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MotoCzysz E1pc

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Hopefully you have done the laundry since our absolutely raunchy post that showed the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale without its clothes on, because we have got some more hardcore and explicit photos for you on this Friday afternoon. A reminder that everything new and exciting has probably been done before by someone else, we can see that Ducati could easily have had some inspiration with the Panigale’s design if they looked at the MotoCzysz C1 990, circa 2006 (and the Britten V1000, circa 1991, etc.). After all, it’s said that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Housing a VR4 motor instead of the 1199’s Superquadro v-twin, Czysz & Co. employed a similar design that incorporates the frame, airbox, and headstock into a single component. While the MotoCzysz C1 uses a carbon fiber monocoque chassis design (as does the company’s electric superbike: the MotoCzysz E1pc), Ducati has of course made a more practical choice with its use of an aluminum frame (how long will it take for an aftermarket carbon fiber solution to hit the streets?).

The second running of the TT Zero at the Isle of Man TT, made for the Isle’s third electric racing occasion on the Manx island. With 2011 being the 100th year of the Isle of Man TT running over the fabled Mountain Course, all eyes were focused to see if the fitting 100 mph barrier would drop as the electrics made their race today. Heavily favored were the bikes from the Segway MotoCzysz Racing team, which brought a modified version of its 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc that was being raced again by last year’s winner Mark Miller, as well as the company’s new 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc that Michael Rutter would swing a leg over. Also on the Isle was MotoCzysz rival Lightning Motorcycles, an entry from Japan, and a bevy of strong university teams.

We spent the today at the Jurby course, as teams for the Isle of Man TT came out to the short airfield race track to test their machines before the TT starts in earnest tomorrow with its first races. Among those teams in attendance was MotoCzysz, and the team debuted its 200+ hp 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc for the first time to the public (we brought you a sneak peek yesterday). With Michael Czysz and Michael Rutter both taking laps on the new electric superbike, today was the first time the new E1pc had ever turned a wheel. Photos and more after the jump.

We’ll have to wait just a bit longer to get a better glimpse of MotoCzysz‘s new bike, but we do have a teaser photo of the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc. Spending an hour or so in the MotoCzysz pit, we’ve gotten a good look at the electric motorcycle, though we’ve been sworn to secrecy about revealing the bike’s details.

We’ll have to wait a while longer before we can spill all the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc’s secrets, but we can say that the                                      is all new and made out of                   , and is going to make the whole thing                    as hell. The                    has also been revised, and the                    is damn sexy, though what’s really going to blow your mind is the                                      you know what…you’ll see.

Source: MotoCzysz (Twitter)

Sources have been hinting that MotoCzysz had two bikes in the works for the upcoming TT Zero, and now we’ve gotten confirmation from the Portland, Oregon company that it will indeed be fielding two bikes at the Isle of Man TT. As with the past two years, Mark Miller will be at the helm of the MotoCzysz machine, but this year he will be joined by Michael Rutter on the second Czysz bike.

Mark Miller rode the MotoCzysz E1pc to victory last year during the TT Zero, while Rutter was a solid Top 10 contender in the Superbike, Superstock, and Senior TT classes. Though the Englishman has won 27 BSB Championship races, and competed in both MotoGP and World Superbike, this will be Rutter’s first foray into electric motorcycle racing.

Italian designer Oberdan Bezzi (view our coverage here) is at it again with his pen and paper, and this time he’s set his mind to imagining a battery-powered electric motorcycle. Based off the now defunked Chaparral brand, Bezzi sees the Texan company reinventing itself and entering the electric motorcycle racing scene. The bike has a full carbon chassis, a liquid cooled motor, and great attention to aerodynamics, according to Obiboi. We can also see five removable battery packs on each side of the motorcycle, and single shock suspension used not only on the rear, but also on the front fork assembly.

Wait…we feel like we’ve seen this before…Yes, it seems Bezzi has ripped-off every detail found on the MotoCzysz E1pc, right down to the motor and controller mounting points. Of course the A1 e-Racer looks like the E1pc 1.0, with its square battery packs. Oberdan must have missed our article on the eDD where we explained that the E1pc’s chevron shaped batteries allowed for more front wheel clearance. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right Michael?

