Max Biaggi on his Voxan Wattman has set “a new record of maximum speed in both directions – 455.737 km/h (via RRW)”, new contenders are rising from the lower echelons to try to reach a new level of speed – and among them, there is no one else than Lightning Motorcycles.
If you don’t know about the legacy of this brilliant brand, Lightning is known for setting its own record when they were registered as the fastest production electric motorcycle in the world.
The element partially responsible for the brand’s success is a metal called niobium. In its pure form, niobium is “soft, ductile, and highly resistant to corrosion.”
A CBMM engineer named Daniel Wright (and the person responsible for the development of the project) explains why the new Lightning bike – Tachyon NB – uses an ultra-rare niobium element as a hardening agent in everything from chassis to brake rotors filled with niobium.
“Lightning Motorcycles’ current goal is to accelerate to 250 mph, and the carbon fiber fairing and teardrop-shaped rear end contribute to aerodynamics.”
We’ll keep you updated as Lightning Motorcycles works to bring Tachyon NB to the Bonneville salt marshes; given the recent flooding of the salt marshes, we expect a repeat in 2023 of the electric speed record if they still intend to keep Bonneville as a testing location.