The Stark Varg is HERE & We Rode It! | First Impression 

I was one of those guys who thought electric bikes were lame without ever even riding one. I own an Alta MXR, and it is the best motorcycle I have ever owned. So much fun to ride, virtually no maintenance, nothing but fun. I am sure the Stark is even better

I like this bike. My Son is 20 and wants to race moto, he has a 250f but something like this he could practice his starts, turns, and jumps in the backyard at my bicycle shop. Without people complaining about the noise. He can practice more without having to drive 2hours away to a track for his short takeoff in a small turn to jump plus a 50yard start. Plus there could be more tracks closer to homes without the motor noise. People may complain about the announcers mic 🎤 being to loud. I don’t have a dirt bike anymore because I sold it to buy my Sons bike. But still love the power and sold a motorcycle makes ever sense my first motocross race in Xscape country, California, raced minis and was lucky enough to be parked next to JWx3 and his dad helped me get my bike started, plus he encouraged me to want to design things from watching him help Jeff keep his hands dry while he’s racing bikes with milk cartons on the handlebars to block the mud. There will be kids like I was and Jeff that will make a Legacy in Motocross without a motor. I was never close to being a Ward, or the Legacy he made for moto, but was blessed to meet his dad that helped my mind to make bicycle parts years later. By the way he made something work great.

Not an electric car guy ; but these bikes with all the options and factory suspension set up...bad ass

Donn you said exactly what I’ve been saying. I will be riding gas motorcycles for the rest of my life, the stark I have on order will just be a nice addition to my fleet of 20 plus gas motorcycles. I love everything with handlebars and wheels regardless and my Stark will just be another way for me to have fun on dirt bikes. I also think it’s going to be sweet when I want to ride near my house but be quiet and stealthy. So many positives to this motorcycle and how it will compliment my gas bikes. I ordered one because I want one, if you hate electric and don’t want one, don’t buy one it’s that simple.

Here's why I'm ordering one. I can build a supercross track in my backyard and my neighbors won't say shit. My 450, even with stock exhaust, is so loud I can hear it echoing off the hillside. Even my brand new yz250 2 stroke is too loud. So it totally opens up that element of bringing the sport INTO town ya know? So that also cuts down emissions in that we won't have to drive our souped up yamahaulers 2 hours just to pound some laps. I don't know if you guys make your track trucks fast but I do, I'm and automotive fabricator. I own a little singlecab Toyota with a build Honda K24 and a big ass turbo, camburg front suspension, 35 inch tires the thing is a little monster it makes almost 400 hp.

Got my Stark Varg 4 days ago. I love this bike more than any bike i've had. Meanwhile it scares me alot. The instant torque is extreme. It can kick you up to huge speeds on the road in just a sec or it can destroy a trail completly with just a twist on the throttle. I love this machine.

I blew a Piston on my CR 125 then I went on Vacation and there I had the opportunity to ride a Stark …. Now I’m not even motivated to fix my CR :D I want this thing and I don’t want to maintain my Engines anymore 😂

When someone says holy shit to describe something, it's gotta be something great.

Holy shit! That kit Don's rocking is straight 🔥!

I’m really interested to see them do an actual shootout comparison to all of the other bikes on the market, especially with the triumph and Beta coming out these next two years. They’re gunna have a hell of a time keeping up with all these now 😂

Congrats Swap, First major moto media outlet to bother to catch a ride on a Stark in the US. Fastest Dirt Bike On The Planet.

Foggy lama filming with the best🙌🏼

A-Ray sketchy hmm pretty hard to believe 😂 No disrespect tho he’s better than most of us

I’ve been watching these from the start I’m saving up now and I will get one one day

ENJOY THE RIDE!!!!

I would love to Ride one of these. I love gas but I’m all for our Future in Motocross.🤙You got my vote👍🤙💯🙏

Great review 👍

This is awesome!

Awesome video and appreciate the honest review, especially on battery life. The bike has overwhelmingly positive reviews from ridability and build quality, but what makes me hesitant is the battery life. This didn't lessen my concern but it's good to know for most riders the battery life should be fine for a full day of riding 👍

Pretty excited to get mine. Preached the benefits of electric for a while now. Never saw them as ruining the sport. Can’t say the same for 4 strokes, even though I own lots of them and do enjoy riding them too. The haters are just ignorant. Like Aray says, electric will make you a better rider… period!

I want this bike for riding hills in so cal and shit. cops cant hear you so its not a problem

For all of the people who hate this, you can now have MX parks or just regular riding areas directly in the middle of an urban setting with ZERO noise complaints and getting shut down.

When you invent something that is better than what you have that is progress!..i dont care if it runs on unicorn farts!

Great Time in motocross in my opinion, lots Of Sweet bikes Coming, 2024 is looking awesome

ARay: "I got sketchy". 😂😂😂

I think I I’m looking forward to owning an electric bike. No more air filters and other oils. No more noise complaints causing tracks to close. People not as peeved on the trails. Other than battery life this all sounds super positive!

