SPACE ODDITY
Meet the 2WD bike with a hole in it!
When Max Biaggi set the land speed record for electric bikes in the semi-streamlined class on Voxan’s Wattman last year he used brute power to achieve it – with 367hp on tap to average 228mph. Now British firm White Motorcycle Concepts plan to beat that record using clever aerodynamics and two-wheel drive.
The company’s confection of carbon-fibre and billet aluminium is the first demonstrator of a new aerodynamic concept, the brainchild of founder and namesake Robert White, an engineer with a quarter of a century’s experience in motorsport. He will also ride the bike in the record attempt (see page 6), but his plans are much more ambitious than simply going fast. He believes the same thinking that makes the WMC250EV 70% more aerodynamic than a Suzuki Hayabusa can be transferred to road bikes, working at sensible speeds to offer a boost in range, performance and economy that’s likely to be particularly useful for electric motorcycles.
The bike’s most obvious partypiece is the duct running from nose – normally the place where aerodynamic pressure is highest on a conventional bike – right through to the tail. As well as reducing the bike’s frontal area, a key part of aerodynamic drag, it lowers the centre of pressure at the front, so the 200mph-plus airflow isn’t trying to lift the front wheel off the ground as much as on a conventionally designed bike. The design means there’s more load over the front tyre at speed, allowing White’s second innovation – 2wd – to come into play. Instead of relying purely on the rear tyre’s grip to overcome aerodynamic drag on the Bolivian salt flats where the record attempt will be made, the WMC250EV uses both wheels. That adds traction, and when it comes to setting land speed records that’s as important as outright power.
The front wheel’s drive comes from two hub-mounted motors. Another two drive the rear wheel, mounted at the front of the swingarm and transmitting drive via an enclosed chain drive. Initially, the bike uses brushless motors from Hacker, a German firm that specialises in lightweight, high-powered motors for large radio-controlled aircraft. The rear pair make 40bhp each, the front two are each good for 27bhp, giving a total of 134bhp for the bike’s initial form. That figure will rise as the record attempt gets closer. White reckons the existing set-up should be enough to raise the British record north of 200mph later this year but wants to hike power to over 250kW (335bhp) for the world record runs next year, aiming for in excess of 250mph. Although the WMC250EV is a pure record-setter, White sees a future for both his 2wd system and the radical aerodynamics in production bikes. The conventional seat height means the ducted design could be used in a street bike, maintaining the high centre of gravity needed for cornering as well as a real-world riding position.
Plus, the 2wd system opens the door to an energy recovery system that recharges the batteries as you brake, something that’s lacking on current electric bikes that only power the rear wheel.