Guest
#dirtbike #racing #offroad #motorcycle #electric We finally got a chance to ride the electric Stark Varg here in California this week. Last year we were invited to a global press launch in Barcelona, Spain to ride a pre-production version. The trip fell apart at the last minute because Mark Tilley tested positive for Covid before getting on the plane. So it goes. Now there are a handful of full production models in the country, mostly in the hands of district sales reps and a few dealers. .Up front, we’ll admit we were blown away by the technology and the performance. It’s a different experience, though. Riding the Stark Varg will require a significant adjustment for anyone in both riding technique and lifestyle. Justin Bellerose is a full-time Stark sales rep on the west coast of the U.S. and he gave us a couple of days with the bike to shoot it in the studio and ride it at Glen Helen. In our time with the bike we got to run it out of juice a couple of times and charge it up at the track with a generator. Up front we’ll admit that will be the hardest part about the electric lifestyle to come to terms with. It’s possible to get a day of racing out of one charge at the amateur level. You will have to manage your power setting and it will have to be the right track. Glen Helen is probably the most challenging track for that. It usually has loose, deeply tilled dirt and really steep hills. In the course of shooting our video on the main track, we ran it out of power in 40 minutes of stop-and-go riding. The bike has the range for practice and one moto in the hands of an expert, but you’ll have to figure out some sort of charging program for a full day of racing at a high level. Justin had a Harbor Freight generator in his van with 110-volt capability that charged the bike in 4 hours. If you have a 220 outlet you can do it in 2 hours. On a side note, there’s talk of installing superchargers at various tracks. It will probably happen at Glen Helen aside all that, we have to say that the bike is an amazing piece of technology. It’s hard to believe that a start-up company like this can get so much right on the first try. The most impressive part is the sheer horsepower and power delivery. Not only is it fast, but it hooks up and gets the power to the ground. The bike has what looks like a detachable cell phone as its primary interface, and with that you can adjust the power output and engine braking. It allows you to save five settings, which can then be selected on the fly with a handlebar switch. The max output on this model is what it claims to be 80 horsepower. We were skeptical at first, but when you use that setting, it feels every bit as powerful as a big adventure bike on the pavement. We had a 2024 Husqvarna FC450 on hand for comparison. In every practice start, roll-on and drag race we did, the Varg pulled away easily. Keep in mind that most of this was done on un-prepped, hard-packed soil where you would think that an electric bike would spin wildly. The Varg hooked up every bit as well as the Husqvarna. It probably was most effective to use the 60-horsepower the track, it takes a while to wrap your head around the bike. It’s a new experience and there are a lot of new things to deal with. Our demo bike was set up with a traditional foot brake on the right, but of course it had no shifter or clutch lever. If you have ridden a bike with a Rekluse automatic clutch, you’re halfway there. That’s combined with an automatic transmission. The result is a massive reduction in the rider’s work load. It takes a while to stop reaching for the imaginary clutch and stop dabbing at the imaginary shifter, but it’s a welcome change. Typically, a big bike like a 450 requires you to do most of your hard braking with the clutch lever pulled in. Every rider is different in how he applies the power, but most of us bring up the revs first and then feed out the clutch. It’s a complicated dance that we do subconsciously. With the Varg, you have only one control: the throttle. The engineers have done a remarkable job of making the power delivery smooth, but you still have to have very good throttle control. Subscribe to Dirtbike Magazine: FREE APP DOWNLOAD Apple: Android: = Amazon/kindle: Follow Dirtbike Magazine: Dirtbike Magazine Website: Dirtbike Magazine Facebook: Dirtbike Magazine Twitter: Dirtbike Magazine Instagram:
