Can the Stark Varg Last a Day at the Races?
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We’ve had our Stark Future Varg electric motocross bike for about nine months now, and during that time the factory has released not one, but two individual software updates that have increased the bike’s range by a total of 20%. Earlier in the year, we raced the bike at a 50-minute SRA Grand Prix at Glen Helen but came up a few hundred feet short of completing the race at full speed and went from second to eighth in the final minutes of the race at a snail’s pace when the bike went into limp mode. With the newest updates, we wanted to see if the Varg could complete two motos at the AMSOIL Swapmoto Race Series with enough battery to finish at full speed. After four laps of practice, the bike had reduced to 86% battery. Erring on the cautious side, we elected to plug out bike in before the first moto. The SML van has a 1500 watt inverter and we charged the bike back to 92% during the short break, with the van engine running and the charger set on the “slow charge” mode to reduce the load on our Sprinter’s electrical system. For the race, we set map one to 55 horsepower and 100% regenerative engine braking for the start. After the second corner, we switched the bike into map two which was set to 48 horsepower at 100% regenerative engine braking. So, did the bike make it? With swap – a 55-year-old Vet Intermediate with a mediocre pace – at the controls, we finished both six-lap motos and were pleased to see that the bike had a shocking 40% charge left! Obviously, a faster and more aggressive rider will run the battery down at a more rapid pace, but for the “average” rider, the electric dirt bike should have no problems at all finishing a day at the local races. Do you need to buy a massive generator to lug with you to the track? Depends on your speed, really, but we were stoked to learn that we don’t – in fact – need one! Thanks to TIS Off-Road Wheels for making videos like these possible, and thanks to Justin Witmer MX Visuals for the footage!
