Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/997997
CURTISS ZEUS E-CRUISER FULL TEST P114 of the rights to the MV Agusta name six full years before restor- ing this legendary trophy brand to the motorcycle marketplace, with the advent of the Tamburini- designed F4. "We acquired the Curtiss name because of my admiration for the achievements of Mr. Curtiss, who was I believe a truly visionary person, and a great motorcyclist," he states. "Glenn H. Curtiss was three years ahead of Indian in creating the American V-twin—which Indian then copied, just as Harley-Davidson did later. He was running 136 mph on a motorcycle when those guys were bragging about doing 50 or 60 mph, and then he got bored with the whole two-wheel thing, and went off and essentially created the modern aviation industry. "But he was the one flying the planes, he invented the twist grip throttle, he designed the engines powering his aircraft, and it's his rudder design, and all his tech- nology that flies planes today, not anyone else's. He was a very brave man, too, because he not only rode his own motorcycles at high speed on Ormond Beach, but he also flew the aircraft and seaplanes he'd invented. He was a man's man." Okay, but why electric, and why electric and Curtiss togeth- er? "Because if Glenn Curtiss would show up today, I think his thirst for innovation and his genius for free-thinking would lead him to developing a unique take on the electric motorcycles that are unquestionably the future for personal transportation on two wheels, and that's what we aim to provide with the products bearing his name." Chambers is targeting a 2020 model year production of 135 Curtiss E-motorcycles, and aims to be ready to start taking orders by the end of this year via the www.curtissmotorcycles.com website, with EPA approval and Euro 5 compliance (which will entail fitting ABS, currently absent from the prototype Zeus) sched- uled for completion by July 2019. He envisages production ramping up to 400 motorcycles for the 2021 model year, before coming on stream with the less costly, higher volume, cast-alloy bikes. "Our primary initial aim is to get California and the U.S. certified," he says. "We believe California will be the most fertile market for Curtiss to begin with, and that, we can expand organically, once we get established there. But besides ABS I want to feature traction control on all our bikes, because of the significant torque that our E-Twin format will deliver. These are two important features without which I wouldn't want to sell anyone a bike. But we're go- ing to move extremely fast, and put a lot of leverage on getting these motorcycles to market with these features." Thus the Zeus displayed at the Quail Gathering had only been finished four days earlier, then ridden literally around the block outside the Curtiss factory in Bir- mingham at around 40 mph tops, before being loaded in a van and driven for 50 hours from Alabama to Monterey, California, arriving the day before the show. Under those circumstances, my promised exclusive first ride on the completely undeveloped bike the day after its prize-win- ning public debut seemed likely to be little more than a low-speed cruise around the streets of Car- This is a guy on the move: Design Director Jordan Cornille in his office surrounded by sketches.