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.