Motorcycles

Saroléa's exquisite all-carbon SP7 electric superbike

Saroléa's exquisite all-carbon SP7 electric superbike
Sarole's gorgeous SP7 electric superbike, featuring enough carbon to raise the temperature in your trousers by two degrees celsius
Sarole's gorgeous SP7 electric superbike, featuring enough carbon to raise the temperature in your trousers by two degrees celsius
View 21 Images
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: unveiling
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: unveiling
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon everything
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon everything
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper with bikini fairing mounts
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper with bikini fairing mounts
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: with its creators
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: with its creators
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon fiber swingarm with adjustable pivot
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon fiber swingarm with adjustable pivot
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon fiber bikini fairing
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon fiber bikini fairing
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon everywhere
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon everywhere
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: exquisite carbon swingarm
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: exquisite carbon swingarm
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: as this is a clutchless bike, it's unclear what this lever is attached to!
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: as this is a clutchless bike, it's unclear what this lever is attached to!
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm and integrated rear brake caliper
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm with adjustable pivot position
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: carbon swingarm with adjustable pivot position
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: even the details are in carbon
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: even the details are in carbon
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: water cooling system
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: water cooling system
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: seat knob
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: seat knob
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper
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Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: triple clamps and steering damper
Sarole's gorgeous SP7 electric superbike, featuring enough carbon to raise the temperature in your trousers by two degrees celsius
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Sarole's gorgeous SP7 electric superbike, featuring enough carbon to raise the temperature in your trousers by two degrees celsius
View gallery - 21 images

Resurrecting the name of Belgium's first home-grown motorcycle company, Saroléa racing is gearing up for this year's TT Zero electric motorcycle race at the Isle of Man. And the bike is an absolute beauty: 180 horsepower, 200 kilograms, 400 Nm of torque (!). The Saroléa racing bike features carbon fiber just about everywhere, including the frame, subframe, swingarm and even cable guides – and it sports an old-school Norton factory racer kind of look with its vintage bikini fairing, tank and seat designs.

This week I've been riding about on an electric motorcycle that weighs about 180 kg and has 70 horsepower and 144Nm of torque (review video coming soon). That bike felt seriously fast – it took off like an rocket at the lights and really stretched your arms out in a way I didn't expect.

The experience made one thing clear to me – the pace of development in electric motorcycles is absolutely frenzied. They're catching up to petrol bikes at light speed, and in some ways they're already better. I have no hesitation in saying I now believe within 10 years, electric bikes will be so much better than petrol bikes that there simply won't be any argument.

The Saroléa bike's weight and horsepower specs put it up there with street superbikes from just 5 or 6 years ago, but with a whopping 400 Nm of torque, this thing will absolutely fly.

With a single-speed transmission, riding couldn't be simpler – there's no clutch, and monstrous loads of power will be available whenever and wherever the throttle is rolled on.

Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: beautifully machined triple clamps and dash

The choice of a carbon-fiber frame will give nervous twitches to anyone who has been following Ducati's disastrous carbon frame experiments in MotoGP - the carbon monocoque Ducati GP bikes have made fools of world champions Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, and have been viewed as virtually unrideable by everyone short of Australian Casey Stoner.

Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: exquisite carbon swingarm
Saroléa's SP7 electric superbike: exquisite carbon swingarm

But the Saroléa bike has gone all-in on carbon, from the frame to the bikini fairing to the subframe and the beautiful swingarm. It's an exquisite looking machine with a retro, hipster, industrial, almost Roland Sands kind of feel to it. Take a good look through the detail shots in the gallery.

We look forward to seeing how it performs on the world's biggest stage when it lines up for the Isle of Man TT Zero race at the end of the month.

Source: Saroléa

View gallery - 21 images
8 comments
8 comments
BigGoofyGuy
I think that is really nice. I like the retro look to it, a lot better than the 'snail' electric motorcycle. With it beling electric, it would make a very quiet race.
Captain Danger
Gorgeous design. 180 hp is great, I just wonder what the range would be ? If this is made for the Isle of Man TT it needs to go at least 37 miles mostly flat out. That could translate into a reasonable distance for everyday riding.
Rocky Stefano
I don't mind electric bikes. Maybe I'm old fashioned but when I go see a race, I like to hear the noise. The silence is too much for me :)
Jason Minahan
A. COOOOOL B. Ewe stop mixing units! Nm and kW - OR - ftlbs and HP.
Dave Olney
Beautiful bike. Left hand lever isn't that much of a mystery = rear brake. Check the pics, there's no foot pedal.
The Skud
With that big barrel shape on top, it looks more steam-power than electric to me! I wonder about that all-carbon idea as well - I have got the impression from various reading that carbon fibre is a little brittle upon impact. What happens if (which in the real world happens all too often) the bike gets dropped to avoid a bigger crash, slides into the armco barrier on an oil spill etc? Does the RAC send over a recovery vehicle for the bike or a dump truck for all the littie broken bits?
Craig Jennings
Oooh boy would I love a spin on that! 400Nm? Even without any gearing that's getting up to twice most 1000's in their first gear! Holy wheelstands batman! Will have my eye out for it at the TT Zero.
PaulYak
Amazing design/build...now just get them with 200 mile range, 2 hr recharge MAX 15 min for 50 miles, with a price-point of $25,000 and we got a contender to take the streets. Imagine when they can fit a traction control motor within the front wheel as Ohlins did, but with electric not hydraulics. Then we'll see some amazing handling machines, especially offroaders.....