Is this the future of dirt bikes? Will electric replace gas-powered machines, or merely be another way to enjoy riding? We sent Redbull athlete Aaron Colton to Barcelona, Spain, to test the all-new Stark Varg electric motocross bike.
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Whatever your thoughts on the electric future of off-road motorcycling, they now have to contend with reality. The two-wheeled electric motorcycle segment has been growing over the last decade, but most of the options come with compromises. Now the Stark Varg electric motocross bike has arrived, and the game, supposedly, has changed. As I boarded my flight to Barcelona, Spain, for the Varg’s official introduction, my thoughts were equal parts high expectations and reservations.
My thoughts aren’t normally worth mentioning, necessarily. But for now, my job is to offer the perspective of a mid-level off-road rider. I ride MX and off-road monthly, but I’m not a ranked pro; twisting throttle with the gang and trading stories truckside with the other weekend warriors is where I find myself. I’m also an Alta owner, and a fan of where an EV can take you when a combustion option is not suited. I’m also aware of the EV’s many weaknesses. I’ve kept a close eye on Stark, and suffice it to say, if the Varg delivers the numbers it’s promised, it’d settle a lot of my qualms.
A couple of those qualms were settled right away. From the moment we arrived at the MX Golf facility outside Barcelona and saw the bikes for the first time, it was clear that the design team had not been assembled at random. Attention to detail was obvious in every aspect of the Varg, and the fit and finish of the machines was a cut above anything I’d seen yet in the motocross industry...
Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/stark-varg-electric-mx-bike-review/
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
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Whatever your thoughts on the electric future of off-road motorcycling, they now have to contend with reality. The two-wheeled electric motorcycle segment has been growing over the last decade, but most of the options come with compromises. Now the Stark Varg electric motocross bike has arrived, and the game, supposedly, has changed. As I boarded my flight to Barcelona, Spain, for the Varg’s official introduction, my thoughts were equal parts high expectations and reservations.
My thoughts aren’t normally worth mentioning, necessarily. But for now, my job is to offer the perspective of a mid-level off-road rider. I ride MX and off-road monthly, but I’m not a ranked pro; twisting throttle with the gang and trading stories truckside with the other weekend warriors is where I find myself. I’m also an Alta owner, and a fan of where an EV can take you when a combustion option is not suited. I’m also aware of the EV’s many weaknesses. I’ve kept a close eye on Stark, and suffice it to say, if the Varg delivers the numbers it’s promised, it’d settle a lot of my qualms.
A couple of those qualms were settled right away. From the moment we arrived at the MX Golf facility outside Barcelona and saw the bikes for the first time, it was clear that the design team had not been assembled at random. Attention to detail was obvious in every aspect of the Varg, and the fit and finish of the machines was a cut above anything I’d seen yet in the motocross industry...
Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/stark-varg-electric-mx-bike-review/
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
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SportsTranscript
00:00 So on four days notice, the team of motorcyclists asked me if I could fly out to Barcelona to test the new Stark Varg.
00:06 And honestly, after five back-to-back weeks of travel, it would have taken a rare opportunity for me to want to take the trip.
00:13 And this was exactly that. From the first post that I saw this come online, it was a bike that I immediately was interested in
00:19 because I had recently done my first electric project.
00:22 In the attitude of ever evolving and improving, I immediately saw what it had to offer,
00:26 and it was something I wanted to get my hands on.
00:28 So when they asked me to come out to Barcelona to give this thing a test, first and foremost, I want to be honest with everybody,
00:33 I'm not a professional motocross racer, but I race sometimes and I'm somewhere in the mid-pack of someone who
00:38 confidently enjoys riding motocross, but it's not my home field of play.
00:42 From the moment I got here, from every lap and track condition, from the wet to swapping back and forth from the 450 to the end,
00:49 I literally fell in love with this motorcycle.
00:52 And I've done enough tests over the years, comparing different motorcycles.
00:56 I'm not to the level of rider where I'm going to dissect every 450 and give it a comparison to that,
01:01 but certain bikes make an impact that you remember indefinitely, and it's been a while since that's happened.
01:07 Upon arrival, I tried not to have any prerequisite, but given that it's electric,
01:12 there's always a give and take, or at least to what I currently knew, and it just gave today.
01:17 It was something that I have no skin in the game to endorse the brand.
01:21 I had, in full honesty, would spend my hard-earned money specifically to get one of these and was thoroughly impressed.
01:27 Like, it doesn't have longevity issues, power throughout the day.
01:30 I kept backing the power down, given the fact that, you know, you kind of hit points of fatigue throughout the day,
01:36 and it just tracks so incredibly well.
