is still currently held. The isle, which is located in between the United Kingdom and Ireland, is about the same size as the Awaji-shima island of Japan.

The races are held in a time trial format on a 60 km public street course that includes urban zones, residential areas, and a mountain section. The event was resumed in 1947, after the end of World War II, as part of the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship, and was soon an irresistible competitive challenge for the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers to demonstrate their technical abilities, and the riders with their courage. As a result of their successes in the Isle of Man TT it has served as a foundation for the Japanese motorcycle industry, from which it has made the leap to the pinnacle of world class motorcycle manufacture and competition.

The TT Zero Challenge class is a new category that was started in 2009 in anticipation of the future of the age of clean energy. In this category, machines are required to be equipped with a power plant emitting zero carbon dioxide. Though races for conventional internal-combustion engine classes can range from three to six laps, the race distance for the TT Zero Challenge class is currently one lap (approximately 60 km) in deference to current technology battery performance and capacity.

※2 Release of “SHINDEN YON”

Venue: Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo International Exhibition Complex) West Exhibition Hall, Special stage in atrium

3-11-1, Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo

Date and time: March, 27, 2015(Friday) 14:35 – 15:05






John McGuinness

Date of birth: April, 16, 1972 (42 years old)

Location: Lancashire, England

Began competing in the Isle of Man TT races in 1996, and, with 21 victories to date, he holds the record for the most wins of currently active riders.

Since 2012, he has been racing in the TT Zero Challenge class as a rider for TEAM MUGEN.

In 2012 and 2013, he took consecutive second place finishes.

In 2014, he took a long-sought after first victory in the TT Zero Challenge class.

Is the current lap record holder for the TT Zero Challenge class, having substantially improved upon the existing lap record in 2014.

2014 TT Race Results

・TT Zero Challenge class　　  1st place

・Superbike class　　　　　　7th place

・Supersport class, Race 1　　15th place

・Superstock class　　　　　 9th place

・Senior class　　　　　　　 6th place





Bruce Anstey

Date of birth: August, 21, 1969 (45 years old)

Location: Wellington, New Zealand

Made his Isle of Man TT debut in 1999 and currently has 9 TT victories to his name.

In 2014, he set an outright lap record for the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course with an average speed of 132.298 mph in the Superbike class.

In 2014, he made his debut in the TT Zero Challenge class with the machine “SHINDEN SAN”, earning a 2nd-place podium at his very first attempt on an electric motorcycle.

2014 TT Race Results

・TT Zero Challenge class　　2nd place

・Superbike class　　　　　   5th place

・Supersport class, Race 1　.   2nd place

・Supersport class, Race 2　 .  2nd place

・Superstock class　　　　　  3rd place

・Senior class　　　　                4th place

Pity that MotoCzysz wont be there to spoil the party

The biggest pity to me is that as the bikes get faster the amount of bikes gets less , that amount of bikes participating in a so called race on a 37 mile circuit , is not exactly exciting to put it nicely , very sorry but to me the Electric bikes race is on a par with Subaru's , track time wasted

Eddy,

I agree it is a shame that the entry list has become so low, but you must have surely noticed where the propulsion of vehicles is going? We've even just bought our first electric car at work. Its brave of the organisers to keep pushing what could be the future. I think for many reasons your comparison with a 4 wheel old school technology is misplaced. The progress over the last three years has been startling. 'Mugen' is a friendly knowledgeable chap so get yourself down to the paddock and have a chat.

Excellent! It will be interesting to see what sort of lap time improvements may come this year; The Progress in recent years has been remarkable !

In cars there is the competition from the different manufacturers to produce cars , but on bikes it is going backwards so for me they were brought on to the world stage too early and to the wrong place , I can see the kudos that the IOM TT circuit carries , but when there is a smaller amount of bikes starting and finishing every year then I am afraid the credibility of the achievement is diminished by the lack of competition , and the cost's involved in buying a comparable machine
you say that the electric cars are the way that things are going , sorry but its fantasy land turn all the cars on the road in to electricity and where are you getting your electric from we are already importing electricity from France and where do they get their electricity from ?? nuclear!! something we don't like , sorry but the fact of life is that electricity is NOT as clean as some people would have you believe ,

and my comment about the Subaru is on the same lines , no competition so a diminished achievement

marvelous what can be achieved but every thing has its place and time and for me the time for Subaru and the Electric bikes is not in my opinion at the TT , sorry , but that's me !

nonsense a one lap TT With 8 bikes will fade sooner or later.