I love going to watch races and hearing the panic revs...

Music was a good touch, it will be interesting to see what audio will be pumped thru the P/A during supercross.

I still have a turbo street bike, I've been getting more enjoyment ripping trails on an electric converted cr80rb with my little man. I ride way more than ever before, everyday after work now that nobody's complaining about the 2 stroke noise anymore. Id love a varg down the road.

I'm curious.. Since it is common knowledge that over time after months and years of recharging, batteries tend to wear and not hold the same charger to produce the same amount of power just like our phones. how many recharges can we get out of this battery until it starts to wear out and not hold a charge anymore?

See a guy on one alot locally here on mid Atlantic region around md pa wv bike freaking ripssss looks amazing

I think one massive benefit that doesn't get talked about enough is fewer injuries, lots of riders get injured from false neutral, bad shift, mechanical, out of gas, and yeah all of these things can still happen, but these are far more simple mechanically and the technology should add a level of software intelligence that can check if things are wrong before they go wrong I do like mechanical systems and engines but this just seems more practical minimal maintenance safer minimal noise (less likely to be banned, can talk to friends while trail riding) and bike predictability since you don't have the rotating mass of an engine beneath you

This video is going to sell some Starks!

good luck to all the other manufacturers. im selling my austrian enduro 300 and getting one of these. end of discussion.

Its awesome, Triumph, Varg, ...maybe Ducatti? lots of choices... would love to see all in the pro races.

Could you imagine going to a race indoor or out door, that would be the most boring thing ever. It would be like watching grass grow. It will never replace a gas engine in racing in the next 50 yrs. I don’t have a Tesla either. Fuel engines will be around a hell of a lot longer than people think.

Not too many bikes would work on the moon eh! 😅

Electric moto will never replace the traditional value excitement of a real motocross bike Touch / feel / see / hear and smell.

Hope electric moto's really become popular to help our sport grow. So many stories of local tracks, even private, getting shut down due to noise. We need less hurdles for people to get into motocross and electric could help with that.

@Swapmoto Live - Don, where would you rank this bike with the 2023 (last year) 450 models? Top 3, winner or 4th-5th range?

Thanks Don. I bought my Kenevo Sl because your review, now I want to a Varg too🤦🏻‍♂️

I think this is going to be the iPhone moment of mx. I think it’s the tipping point to electric.

Can't wait to have an all electric moto. Just the no maintenance is the buying factor for me. One concern I have is riders not hearing each other on the track. That could be scatchy.

I may have to pull The trigger on this one

Battery lasted a old pro 3 laps and some change. We will never see these racing for another 10 to 15 years. Unless we have groundbreaking battery technology come to light.

When will Jody at MX Action get a couple to test and thrash? That will be the telling point.

Like Ebikes it has evolved amazingly as will electric moto..lets see them have motos

I’m an old school 2-stroker, love the noise and the smoke… But the irony of that bike in the background annoying the shit out of me while trying to listen and watch is funny to me!

Great video gents thanks for the video! It’s amazing how many misinformed people there are out there on this bike. Unfortunately our sport has always been resistant to change and that’s why we lag behind so much. It’s sad that so many people directly tie it to politics, global warming, gender, generators, and a plethora of other totally irrelevant immature items. The focus should that it’s an addition to the sport and not a replacement. It’s a huge growth area and expansion area for the sport. There are plenty of riders in the sport today because of e bikes that wouldn’t have been without them. Do you have to buy one? No. Are they for every application and person? No. But, if you don’t support them in general you are truly not worried about growing and expanding the sport. Period!

Would really like to see it in a real world race to see how it really stands up against 4 stroke bikes in a racing environment gate drop to checked flag. Looks impressive on its own. Let’s move on from practice laps to throwing it in the fire and see how it does

More brands need to spring the bikes to order. You pay like $600 setup fees to the dealer on top of what the manufacture already pays them for setup to just install the front wheel and handlebars.Then before you ride you have to tear the whole bike down to re-spring and to actually put enough grease in the linkage and steering stem

Just make it sound, smell and feel like a two stroke and I'll buy one .. lol just kidding, id rather die than ride an electric ANYTHING!

On October 6th 2023, Honda entered motocross competition with its CRE prototype in Japan. This will be Starks biggest competition when they release it to the public.

Now remember to brush and floss and we’ll see you again in six months.

How big are the batteries? Can you carry a few spare batteries in a back pack if you go on a long trail ride

white 19 inch with with the rear hand brake, no side stand and the 220lb for sure. The only way it will kill fuel bikes is if LK99 proves true.

This is why I hate the social media hater. They have 0 expirience and they are the loudest in the room. He had to announce he was a "hater" like a badge of honor.

It just the next thing. I don’t care if it’s powered by rattlesnake terds… If it handles and is fast… BRAP!!!

The half hour run time is an issue. Hopefuly batteries will continue to get better and lighter. But the sound issue will change the game for sure. More places to ride will be good.

After riding the Harley Davidson Livewire on the road. I can't imagine how insane the Stark Varg is on the dirt.

