LIGHTING STRIKE
FIRST REVIEW
P100
Strike name formerly registered
to its defunct Buell brand. "It was
more than we wanted to pay," he
says, "but not as much as I was
fearing!"
That $12,988 price tag for the
E-Strike would be right on the
money for a 600 Supersport,
with the class-leading Yamaha R6
currently listed at $12,199 in the
USA, so how the heck has Light-
ning managed to price the model
so low by current EV standards?
According to Hatfield, the Strike's
retail cost is feasible because of
the complete restructuring of his
company, including the opening
of two new Lightning Motorcycle
factories, each 20,000 sq-ft in
size. The first of these is in the
heart of Silicon Valley in San
Jose, California, just 20 miles
from the Apple Campus in Cu-
pertino, and is five times larger
than Lightning's previous base 40
miles further north in San Carlos,
where LS-218 production was
initiated. The other is in China,
in the city of Quzhou south of
Shanghai, and close to the QJ
Benelli and KTM-CFMoto plants,
as well as Moto Morini's new
owner Zhongneng's HQ.
"Our main reason for opening
the factory in China is that we
know we must be able to build
these bikes at a competitive price
and in a kind of volume that will
allow Lightning to compete with
gasoline bikes on price," explains
Hatfield. "We'll do the engineer-
ing and product development in
California, but will manufacture
the majority of the parts in China
before shipping them to the USA,
(Left) Ohlins
suspension will be
fitted to the high-
end Lightning
Strikes. (Right)
The electric-
power Lightning
Strike is all about
performance at a
reasonable price.