How many this year ??



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Believe me, I fully understand any and all the negative comments, but every significant leap in technology has to have its roots and pioneers somewhere.
Look at our company, founded in 1973 and has spent the time since then manufacturing, developing and racing petrol-powered engines, so nobody can say there is (was?) a bigger bunch of petrol-heads than us.
However we recognise the direction our industry is heading and we have taken the decision to develop the in-house knowledge to make us ready to take on the new challenges we, as Mugen, will encounter going forward.
We would love to go to the TT and compete against any number of comparable machines (we really enjoyed the battles we had with Motoczysz), but we can't control what others do. Maybe there will be some more competitors this year (there have been rumours) but all we can do is produce the best bike we can, put it out there and see just how far we can push the limits.
As people, a lot of us are current or ex-bikers, and all of us have racing in our blood, so the opportunity to go to the TT with a fantastic bike and great riders is a privilege. Manufacturers will (eventually) adopt electric bikes both for road and racing, and it is for the generation that is going to grow up with electric bikes and cars all around them that we are planting the seeds for.
What I always say is; even if you are anti-electric vehicles, take a look at our Shinden bikes, ignore what powers it, and I think you would have to agree it is an impressive bike you would be happy to have in your garage.
I look forward to seeing and speaking to many of you in June.

Why not enter more of your own bikes with other top TT riders on and then you could have a true race or is that to costly?

With all the other programmes in which we are currently competing (World Touring Car, Japan GT, Super Formula F3 etc) we do not have the resource available to increase the programme (we only managed to increase to a 2-bike effort last year).
Plus, as this programme is entirely internally run and funded (contrary to popular opinion) the cost would be prohibitive.

I say well done Mugen. Get the bikes out there and show us what they can do. The technology involved is quite brilliant and I take my hat off to anyone who can develop a bike out of it. A class has to start somewhere or it doesn't start at all. Over time, I am sure we will see major manufacturers getting interested and begin developing their own technology and bikes to compete.

A lot of people laughed when Ryan was pushing the boundaries with the supertwin class in NI. Look at it now!

Less negativity and a bit of encouragement would go a long way

I had the privilege to test ride the Mission Motors prototype electric bike in San Francisco last year and I can tell you the smooth power (about 160hp) delivery and the torque was an eye-opener. I can now understand a tiny bit more what John and Bruce are saying about smoothness and linearity and sheer impression of speed each time they get off the Shinden, all smiles.

I fully appreciate the technology and the advances made , but as I have said as the advances have been made the competition has fallen which one presumes is because no one else sees the investment in the technology , to have the future potential to get a return on their investment ,
there for making the show / race call it what you will a , rich boys playing with their toys , taking up valuable track time , that in todays weather conditions is hard to justify
if over the years there had been enough interest, to generate more manufacturers in to competing then ok you could say there was a place for it but when you have the situation that we have where the field is reducing year on year , then sorry interesting as it may be , you have to say it is just not yet ready for the Iom

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(31-01-2015, 10:18 AM)Steady the Edward Wrote: I fully appreciate the technology and the advances made , but as I have said as the advances have been made the competition has fallen which one presumes is because no one else sees the investment in the technology , to have the future potential to get a return on their investment ,
there for making the show / race call it what you will a , rich boys playing with their toys , taking up valuable track time , that in todays weather conditions is hard to justify
if over the years there had been enough interest, to generate more manufacturers in to competing then ok you could say there was a place for it but when you have the situation that we have where the field is reducing year on year , then sorry interesting as it may be , you have to say it is just not yet ready for the Iom

.

Being as this years electric bike lap speeds will be increased again this year, why not let some lightweight/supertwins out too?
Seeded start order, based on bike speed, not rider!

