Damon Motors’s Canadian Electric Motorcycle Factory Buildout Is On Pace

[advrider]

While working for another publication back in 2019, I was able to spend time aboard two early Damon Motors prototypes and talk extensively with CEO Jay Giraud, Damon Co-Founder and COO Dominique “Dom” Kwong, and some of their technical staff. While Damon hypes the performance aspects of their upcoming machines, the secret sauce is really their groundbreaking motorcycle safety and ergonomic tech.

Three years and some Covid delays later, Damon is on track to start production later this year as their new manufacturing facility is built in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Spanning over 100,000 square feet, the facility will be home to an array of electric motorcycles, including the HyperSport sport bikes and HyperFighter naked bike platforms.

If you’re into tech-heavy toys, the Damon bikes are like Christmas in July. All-electric powertrains will proved a claimed 200-mile range (likely urban riding) along with a 200 mph top speed on top-tier models. More tech will likely include a rear-view camera with a screen in the cockpit, and first-of-its-kind motorcycle safety tech systems including proximity warnings through bar buzzes and LED indicators in the cockpit, including in the windscreen. If danger is sensed, the bikes will not take over braking or turning duties like some cars now do, since a motorcycle is an inherently unstable platform. Courses of action in response to the warning systems will be left to the rider and the motorcycles have typical controls except for a clutch and shifter.

Additionally, some models will include adjustable ergos via a system called Shift. The prototype I rode had adjustable footpegs, handlebars, windscreen and seat height systems, all controlled by the rider and able to be adjusted while riding via buttons in the cockpit. How those features are implemented into production machines remains to be seen but adjustable bars and pegs will likely be included in the Shift system per the Damon website.

Damon CTO Dominique Kwon, hardware designer Dave Harkness, Marketing VP Amber Spencer and CEO Jay Giraud with an early prototype in 2019. Photo by Bill Roberson

More tech goodness will include two-way charging at home, better known as Vehicle-To-Home tech, or V2H. That will allow the Damon bikes to act as a power supply for a home in a pinch, such as a blackout or other loss of electricity. The bikes will also be capable of DC Fast Charging for quicker recharging on the road.

This is not the first time CEO Jay Giraud has helmed a startup, but it’s likely the most challenging.  Giraud shepherded another EV startup, REV, in 2008, and later a vehicle-centric app startup, Mojio, in 2012. Damon was started in 2017.

Damon Motors HyperSport and HyperFighter models are up for preorder at this time and the company hopes to begin producing bikes at their new factory later this year.

 

Vezi sursa