Australian Motorcycle News - June 21, 2018

The Curtiss Zeus redefi nes the

way we see electric motorcycles.

Welcome tothe future

CAUSE

A

lmosteveryentrantinthe
fast-growing street-legal
EV market has been a
visual compromise. Okay,
theIsleofManTT-winning
MotoCzyszE-racerwasfineart,
butinproductionroadbiketerms,
manufacturers are still visually
glossingoverthefactthatthey
happen to be electric motorcycles.
Butthathasjustchangedwith
theadventofthenewCurtiss Zeus
launched in California last month.
TheZeusissettoreachproduction
inSeptembernextyear,with prices
starting at $US30,000 ($A39,200), and
thefactthatithasbeenproduced
by the company once known as
ConfederateMotorsbringsadded
poignancyinitswake.

But where Confederate’s models

all featured muscular engines that

were as loud in action as they looked

at rest, the born-again Curtiss

brand’s E-cruiser is a rebel with a

cause, combining zero-emissions

transportation with looking cool.

This amazing-looking motorcycle

wafts along to the sound of silence

while delivering an all-new look to

the electric bike marketplace.

It also breaks new ground in being

powered by not one but two air-

cooled, brushless, permanent-magnet

three-phase DC motors that offer a

combined output of 127kW (170hp),

linked in a patented modular system

with a single common output shaft

to potentially deliver massive torque

and vivid acceleration.

TESTALAN CATHCART PHOTOGRAPHY PHIL HAWKINS

34 amcn.com.au

with a

FIRST

RIDE! CURTISS ZEUS E-CRUISER