The First Production Motorcycle To Cross 200 MPH
There was a time in the late 1990s and 2000s when motorcycle manufacturers genuinely were like kids in a candy shop. They were given free rein to build bigger and faster motorcycles. This is the era when everyone wanted the title of the fastest production bike in the world and built bikes specifically to break the record.
Things started getting so out of hand that Europeans threatened a ban. Before it could be implemented, the motorcycle manufacturers got together and developed a gentlemen’s agreement. That meant no production bike could exceed 186 MPH. It wasn’t until a few years later that bikemakers began crossing that mark, and an electric motorcycle was the first to breach 200 MPH.
The Gentlemen’s Agreement Held….For A While
The gentlemen’s agreement held for a surprisingly long time, but not everyone held to that standard. MV Agusta famously broke the pact with the F4 R 312, named for its 312 kilometer an hour/194 miles per hour top speed. Still, it was not 200 miles an hour. Faster bikes were launched over the years, but either through power or aerodynamic limits, none of them broke the 200 miles per hour mark.
Even Today, 200-MPH Superbikes Rely On Track-Only Asterisks
You would think that a quarter of a century later we would have come up with a solution, because that 200-mile-an-hour mark is a truly magical one for everything automotive, and there have been a few that have managed to do it. The most prominent one is Kawasaki’s track-only Ninja H2R, which managed to do it on closed-off public roads. Similarly, the likes of the Ducati Panigale V4 R will need a race tune and an ECU flash to break 200 MPH. So what broke 200 MPH in the production market, then? Well, the answer comes from the much-controversial EV world.
Bonneville Validation Secured The LS-218’s Production Speed Record
Lightning, an American electric motorcycle manufacturer, recognized this and built electric race bikes when they were just dreams to others. They participated in races like the Isle of Man TT and Pikes Peak, and every year, their performance grew until not only did they shatter electric bike records, they even won the overall two-wheeler race up Pikes Peak. If that was not enough, the brand also went on to set the top speed record for a production bike.
Since Lightning was too young to have committed to the gentlemen’s agreement, it used this loophole to develop the LS-218, named after its top speed of 218 miles per hour, making it the fastest electric motorcycle in the world. It achieved this at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2012 with a production-spec example with special gearing and bodywork. The great thing is: you can still buy one with lights, number plates, and all the other regulatory requirements, and technically hit that top speed. This makes the LS-218 not just the first production motorcycle to cross 200 miles an hour, but also the only one you can ride on public roads to this day.
A Sub-$39,000 Base Price Climbs Rapidly
The LS-218 has a base price of $38,988. This is quite high by gas-powered sports bike standards, but fits with its exclusive, high-performance positioning. Specify it with a few options that make life easier, like the Xtreme fast charge and the 80 Amp adapter for Tesla chargers, and the price rises to $57,407. There are more options as well, and even a slower, cheaper variant. Where’s the fun in that, right?
A 244-Horsepower IPM Motor Eliminates The Need For A Conventional Gearbox
The LS-218 uses an interior permanent magnet that can spin up to 10,500 RPM to generate 244 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque, making it the most powerful American sport bike even today. This being an electric motor, peak torque is available across the rev range via a direct single-speed drive that connects directly to the countershaft and the chain final drive. The full-time availability of the max torque combined with the big horsepower, the LS-218 is frighteningly quick – and it hits its top speed without needing a single gear change!
Modular Battery Capacities Balance 335-Mile Highway Range With Charge Times
There are different battery packs available: the base one is a 15 kWh pack with a range of 188 miles; you can upgrade to a 20 kWh one with a range of 255 miles; and finally, there is the 28 kWh battery pack equipped with a Lightning Fast Charge System(LCFS) that offers 335 miles of range. The batteries have a thermal management system and a standalone battery management system to maintain the health of individual battery cells. It takes 2 hours to charge to 80 percent with level 2 charging, 35 minutes to the same level with level 3, and the LCFS takes a mere 12 minutes to get there, offering a great combination of instant torque and long-range capability.
Race-Spec Öhlins Damping And Brembo GP4 Calipers Harness Raw Acceleration
The LS-218 has an all-aluminum chassis, and it can be ordered with a carbon fiber one as well. It is mated to some truly quality components: an Öhlins FRGT inverted fork with NIX30 cartridge internals, TiN surface treatment, and fully adjustable preload, compression, and rebound damping. At the rear, there is an Öhlins TTX36 shock, with adjustable preload, ride height, and high- and low-speed compression and rebound damping. The travel available is 4.7 inches in the front and 4.2 inches at the rear.
The brakes are equally high quality, with twin 320 mm Brembo T-Drive fully floating discs at the front with Brembo GP4-RX calipers mounted on billet aluminum radial calipers. At the rear, there is a 245 mm disc with a two-piston fixed Brembo caliper. The stock wheels are 17-inch forged aluminum shod with radial tubeless tires. Even with all that, the package weighs a not-inconsiderable 495 pounds. Still, it becomes one of the most powerful American sports bikes for speed junkies.
Lacks Modern Lean-Sensitive Six-Axis Rider Aids
The LS-218 launched in 2015, so judged by today’s standards, it can seem a little outdated. The dash is an LCD and hasn’t been upgraded to a TFT one. All the necessary information is available, including revs, speed, battery voltage, SoC, and system temperatures. It’s a similar story with the electronics – it has multi-level traction control and dual-channel ABS but no six-axis IMU. There are power modes and custom throttle mapping available, and the regenerative braking can be tuned as well. The low-speed reverse gear helps with backing up the bike.
The options list is quite massive: on it are BST carbon fiber and/or Marchesini magnesium wheels, custom paint, custom throttle mapping, cruise control and reverse gear, and different chargers. There are also ‘competition packages’ that give you motorcycles specifically tuned for different purposes. They are named the Land Speed Record, Road Race, and Drag Race packages. Spec it with everything and you approach $70,000 – and that’s before you can ask for one of the three competition packages! Despite its shortcomings, it is one of the best electric motorcycles.
Restricted Gas Rivals Require Aftermarket Flashes To Match Straight-Line Velocity
The field is wide open when it comes to choosing an alternative to the LS, thanks to the top speed restrictions. The Kawasaki Ninja H2R is capable of comfortably exceeding 200 MPH any given day of the week thanks to it being the most powerful bike on sale right now, but it isn’t road-legal. Still, the video of it touching 248 MPH on a public road – and exceeding 200 MPH in fifth gear – is proof that it belongs up there with the greats.
In the production market, the Suzuki Hayabusa was developed to shatter the production bike top speed record, and it can still get right up there without its electronic limitations. It is limited to 186 MPH, and it will get there in the blink of an eye. At the same time, it has the reliability to go over 200,000 miles without complaining, which is unique at its level of performance.
There are quite a few liter sportbikes that are capable of exceeding 200 MPH with different gearing, but out of all of them, the extremely short stroke of the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP’s engine and the fact that it is the most powerful motorcycle engine Honda has ever made, coupled with its incredibly tall gearing, mean that should one bypass the factory’s 186 MPH lock, 200+ MPH is easily achievable. It is extra difficult to do it in the US market, though, because of the lower power it makes to meet strict noise targets.
Source: Lightning Motorcycles
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