Alex Martin puts the Stark Varg through the paces at Millville and does lap times battles against his GasGas 350. Watch to find out which bike is faster!
I'm wanting this bike because I'm a victim of a car/motorcycle accident from 1985 as I no longer have my right leg as I want to enjoy riding wheelies again as I wear a prosthetic leg an having the rear brake lever where the clutch used to be is awesome, I'm 63 an desire to continue riding as I'll do it until God takes me home
Pro riders - "It's so much fun, and it's competitive. It's a game changer!" C riders in the comments - "I'd rather eat a shit sandwich while crawling through barbed wire than ride this bike"
@@blubug768 1) I doubt this rider was paid to say anything. 2) It's not more expensive than gas. $10k gas mx bike that needs a full rebuild every 40 hours (less if it's a fast rider on a 250), or $13k e bike that needs 1/4 the maintenance. After 2 seasons you're at the same money with a whole lot less time spent keeping it running.
I'm a C rider and I'm way faster on my electric dirtbike than my gas one. It's a huge advantage for us casual riders. The haters just haven't ridden one 😂
Well done Alex! The production “style” in this video definitely suits you. Seeing the Stark was great but my favorite part was the layout and story here. Nice job!
@wiggie, seriously he ran 9 laps or more on it and 3/4 of a lap was actually shown. Y? Glad you asked.. cuz the electro Varg cannot handle 9 pinned laps! It will fall apart… lol
This is sick. All you complaining about battery life do realize battery tech is only going to get better in the next 5-10 years. Hush up, be patient and let tech/innovation unfold 🤝
@@haydenflinner as far as i'm aware there is not a 3lb difference between the two versions. Also, there really isnt a weight savings when choosing left hand rear brake vs foot brake.
@@markme4 idk I feel like a kid watching another kid play with a toy. I can let my buddy ride my dirt bike and take a break for a while, but the electric you just want to keep riding!
This was great Alex. Appreciated. The fact that your time was even better was freaking amazing. Ya look great. Certainly gonna be an interesting future. Lookin forward to it. ✌️😉
1:40/lap at 10 laps used 59% of the battery… so it will barely make a full moto. So if you want to race it, you’re buying another battery to swap as you cannot charge it fast enough between motos. Going to get rid of bike engine sounds at the track in exchange for constant, endless generators running.
Don't need generators. The electrical demands of charging bikes aren't a big deal. A 220v Stark charger doesn't even draw 10 amps, so a standard 200A hookup for a house could charge 20 bikes simultaneously in under an hour.
Thanks for the vid. very fluid delivery of words, sound, and visuals. as regards the stark varg, I think once they get battery life up to 60 mins in the hands of an AMA/FIM pro level rider, the bike will really take off on the MX/SX circuit. It will prolly never be long lived enough for everyone, but that and the infrastructure to recharge at the tracks are the biggest issues I see. The performance angle is pretty much solved.
@@thomashooker6087 true. but generators are already everywhere. at least they were when i was racing in the mid 90s. generator for the water pump and pressure washer. generator for the RV. soon it will be generator for your bike between motos. 😄
@@daneg they are, but as more and more pickup trucks come with built in high power delivery in the bed it'll start becoming a thing of the past. As long as people keep the quieter stock exhaust systems that is. I charge two e-motos on a 3.5L ecoboost F150 with a stock exhaust and it does so pretty much whisper quiet to the point where people don't even realize the truck is running.
@@LiquidFoxDesigns interesting. I thought the same but I figured it would be generators from electric pickups. supposedly the GM pickups are targeted for summer 2024, but that was like almost 11 months ago, so that target may have been pushed back significantly.
Something I am coming to realize is that things are going to change dramatically once tracks start having a lot of these on site, and charging on site. I think you're going to see "supercross" spec bikes with smaller batteries, that make a ton of sense once tracks are 30% or more electric bikes on site. A battery that's about half the size of these would be unreal, but they are probably erring on tons of "range" for now, since the infrastructure isn't there. EDIT: hmm, was the bike at 90% or more when you started? that 38% after 10 laps doesn't seem quite right?
They have pop up solar canopy chargers available right now. I can see these selling like hot cakes to motocross tracks over the next several years. Plug and play.