Over the long weekend, Asphalt & Rubber got the chance to swing by Portland International Raceway for MotoCzysz’s first track test with the 2010 E1pc electric race bike. It’s hard to believe, but this was Michael Czysz’s first time riding his creation on the track. The session was prompted by Czysz’s need to get ready to race the E1pc at the up-coming e-Power Championship race at Laguna Seca. Czysz had hinted to us several months ago that he might pilot the electric race bike at Seca, and now has confirmed that intention to race the bike himself. .

Getting to tag along during the new E1pc’s first actual track test, we got to see how the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc compared to ICE track bikes while lapping at PIR. Observations, photos, and two videos that prove we need to get a proper camcorder in the A&R office are awaiting you after the jump.

The Isle of Man TT organizers have released some on-board footage of the TT Zero winning 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc. Other than the impressive speed from the electric sportbike, what’s really noticeable about this video is the wind noise. The subject of electric motorcycles lacking the exhaust note normally associated with motorcycles has been hashed out numerous times before, but watching this video reminds us of a comment that Michael Czysz once made to us about how electric motorcycles were like sailboats.

Once you get out to the open water, and turn off your motor it transforms the experience into something else. We imagine that must have crossed rider Mark Miller’s mind at some point…before he quickly had to train his attention on the rapidly approaching street course. Check the video out after the jump.

Last week we got a leaked photo of the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc, and knew the bike would be a contender in today’s TT Zero at the Isle of Man. Now that the TT for electrics is over, we can get a closer look at the machine that left the competition behind in the dust. MotoCzysz was a scratch at last year’s TT, and following that mantra the team effectively started-over from scratch for their 2010 effort. Back for 2010, there is of course the familiar MotoCzysz-designed 6X Flex front-end suspension system, but the rest of the bike centers around a revised energy package that’s been refined to engineering simplicity.

We’ve already covered how the central “suitcase” or eDD incorporates space maximizing v-shaped removable battery packs that pop-out with the push of a button. And how the entire 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc involves virtually no wiring, since everything dovetails perfectly together. We’ve also covered how the MotoCzysz D1-10 motor is replacing the three Agni motors from last year’s bike. Running off nearly 500 volts of power, the liquid-cooled IPM motor makes 250lbs•ft of torque, and generates over 100hp. The aerodynamics of the 2010 bike have been completely rethought, and employ a palatable design that achieves the aerodynamic goals to give the team a greater advantage with their limited on-board energy.

All of this is well and good, but it doesn’t mean shit if the bike doesn’t go fast.

Mark Miller took the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc to victory today at the Isle of Man’s TT Zero race. Miller lapped the MotoCzysz E1pc around the Mountain Course with an average speed of 96.820 MPH and with a time of 23:22.890. Just shy of the 100 MPH average speed barrier, Miller passed through the Sulby speed trap going 135.300 MPH, and topped 140 MPH at one point.

Following Miller was Rob “Bullet” Barber who averaged 89.290 MPH on the streamlined Team Agni machine. James McBride finished on the podium with a 88.653 MPH average on the Man TTX race bike. Jennifer Tinmouth on the second Agni finished 4th, just seven seconds behind McBride.

What’s going to be mounted on these protruding brackets? So far the 2010 MotoCzysz E1pc has been lapping the Isle of Man without its full fairing on the motorcycle. If history teaches us anything, the presumption, of course, should be that MotoCzysz has something still up its sleeve before the team takes to the Mountain Course tomorrow for the TT Zero event. Last year it was batteries in the tail-section, this year it would seem to be streamlining the E1pc.

While Michael Czysz has derided the use of a dustbin style fairings in road racing, he has acknowledged that a course like the Isle of Man creates an opportunity for a race team to find some benefits in the design. As such, Czysz wrote three months ago that he would have a dustbin fairing at the ready, should someone else show up with one as well…and that’s exactly what’s happened.