Some friends of ours in France, Olivier (who was on the cover of Sideburn 21 with his Harley WR) and Vincent, founder of Wheels and Waves, put on a stylish, small scale MX race for electric bikes, in the centre of St Tropez, France. I don't know chic St Tropez, but I'm guessing it would have been impossible to get permission for an event using regular petrol-burners. This is one of the aspects that has always got us the most excited, the ability to ride without incurring the grief of noise complaints.
The event featured the bikes of Swedish company Cake. Watch the short recap film to see the track nestled in the centre of the city.
Further reading
We've covered electric flat trackers both in our Stories section online and in the magazine.
Sideburn 40 - BlatantMoto Death Rattle Electric flat tracker & the One Moto Electric National flat track race
Sideburn 36 - Colt Wrangler Zero Electric street tracker
Sideburn 29 - Travis Newbold races the Alta Electric Flat Tracker
Sideburn Story - Evan Anders debuts the Alta at Santa Rosa short track
Have to agree with Ted Ellis. Within the next 30 years people - especially young people - will see the internal combustion engine in the way many people see coal-burning, smoke-belching steam engines. In that short film it would have been good to have a moment or two of hearing the bikes racing, no soundtrack. The lack of engine noise is the weirdest thing about it all. I wanted to hear what we can't hear.
The future is electric. The naysayers can't get their thoughts out of the box they grew up in. We are to EV's what our 1900 counterparts were to internal combustion vehicles - only seeing and judging them by the leading edge of what they will become. My greatest dilemma is trying to figure out what is the EV counterpart to "Braaap!"?