@@Amatronix999 That's one way. Would be heavy, but silent. I like those semi portable hand truck battery-inverter builds, thinking of doing one. A lot of tracks already have 50 or 30 Amp RV hook ups, would be nice for them to just make that more accessible and expand it. Grid tied solar will always be cheaper per kW. Makes sense for a track too since they have large unshaded areas with peak demand that correlates with peak sun. If they get in the business of selling ⚡ then this would lower their costs a lot
It does suck, even a regular E-Bike takes 5 hours to charge. You just have to be prepared, I’m sure pro’s will purchase extra battery and swap them out quicker than a charge
Coming in at 8:25 I was waiting for you to say “nervous” l😆l …I felt the same and still do a lot with all the torque and silence riding a VMX12 …can’t imagine if I get my VARG❣️
@@markme4 I do too. I hated E bikes for years but when I got one it was so fun. I got to ride a E box electric pit bike, it was sooo awesome! I was a hater of 4 strokes replacing 2 strokes for so long but there’s no point in being pissed off about the inevitable future of electric bikes. It will be weird but hopefully they become affordable and tracks start opening in the CITY
Alex, Please work with Clayton and do a review of the MXTech fork inserts on your GasGas! It makes the forks sooo much better. I only had a couple complaints with the air fork, but would be curious of your review if you were to make the swap.
Is it my system or did the sound just get super low when they are talking? I turned up to max to hear what was being said and got blasted when the music kicked in.
nope, no one likes those gay electric bikes, a big part of motocross is to hear the bikes screaming at the start, and use skill with a clutch and other things, also how are u gonna do ur maintence on a bike with a ELECTRIC MOTOR that costs about 14k
@@thunderb0rn974 people said the same thing about 4 strokes. 2 years later they dominated the sport for good. Also, motocross in general isn’t getting cheaper it’s getting more expensive. You can’t even buy a decent bike for under $5,000 which is insane you used to be able to grab a used 2000 RM125 for $1300
When you say the wheels made a big difference, what do you mean by that? What was better with them? Ability to feel the track, landing from jumps or ???
A guy by me got one and he is pro speed has his pro card and has qualified for nationals and he said 5 laps at speed you then can feel the battery fade .
Going to depend 100% on the track lengths and how much power one is demanding from the battery. That means both could be dead on the money with their comments, calling it "BS", or whatever, is a dumb-ass move without KNOWING the specific circumstances!
Pretty to know and see your race track is providing your while family with money ... also good to know that Millville will always be on the national circuit
Great video! Funny I just found 2 Millville Pro national programs , 1 1983, 1984 . And 1 1977 amateur regional program ! Cool stuff- anybody looking for these?
At some point all that power has to be slower because you constantly have to worry about lighting up the rear end. Sort of like 450's in SX, you don't need that much power to spin a fast lap. Sweet video A Mart
I'm not really into dirt bikes, just had to get some real info after Vanilla Ice mentioned the Stark Varg is the future of dirt bikes. He might be right, the fact that you took a machine with about 1 day of experience and outperformed yourself on a machine you have many years experience (and comfort) with, speaks volumes!
As the power density of batteries improves (and it is).....the fastest vehicles will be electric. I love the legacy of 2 stroke and 4 strokes with transmissions and clutches....but if the goal is to go fast....this is it. Great to see the next chapter.
The usual reason are two-fold. Stonger, lighter rims mean less gyroscopic affect and also less unsprung weight which usually means the tyre keeps better contact with the ground and the bike is more stable on boken ground. A third reason is the slightly less mass meand less inertia, so better acc'n and braking.
Someone needs to tell Stark industries they can fix the jumping on throttle causing pitch back problem if they program digital gears by setting incremental rpm limits based on user input... Hell, make it push button shifting and break some more barriers for your happy customers!. Anyone know if someone is already doing that? Awesome video and great overview and testing if the bike! Nice work gents!
Why bother doing that. Just be aware of it and adapt with less of a blip in the air . Remember he’s never ridden one and you wanna go design a gear system to fix a problem that Probbaly woulnt exist with a few more hours on the bike
@@Ozfreerider2504 that is a great point, this is still new technology and even the pros haven't had a chance to learn what they do like and don't like on this bike, and how to best use what is already available. But my desire for the functionality of a clutch by way of electronics only (not a mechanical wet clutch like on a 2 stroke, I'm more referring to adjustable traction control by way of a lever at your left hand). It would be a new product never developed before , at least never that I've heard of. This comes more from Enduro riding where clutch is critical part of balance, as well as power. The clutch is the scalpel where the throttle is a chain saw. I'm just hoping the technology can be suited to work with hard Enduro riders as well. Maybe stark isn't interested in making that happen. I'll be buying another 2 stroke they're great!! 😃
@@Jrod_FPV very good point about the clutch feel. I can't ride with a Rekluse. I have to have a stock clutch because I've ridden with one for 55 years. Old habits die hard
@@jasper2114 I can't work out what you're point is. Are you say dialing in 80 is cheating? Why not just dial the 450 to.....Oh... I was pointing to the fact that it was still faster at 50hp, because, I would assume, the torque curve.
two tghings to note, it was a hand read brake, which can take a bit of getting used to for feel, and the suspension wasn't dialed in to the rider's preferences.
It goes 12 o'clock in the air because unlike hitting a rev limit in the current gear, the electric will go all the way to top speed so it will keep spinning faster long after an ICE bike has stopped. It is strange at first but on my Alta MXR, it has saved me a few time where the back kicked up, did an panic rev and it came right back.
