MUGEN SHINDEN YON
RACER TEST
P66
always next year.
Yet even in the sportier map,
the Mugen is even more ride-
able than any of the Yank tanks
I've ridden, and that makes it an
ideal TT bike that feels control-
lable yet responsive; it doesn't
have the same aggressive
pickup from a closed throttle that
made riding the otherwise admi-
rable MotoCzysz hard a bit of a
challenge. That's a characteristic
which extends to the Mugen's
handling, which as far as I'm
concerned sets new standards
for E-bikes. The Nissin brakes
are phenomenally good
at hauling down such a
heavy package from high
speed, even if it took me
a while to find my brake
markers because of the
deceptive way the Mugen
keeps right on accelerat-
ing hard. But while the
amount of regen braking
dialed into the ECU map
was usable without being
particularly noticeable in
terms of delivering what
amounts to engine brak-
ing, it would have been
nice to be able to vary it
myself for different corners
or sections of the track as
you could on the five-way
MotoCzysz system, less
for a series of flowing cor-
ners, or even turn it off altogeth-
er so as to keep up turn speed,
more for hard stops followed by
slow turns. You can't do that on
the Mugen, and I think that's a
mistake.
But in my second session I
started to use both brakes to
something approaching their
true potential. It felt awkward
at first squeezing hard on the
scooter/bicycle-type rear brake
lever mounted on the left clip-
on, especially trail-braking into
the chicane at one end of the
Motegi short circuit. But even
with the Mugen's heavy weight I
could brake with complete stabil-
ity and poise from an indicated
(Above) Check
out that beautiful
carbon fiber
frame! It won't
be long before
we start seeing
carbon frames on
production bikes.
(Left) More
carbon, this time
the beautifully-
crafted swingarm.
