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Ride time
Take a look at the back wheel of your average electric motorcycle, a Zero or LiveWire or the like, and you’ll see a rubber belt connecting the electric motor to the rear wheel. This has the primary benefit of reducing noise while also virtually eliminating the need for maintenance.
Chains are much louder and require oiling, eventually stretching enough that they’ll need replacing. On the surface, then, the chain at the back of the Varg EX might seem out of place, but it has its advantages.
That chain helps give the Varg EX a distinctive sound in the world of electric motorcycles. It’s a fair bit louder than much of the competition but still a stealthy machine compared to the screaming two-stroke or droning four-stroke engines that dominate the world of off-road riding.
The rear wheel and its noisy chain.
Credit:
Stark Future
Neither of those power sources holds a candle to the Varg EX. I was politely but firmly encouraged to start my ride with the bike set to deliver only 35 hp (26 kW), less than half its outright capability. I expected to graduate to higher levels before long, but I quickly learned there wasn’t much point. Even limited, the Varg EX is scary quick.
It takes only a quick twitch of the wrist to lift the front wheel toward the sky, something that’s thankfully easy to catch with the rear brake mounted on the left bar rather than its traditional position by the rider’s right foot. No transmission means no clutch lever, freeing up that space on the grip.
Yes, there’s just one gear, but that single speed, combined with the 14,000 rpm motor, equals a top speed of 81 mph (130 km/h). A swap of the sprocket spinning that chain can bring that higher if needed, but this isn’t a machine built for high speed. It instead has the kind of instant torque and smooth power to crawl up technical terrain at a walking pace if you like or, with a little more twist of the wrist, send it over the worst obstacles.
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