The Yamaha electric motocross bike is coming. A month ago, Cycle World reported about some early stages, and now the new patents surfaced. This likely means it’s getting closer to a production model.
Yamaha Has Something Interesting on its Hands
The original patent described the Yamaha electric motocross bike’s transmission in-depth, along with how it was unique from the TY-E trials bike. Even though the trials bike only requires a single-speed transmission, Yamaha has kept the traditional clutch on it along with an energy-storing flywheel.
This works well for a trials machine, but not really for a motocross bike. However, Yamaha has a solution. The solution is to drop the clutch altogether and add a set of springs between the motor and the transmission.
In the new patents, the company shows some breather hoses and ventiliation for the bike. This is important becuase they have waterproofed the electronics so that the motocross bike could get wet. These breathers run right up behind the steering head.
There is also a cap to this breather system that won’t let water in, so the bike could actually be fully submerged or ridden through truly deep water.
Another thing these new patents touch on is energy management. Yamaha wants riders to be able to use all of the power they can to get the best performance, but not so much that they run out of juice before the race ends. So there’s a sophisticated battery managment system on the latest iteration of the bikes.
Overall these are smart moves in my book. Even if you’re against EV bikes for the street, for off-road and off-road racing applications, they make a ton of sense due to their simplified controls and direct power. I’m excited to see where Yamaha takes this.