I don't care if Stark was 30 secs faster, I'd still rather be in the stands watching the 350's! Pretty soon the riders will be in the stands to and it will all be remote FPV racing. Wouldn't that be fun?
Imagine when they start racing in the series. 2 second lap time improvements on a bike he’s been on only one day. Everyone is going to RUN towards these.
Alex did a great job showing us some good insight with the bike. I wish he'd be a little more descriptive with what he thought about the suspension and chassis. I wonder if the left hand rear brake is an advantage or disadvantage? I'm sure its strange at first but that might be a big benefit going into right turns
while Alex was tlkn about what was on the bike and aparantly showing us but the camera man forgot to show us the view of the bike while amart was telling us all the stuff he'd put on it, I would of realy liked to see it dang it 😖😂 👍🏽
Exactly- And completely forget about going out with the boys and doing a 65 mile loop in the desert / mountains. Most , like 75% of the guys never ride a track- they buy a bike to ride in the country- Explore the trails- Even beginnings are riding 25-30 miles in the morning, have lunch at the truck, and do another 25-30 miles.
Superb comparison and very interesting results! One thing about the battery; coming off the back of a pick-up truck in the low temperature you guys had that day, it sure ate some % much faster than if you pulled the Stark from a 50 to 70 degree environment and hauled it in a van. Keep roosting!
I believe him , I just wanted to cut to the chase so I didn’t have to watch the whole 25 minute video I think Alex is a G, he’s so cool he’s the only guy Friese wouldn’t take out
@@Dat_Sun What makes you think he wasn't? As someone with a performance model Tesla, electrics can be brutally quick. It's like being in the perfect part of the powerband at all times.
Great vid AM! I love that you didn't mention the rear brake on the bars, seems to not bother you much. I ride a lot of mountain bikes and on the road mini-motos usually like the ADV150, both have the brakes on the bars. But when I ride my dirt bike on the trails the hardest part for me is using the rear brake with my foot, and just prefer brakes on the bars. I see dudes using auto-clutches as well, so it seems for SX/MX a clutch is becoming less necessary. Thanks for the cool content.
I LOVE starks and e-bikes and yet still agree with this. Haha . I’ve got a streak coming soon and think they will be better than ice bikes but I still don’t wanna see a full grid of them because the sounds of a gate drop in any race is awsome
I would think the rear brake on the handlebars would take a minute for a pro rider to use instinctively. I see why Alex would want a rear brake foot pedal.
I never raced so this might be a dumb question but will this be an issue for guys not being able to hear the bikes around them? Actually seems kinda like a safety issue if you change lines or if someone passes.When i did ride it was nice being able to hear if there was a faster rider than you and you could move over. I feel like it could be an issue. I think it would definitely be an adjustment for these guys. I mean there will be absolutely no warning if someone is gonna fly by you. I know electric is more than likely the future but it seems like it would be a little more dangerous than it already is. I think it would also be alot easier overshooting or undershooting jumps without gears.
They are making sound boxes that make gas bike noises for that reason, so others hear you in a race. and also to get a feel where you are in the power band.
Adding to that, have 38k miles experience on EV moto street bikes, passive air cooling is cheap and makes sense for bicycle speeds, and more than that it's just a must to have some kind of liquid cooling. For some of the EV street riders this means grab a 40oz cup of ice from the convenience store while at a charging stop and chuck it on the motor controller / battery / charging heatsink 😆
This is exactly what I expected, they keep showing this bike on the hard pack and saying how long it'll go for, but I figured at a track like southwick, you'd prolly get 5-10 laps.
It's all fun and games til you're sitting at camp charging while your friends go ride gas bikes 💩 this would never hang with the amount of riding we do
Great, informative video, but please consider a comms system if you're going to be doing a lot of helmet talking. You can also share thoughts while riding live instead of afterward.
(My apologies...just now realized he wasnt riding the whole track). WTH?! Maybe I missed it but not once did I see the Varg go up Mount Martin...I was looking for the juicy content. Not just the review. We want to see the uphill triple, up & down Mt Martin, back stretch of the track! Ik ik, I'm bitchin but make the cameraman work a little!
Down here Catilina Arizona,, are Rail X and ,,RIDE is one hour and 30 minutes. 23 miles …. it’s Steve Sand washes, and he climbs. A lot of flat area ,,i’m riding a 2023 CRF 250 RX it’s the perfect bike for this ride ! . I wonder if it’ll last that long the battery. A friend of ours from Tucson has one of the Stark Varg dirt bikes on order. I guess we’ll see.!
@@tomballesteros4673Probably not. I ride 1,5 hours enduro singe track with it when the riding is not that fast. In race conditions 1 hour is probably pushing it
