VOL. 54 ISSUE 17 MAY 2, 2017 P117
and another two are mellower,
and provide more control in tech-
nical, low-traction conditions.
Sitting on the bike feels
normal except for the lack of a
clutch lever. Instead, you will
find the map switch on the
left side where the kill switch
would normally be. The maps
can be changed on the fly.
And in the center, you will
find a monitor that displays
your speed, distance, cur-
rent battery charge and a
green glow when the bike
is "live."
So how about the ride?
We got the opportunity to
spend a full day on the
Redshift MX at a private
facility in Florida that
included a motocross
track, several miles
of single-track trails
and an EnduroCross
track. Fortunately,
the Alta team did
not try to "redesign
the wheel" when it
came to the basic
chassis design and suspension
components. They stuck with
what has already been proven
to work with current produc-
tion bikes (leaning heavily on a
CRF250R in terms of geometry).
The WP forks and shock are
similar to what you would find on
a KTM and the Brembo brakes
are very solid. There is no clutch
lever or shifter, which feels a little
strange for about five minutes
and then you completely forget
about that and realize it allows
you to focus on riding. The lack
of engine noise makes the chain
slap, spinning tire and wind noise
your best indicators of speed and
you quickly become accustomed
to that as well.
On the motocross track, we
found it easy to get comfort-
able on the Redshift MX quickly
and jump any obstacles that we
would do on a traditional bike.
Whoops, ruts and turns also felt
very natural. The most aggres-
sive map setting provides plenty
of power to clear obstacles or lift
the front wheel when necessary.
The lack of engine noise makes the chain slap, spinning
tire and wind noise your best indicators of speed.
The 40-horsepower
Alta weighs nearly
270 pounds, but no
moving engine parts
makes it feel about
as light as a regular
gas-powered four-
stroke MXer.
connection between the
throttle and rear wheel, engine
braking (which also re-charges
the battery), traction control
and indirectly impacts the
battery range. The bike comes
standard with four different
maps: two are more track ori-
ented hi-performance settings
