LIGHTFIGHTER V2.0
R I D E R E V I E W
P90
I
f you've got even half an eye on the global trans-
portation industry, you will have noticed the rise
and rise of electric mobility, particularly in the
automotive sector. Electric cars are everywhere,
but there's only a handful of electric motorcycles
on the roads and next to none on the track.
Battery size, weight, capacity and the dreaded
lengthy charge time are all factors in the slow
uptake of electric motorcycling. The propulsion
performance is there for short bursts, but pretty
much all these bikes are simply commuter ma-
chines—except for something like the Lightfighter.
The brainchild of Brian Wismann, who, rather
ironically, is the Vice President of Product De-
velopment at Zero Motorcycles in Scotts Valley,
California, and his fabrication partner Ely Schless
in Oregon, the Lightfighter aims to be the first
American-built electric motorcycle capable of
competing head-to-head with their gas-powered
counterparts. America has had skin in the electric
game over in the past, most notably with the now
defunct MotoCzysz and Brammo concerns, the
latter of which Wismann was heavily involved dur-
ing campaigns with the TTXGP series and later
with Polaris with its Victory Empulse program at
the Isle of Man TT Zero event.
WE'VE HAD A GLIMPSE INTO THE
FUTURE OF SPORT MOTORCYCLES
WITH THE LIGHTFIGHTER V2.0,
AND IT AIN'T HALF BAD
SPORT
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK I PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALI PHOTOGRAPHY AND SCAYSBROOK