I hope they make a dual sport model I would Get one

still not sure how to feel. pretty cool though

Great review. but Mega church worship service vibes from the background music. lol 😂

Someone should do e bike 450/250 challenge. Since you can tame the power down, this will work.

Very interested anyone out there know the price on one of these

It’s important for these guys to get used to electric everything living in the state they live in. I ride track, but I ride a TON of hard enduro and I don’t think an electric bike is going to work well in that setting because you use your clutch constantly and also pulling massive rocky hillclimbs, dropping down through a draw and climbing another all day, the battery is going to be dead in the first hour or so. I’d like to ride one though.

They still can't compete yet. There have been some at the local mx and harsecrambles

And just think… 25 minutes at WFO and your day is done… super slow recharge time and wanna just swap out to a spare battery… can’t be done trackside and your spare battery ?… that’s another cool $7000….

How long does it take to recharge the battery?

If I want quiet, I’ll spend my Sundays at the library

Is this bike electric start or kickstart only?

I feel like you really glossed over the battery life issue which is really the main concern most people have. From what I can gather you each rode about 3 laps and loved the bike, but are saying there wasn't enough battery life? After 3 laps? You should really post a follow up as to how long you were able to actually ride between charges and if you lost power or had to change the way you rode due to battery capacity. You compare to electric R/C cars, but what has happened with ebuggy's is that we went from one 30-45min main event with pit stops, to having to have 3 seperate 10min main events. If electric MX becomes the new premier class, I expect we'll see the same thing, more Triple Crown type formats with 10min mains and the pros will either have to swap battery or have 3 bikes ready to go.

Whats up with Alex's boots?

will they make a street legal version with lights

Stark is a good start not fantastic but a step in the right direction

Was very disappointed when you had music playing over the riding footage. I wanted to hear the sound of the bike.

It will need to be its own class because it’s faster and easier to ride because you don’t have to shift

But can we really have a showroom of bikes if all we have is the receipt butwe don’t have the bike?

Pretty soon the bike will ride itself and the rider can sit on his a55 in the pits and ride it remotely

I put my $100 down today!

I would compare the Stark to the original YZ400/426 (1997ish-2000ish don't quote me on the year). The Stark shows a lot of promise but has not had all the bugs worked out/proven race machine similar to the ancient YZ400/426. Back then we had our "I'll never Moto a four stroke" and the "4 stroke is a passing phase people" (myself included) and they are similar to the "Never Electric" people of today. But once the 4 stroke became a viable race machine and started winning and then started dominating many minds were changed. The same "never a 4 stroke" people started buying the 4 strokes and manufacturers quit making the 2 strokes because they weren't selling (minus KTM group/YAM/little bikes. I see this taking a bit longer because of the range of the battery but once a top level guy starts winning and dominating it won't be long till the masses all climb aboard the electric bike train.

Not against electric but if its the direction of the sport, then I'll enjoy what we have now, and after the electric take over, count me out. Nothing like banging gears and hitting rev limiter. Stark= vet bike

Imagine watching motos with all electric bikes shit would suck

30 hours already. Valve check ? New piston rings ? 😂

They should give people an option of putting the rear brake on the handlebars like an MTB bike. Could be pretty advantageous if you know what your doing 😂

Just gotta put cards in the spokes 🍻

All I see is $$$$$$$$$$…. Just like when we went from 2t to 4t, which is the wrong direction! The no noise is a plus though.

Is it easy to change the battery out? And how much does it second battery cost? And obviously you're able to power wash it safely??

I ride soft sand most the time so no thanks plus to expensive nearly double the price of a gas bike here in Australia 🇦🇺

fun at first then they get boring, it'd be nice if it had a gearbox and a clutch but that's just me

Looks great and you guys give it a thumbs up, But it's 13K and another Battery is 7K. 🤑

Interesting that you said something negative about the Alta. The Alta is lighter than the Varg and has plenty of power and battery life and still isn’t a bad choice today. Take the engineers from Stark out for some beers and I’ll bet they tell you they used an Alta mxr for reverse engineering purposes.

This is like a infomercial always showing up on my stream. How can you take advice from a guy that didn't have a new bike since 1990? Can't afford it at 13k

😂

Don I heard you bought it cause it doesn't have a clutch for you to abuse

keep the electric motocross bikes in their own "e-motorcycle" class against other e-motorcycles. For Motocross and Supercross, gimme a gas engine dirt bike! I am waiting for the "Tron" e-road cycles to start coming out!

Motocross is not going to disappear because of electric bikes. Rather it will be from the attitudes of the people in the sport. It’s just not a fun place to spend your time if you’re all spewing irrational hatred all the time.

The day I have to ride an electric bike is the day I quit riding!😢😢

How long do yall think it will be before the majority of the masses ride electric Dirt bikes, Meaning more riding electric than gas?

nope it's game over for combustion. As soon as one of the big makers releases a bike game over. Just look at all that real estate for graphics and advertising. rules for racing will be interesting probably similar to electric RC racing.