01:39 There's just this lightning snap that electric has, that this has found a way to transfer the data that you input into the motorcycle
01:47 to how it tracks up, and it's thoroughly enjoyable.
01:50 From the fastest to the slowest guy here today, it's pretty common consensus that they'd happily own one,
01:56 and it's not really a concession between a normal 450.
01:59 I think it's taken a while, but at this point, you could happily have this bike,
02:04 and I don't think you would miss, you know, having your normal one.
02:07 When people would ask me about my previous electric project, it was, you know,
02:12 "Would you ever get rid of your gas stuff, or would you ever get rid of your normal bikes?"
02:16 And I would always say, "No, it's an addition to."
02:18 It's, you know, it's an addition to the fleet.
02:21 And I might eat those words a little bit, because this thing today is not really an addition to.
02:25 Like, it's apples to apples, performs just as good in every category.
02:29 Suspension components, braking components, all of that with the cockpit was top-notch.
02:33 Like, that visibly is deliverable.
02:35 The R&D was done well. There was obviously a team of riders and engineers that worked together specifically.
02:41 The only thing that I thought may or may not deliver was the battery life and longevity that that had,
02:46 but this thing had far more in the gas tank than I did.
02:49 And there was riders of higher skill level here that actually gave it 10/10s for the whole session,
02:54 and it just delivered.
02:55 On the components that I've become familiar with over the years, with the Brembo braking components,
03:00 KYB suspension, those are kind of the staples in what you want to see and what delivers continuously.
03:06 And then, I mean, literally every finite detail from rim and wheel selection to the unified Torex hardware
03:14 that they use throughout the entire motorcycle, the minimalist mounting points that they have for servicing,
03:19 it's well thought out.
03:20 It's not like that, "Okay, how many pieces of hardware am I going to need to remove the seat,
03:25 and then the side shroud, and then go from there?"
03:27 It's just such a sectional, simple motorcycle.
03:30 And I got to watch them just do little service checks throughout the day on the motorcycle,
03:35 but there's just certain things that are so well thought of.
03:37 Like, if you needed to do a shock change, the fact that you can just pull the body off
03:40 and not have to worry about, like, half-lifting the subframe and removing all these different components,
03:46 it was just thought with a current mindset and not an adapted iteration of a motorcycle over and over again.
03:52 So there's things that I didn't even think of as a QAM that it just had delivered,
03:57 from the phone being the interface, which is mobile, and you can change that from either place,
04:01 and just the simplicity that that comes in and out.
04:04 No detail wasn't thought of, but they delivered it in the most minimalist fashion.
04:08 So, like, I myself and all of the builds that I do in my program, aspirationally,
04:12 just love every bit of attention to detail.
04:15 And obviously this team does completely because it's a, well, fine-tuned machine.
04:20 And I'm not here to critique this thing on what it didn't deliver.
04:23 Like, I'm here to give my general impression as a normal guy that wants to ride dirt bikes and have a good time,
04:28 and race maybe a couple times a year.
04:31 I took it off track some places here, did some trail riding, got to go up and down through the trees,
04:36 do some casual, calm motocross riding, gave it a couple hard laps,
04:39 and, like, I would happily ride this to replace the 450 or some of my other bikes,
04:44 just because it opens a lot of doors.
04:47 For someone like me, there's certain properties you can take these on and can't,
04:51 and there's gray areas here and there, and it's definitely not going to upset the same group of people.
04:55 And more and more it's becoming an issue with noise and emissions,
04:59 especially depending on where you live.
05:01 And the electric units before were cool, but they're always a little bit novelty, and this just delivers.
05:07 So I can't wait to see what this actually does heads up in a professional racing setting.
05:12 Not that that's the most important component for me.
05:15 I've already given it my check of approval, like this would happily do it.
05:18 But given what this can actually do as far as battery life and the power it puts down,
05:22 they're going to race this in the open motocross class, and it's going to be interesting
05:26 because it's going to turn some heads and it's no longer going to be a novelty category.
05:30 This is actually a serious replacement for someone who wants to get one.
05:33 When they gave me the 20-minute call to stop riding, I was very bummed.
05:36 I could have happily, just like a dog chasing a ball until he passes out, rode this all afternoon.
05:40 So, coming home happy, ear to ear. I can't wait until this thing gets off the production line.
05:44 Forkbarg, man, I was thoroughly impressed and thankful that the team of motorcyclists sent me out here for this one.
05:48 It's been an awesome trip to Barcelona, and it's going to be a bummer to leave,
05:52 because I could definitely cut some more laps on this thing.
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