VOL. 53 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 P37
ALTA ELECTRIC BIKE MAKES WINNING DEBUT
AT PHOENIX ENDUROCROSS
T
hree-time EnduroCross
Vet Champion Kurt Nicoll
provided the dream introduc-
tion to EnduroCross for the Alta
Electric motorcycle. In the first
major off-road race for the new
brand, Nicoll took the Vet-class
main event win, the first-ever
victory for an electric-powered
motorcycle.
Nicoll, a former top World
Championship Motocross
racer and 2012 AMA Vet Racer
of the Year, battled early with
Stephen Foord, another former
EnduroCross Vet Champion,
before taking the big win.
"I think that the Alta bike is
very competitive for Enduro-
Cross," Nicoll said. "There are
a lot of differences between
an electric bike and a standard
bike. I can change maps during
the laps with my hand. We have
three different maps: one for
the start, one with softer deliv-
ery for the rocks, and another
that I switched to for the other
parts of the course. It is not that
different than shifting gears but
it is a button on the handlebars
instead of a shifter. But on a
normal motocross track or trail
riding, you would just leave it in
one setting and not need to wor-
ry about switching it. I got the
holeshot in my qualifier and the
main event so it is plenty fast.
"The Alta uses WP forks and
shock and the same swingarm
and brakes as a KTM," Nicoll
added. "So I felt comfortable
straight away. I rode it on a mo-
tocross track the first day I rode
it and jumped all of the doubles
on the second lap because if
felt very comfortable."
Nicoll added that there are
still things that need to be
sorted out. "The battery range
is plenty for EnduroCross and
will outlast the rider," he said. "I
rode the thing for over an hour
of running time while practicing
and it still had power. But for
sandy conditions, motocross
and other things with sustained
power usage, the battery life
is the only limiting factor. For
EnduroCross, we could actually
run a smaller and lighter battery.
The development is ongoing
with the bike but they [Alta] are
starting a small production run
of bikes now."
Nicoll will race the Alta again
at the October 1 Denver Endu-
roCross, and he also plans to
compete at the finale in Ontario,
California, November 19. CN
Kurt Nicoll rode an Alta electric-
power motorcycle to victory
in the Vet class at the Phoenix
EnduroCross.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
TANNER
YEAGER
