Electric Motorcycle Drag Racing
Orange County Choppers, the custom motorcycle shop featured on the TLC Reality TV show American Chopper and Junior vs Senior, announced Tuesday that it has broken the previously held quarter-mile record for a battery-powered motorcycle.
The historical accomplishment was recorded at Virginia Motorsports Park located near Petersburg, Va., on Sept. 24, 2010. The YouTube video above shows the OCC bike in action.
Legendary drag racer Larry ‘Spiderman’ McBride rode the 363 volt, 4000 amp electric bike to a 7.469, 177 miles per hour quarter-mile pass shattering the existing world record of 7.82 seconds at 168mph.
The Lawless Electric Drag Bike was featured in an episode of the famed reality TV show American Chopper on Thursday on TLC.
The Lawless Electric Drag bike is sponsored by AEK Packaging and Aaron Equipment Company, both companies are based in Bensenville, Ill.
The bike puts out over 600 horsepower, contains an electric DC Drive System, and a GE 13 inch Motor with a double Zilla controller. The team running the electric drag bike at Virginia Motorsports Park got in elapsed times of 8.02, 7.57, 7.50, and 7.46.
Speeds at the quarter mile were 159, 163, 172, 174, and 177 mph. The team says that a speed of 200mph is quite possible with this bike once they manage to find more horsepower to put to the pavement.
Coincidentally, this isn’t the first time that OCC broke the record. The first attempt was on August 29th at Quaker City Raceway in Salem, Ohio, where the team registered 7.77 seconds at 165 miles per hour. And this isn’t the last record OCC and Lawless Industries are hoping to break.
Next up is the current land speed record for an electric motorcycle recently set at 179 miles per hour this past September at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah.
Paul Teutul Senior says: "I’m proud to say that as a company that with the Lawless Electric Drag Bike we were able to break the same world record twice. And we look forward to what’s next with the bike."
Shawn Lawless (CEO of the Ohio-based Lawless Industries) says: "The entire experience of this build, from the planning and building with the OCC crew, to breaking the World Record at the track, was incredibly positive and rewarding. I look forward to future ventures with this first class team."
