Lightfighter Electric Superbike: The Mini Series. Part 2
Gone Racing!
By now you might have forgotten about Part 1 of the Lightfighter electric superbike saga. That’s our bad for taking so long getting this second video edited and released, but the world’s been a crazy place lately. While we certainly encourage you to click the link to catch yourself up on Part 1, the quick recap goes a little something like this: after being asked to ride and help develop version 1 of the Lightfighter LFR19 electric superbike, Brian Wismann and Ely Schless built version 2 based on my feedback. We had plenty of hopes, dreams, and intentions for the bike, but a little thing called Covid-19 threw a giant monkey wrench into those plans.
Nonetheless, as Part 1 recaps, Brian and Ely were still able to finish the bike and we were still able to test it. In this, Part 2 of our journey, we dive into the deep end and enter the new bike in a race weekend with WERA at what has become our de facto second home – Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
Lightfighter Electric Superbike: The Mini-Series. Part 1
With version 1, Brian and I had tested numerous times before ever entering a competition. This time, we had just enough time to make sure all the bolts were tight and the suspension settings were somewhere in the ballpark before lining up on the grid. To add to the variables we hadn’t accounted for, I insisted on trying new tire sizes for this round – a 125/70-17 front and 200/65-17 rear. With the help of Bobby Loo, proprietor of Motorrev Suspension Tuning, we got Lightfighter as close as we could given our lack of time and threw it in with the sharks.
As you’ll see in the video above, nobody was really sure where to place a one-off electric prototype motorcycle, so we slotted in first with middleweight twins like SV650s, but later grouped up with faster, 600cc supersports – some of them with heavy modifications, all of them with very fast riders. I won’t spoil the details any further than that, so I encourage you to watch the video, see what happens, and also find out exactly what goes into making an electric superbike, as Brian Wismann takes a deep dive into the inner workings of Lightfighter v2.0.
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Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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Congrats to Brian, Ely, and our own MOronic Trizzle.
I enjoyed everything about the vid. Really liked Brian's technical run-down, too.
You teased us with that hole shot at the end of the Part 1 video.
Today I finally got to see the race.
Can't wait for part 3.
I like that you wore your Mickey Mouse cap to try to sweet talk the race director. I suppose if that ever fails, you could try Winnie the Poo, Bambi, the Minions, etc.