(30-01-2015, 06:41 PM)Steady the Edward Wrote: The biggest pity to me is that as the bikes get faster the amount of bikes gets less , that amount of bikes participating in a so called race on a 37 mile circuit , is not exactly exciting to put it nicely , very sorry but to me the Electric bikes race is on a par with Subaru's , track time wasted

as the bikes get faster the costs will also get bigger
im sure the cost for racing a low budget electric racer will be much more than a high spec 650 twin or even a 6oo supersport
if there was more posotive feedback from fans it might give others a bit more incentive to try the mountain coarse
after all racing round a track is nothing like the tt
i actualy like watching the top electric bikes there speed is amazing and johns onboard lap last year was pritty impresive
as for the motocysz i would love to see them back
but more important i hope michael is winning his battle with ill health 
 is there any updates on his health ?

But then you have the problem for some riders having to choose between the supertwin or a electric , no sorry , the two stroke 125 250's were dropped because it was considered that there was not enough riders or manufacturers interest in them any more as all the big four had dropped them from production , but there is out there a couple of manufacturers that for some time carried on developing and producing them ,

it is a demonstration lap for rich boys with expensive toys , sorry , love the toys and am in awe of the technology that they bring with them , but 6 years down the line in the face of a declining grid is it time to say enough is enough , come back when you are selling them to the public in sufficient numbers to justify a place in the TT line up ,

or  another possibility that would sit better with me , why not run them at the Run what you Brung Manx/classic bodge up !!  sorted    all round , now why didn't I think of that before , hay even better put the bl--dy Subaru rubbish with it , ye now who's a clever boy  then ,       eh heck it was Me Me Me

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(31-01-2015, 11:07 AM)scaramanga Wrote:

(30-01-2015, 06:41 PM)Steady the Edward Wrote: The biggest pity to me is that as the bikes get faster the amount of bikes gets less , that amount of bikes participating in a so called race on a 37 mile circuit , is not exactly exciting to put it nicely , very sorry but to me the Electric bikes race is on a par with Subaru's , track time wasted

as the bikes get faster the costs will also get bigger
im sure the cost for racing a low budget electric racer will be much more than a high spec 650 twin or even a 6oo supersport
if there was more posotive feedback from fans it might give others a bit more incentive to try the mountain coarse
after all racing round a track is nothing like the tt
i actualy like watching the top electric bikes there speed is amazing and johns onboard lap last year was pritty impresive
as for the motocysz i would love to see them back
but more important i hope michael is winning his battle with ill health 
 is there any updates on his health ?

Regarding Michael Czysz' health it's probably best to read the following article:

http://www.motorcycle.com/features/motor...story.html

I think we have to assume that the team will not continue.

Anyone who knows me, either personally or via the forum will know my opinion about electric bike racing.  My belief was that it all happened too soon so that a couple of politicians could try and gain some kudos.  I've always said that if there were 30-40 of these things, say at the level of or within 20% of the performance of the Mugen & Motoczysz machines, then it would be hard to argue against.  But there aren't and there never has been.

Do a web search and see what you can find about electric bike racing (other than TT Zero) for last year or this coming season.  There's very little happening and it's poorly supported.  In a nutshell, electric bike racing is dead on it's feet - in fact it never really took off.  So, how long can we keep saying 'it's the future' when no-one can put a grid together that has more than about 6 bikes on it?  And it's been that way for 6 years now.

I'm not saying the achievements made in performance by the likes of Mugen isn't impressive - it plainly is but the whole concept hasn't taken off and it's hard to see, after so many years of poor support, that it ever will.

As an Enginner, I could sit and look at the Mugen all day long. The quality of workmanship and attention to detail is stunning and puts the majority of the TT paddock to shame.
However... The use of a battery as the only power source for propulsion of a vehicle is a dead end street, and the the green credentials ( which the DED tried to sell to us for the TT) is a sham. There may be no emissions at source, but there would have been as many ,if not more when sourcing raw materials and making the batterys, compared to internal combustion engines.
Then we are left with the TT 'Race' itself.
Yes, you can only race against whoever else turns up, and it is not directly Mugens fault for low field numbers ( although you could argue that it may put off some from competing when the main runner is so strong) but we lost the 2 strokes because of low entrys. At the rate this class is going it will be called the Zero TT because there will be Zero entrys!