Optibelt assists drive development for performance electric motorcycles
Savic Motorcycles, the first in Australia to design and build high performance electric motorcycles, called on Optibelt engineers in Germany to assist in the development of an exceptional drive for their machines.
These exceptional motorcycles required an exceptional drive and for this Savic called on the engineering expertise of international leading drive belt manufacturer Optibelt, who specified the Optibelt Delta Chain Carbon timing belt for this application. High torque applications such as superchargers on drag cars and high performance motorcycle drives demand a high performance product which is where the Optibelt Delta Chain Carbon excels. It can provide 100 percent power transmission compared to high performance rubber timing belts.
Compared with a roller chain drive, the carbon timing belts are cleaner, lighted, smoother and quieter and require no adjustments resulting in less maintenance and a longer life cycle. All these qualities were essential when designing a drive system for these high-performance motorcycles.
The polyurethane construction combined with the carbon fibre cords of the belt delivers a product that is resistant to contamination by water, a wide range of chemicals, oils and fluids; all important factors in a motorcycle application. At the same time, the wear resistant red bonded fabric increases the sheer strength of the teeth meaning that constant and fast acceleration is possible, making the Optibelt Delta Chain Carbon the perfect partner in style and high end performance.
The man behind the Savic Motorcycles is 28-year-old engineer, Dennis Savic who together with a rapidly growing team, has developed three different specifications of their electric motorcycles, the C-Series. This follows the launch of their concept prototype at the 2018 Australian Motorcycle Expo, their secondgeneration prototype in November 2019 and the production prototype in 2020.
The motorcycle prototypes are all direct drive to the rear wheel where the in-house designed rear wheel pulley has three spokes which line up perfectly with the spokes of the rear rim, which is also designed and developed by Savic and his team. The belt width running on the motorcycles is 36mm which is the widest belt in the EV market according to Savic principal, Dennis Savic.
The range offered now comprises three models being the Alpha fitted with an 11 kWh battery for a 200 km range, the Delta with a 9 kWh battery offering a range of 150km and the commute-focused Omega with a modest range of 120km. All are reputedly competitively priced starting from approximately $12,990 AUD.
With the prototypes now virtually complete, compliance testing underway and the first production run of 50 motorcycles all preordered, the team expect to commence production by mid-2022.
With order books for the first production run full, there will be great excitement to see these Australian designed, engineered and fully built electric high-performance motorcycles on our roads.