Victory E-Bikes Top 100 MPH in First IOM TT Zero Practice

Electric bikes turning laps at speeds over 100 mph at the Isle of Man TT is not new; Michael Rutter won the e-bike event and put down an average speed of 104.056 mph in 2012.

What is new is Victory Racing doing it in their first IOM TT Zero practice laps on Friday. Victory Racing team riders William Dunlop and Lee Johnston rode one lap of the course, achieving average lap speeds of 104.185mph and 105.185mph respectively. Dunlop completed his lap in 21:43.717 minutes while Johnston was 12 seconds faster, crossing the line after 21:31.322 minutes.

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Both riders also achieved 140mph through the Sulby speed trap – powered by the GVM Parker electric motor installed in the machine. This makes Victory the third electric bike team to exceed and average speed of 100mph on a lap on their first time around the course.

Following the TT Zero practice session, William Dunlop and Lee Johnston both said the bikes were extremely stable on the rough sections of the TT course, something they hadn’t encountered in testing.

Lee Johnston said, “That was just mint. It feels so stable, it’s unbelievable. It’s just so peaceful. No revving.” Asked what the stand out memory from his lap was, he said: “I think just the peace and quiet and riding over the mountain, no noise and seeing the sunset. Everything’s just mint on the bike and I’m ready to go and do more.” Lee also joked: “There were load of people waving iPhones at me when I was out on the course – I wondered if they wanted me to recharge them.”

William Dunlop was equally happy with the bike saying that: “It was surprisingly good, it really was, and I’m not just saying that. It was good to just go out and not have wrestle something with 200hp around.”

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Team manager Brian Wismann (also head of Brammo product development) said this first-ever ride of the course by Victory Racing follows a trouble-free week of testing at Jurby. “We are really pleased with our first lap of the TT course,” he said. “Both riders executed clean laps to bring a pair of 100mph+ laps on our first attempt. The reliability of the bikes has been a strong suit for us so far at the TT, with very few technical problems arising. I think this will continue to be a key to being able to translate practice results to race results when it counts.”

The bikes have two Brammo batteries mounted one atop the other, and they are stressed members of the chassis. These batteries sit within a twin-spar aluminum frame with Ohlins suspension connecting the swingarm to the top of the batteries. Brammo created the batteries and the electric motor is made by Parker, joining Victory Racing’s TT effort under the name of Parker Racing.