When the folks at Lightning Motorcycles announced in January that the company would be releasing a more affordable electric bike aimed at a wider audience, we were pretty excited. Since the Strike's initial announcement, Lightning has been trickling out details about the platform, which is set to launch next month. The latest such detail might be the biggest yet.
On Thursday, Lightning released a photo of the new Strike electric motorcycle's motor along with a couple of pieces of information about its design. This photo is notable for a couple of reasons. First, we can see that the motor bears a significant resemblance to the unit found in the LS-218, and indeed, Lightning confirms that the two share some design features.
We also learn that the motor is liquid-cooled, also like the LS-218. This means that the drivetrain should be able to stand up to some pretty serious heat before being forced to throttle itself back to prevent damage. This type of thermal throttling is relatively common in electric vehicles of all types, two or four-wheeled.
Lightning also talks about the Strike sharing the LS-218's ability to quick-charge. Based on the spec sheet for the LS-218, it will charge in 30 minutes when hooked to a DC fast charger or 120 minutes on a Level 2 charger. We don't know anything about the Strike's battery pack or battery management yet, but if it can match its big brother's charging specs, that's impressive.
Finally, the last thing that this teaser photo shows is a gorgeous-looking gold Öhlins monoshock tucked up in the background. We asked Lightning for clarification on whether the production Strike, or some variant of it, would be getting this high-zoot suspension, but so far the company hasn't responded.
The Strike is set to launch in March, and so far everything we've seen from Lightning on the bike -- which isn't much -- has been exciting. The electric motorcycle market is starting to heat up, but so far nobody has released what we'd consider the "killer app" in the segment. Maybe the Lightning Strike will be it.
