Richard230
18 October 2012, 1756
In the latest issue of Motorcycle Consumer News is an interesting article by their monthly contributor, Glynn Kerr. Mr. Kerr writes a column every month about motorcycle design and he is a recognized design consultant who has designed motorcycles for a number of major companies in the past. It turns out that he also designed the looks and style of Lightning Motors' production motorcycle. In his full-page article on page 38 of the November MCN he describes the Lightning motorcycle and relates his thought process when choosing its design. He said the choice was to make it look visually different from a conventional motorcycle (I assume, such as Brammo did with the Enertia) or make it look like a more typical IC superbike. He and Lightning motors decided upon the conventional superbike approach because of the need to make the vehicle feel normal when the owner is riding it. "Plus there's the argument that getting customers to accept an alternative power source is already stretching their level of acceptance to the max. Adding an unconventional appearance may be a bridge too far." So it was decided that the bike should look "pretty much like a regular supersport/race bike with cutting edge appeal - in other words, it had to be up there with the best in the class."
The article also mentions that as well as giving the bike sharp looks, an LED headlight was chosen to reduce power consumption and to give the bike an additional high-tech feature. The article notes that the first planned production bike has already been sold and that the company will begin production of a line of more affordable street bikes early next year. Also mentioned is that Lightning is currently testing a 22 kWh battery pack for use in a future model.
The article also mentions that as well as giving the bike sharp looks, an LED headlight was chosen to reduce power consumption and to give the bike an additional high-tech feature. The article notes that the first planned production bike has already been sold and that the company will begin production of a line of more affordable street bikes early next year. Also mentioned is that Lightning is currently testing a 22 kWh battery pack for use in a future model.