There’s a lot debate across the aesthetics of electric motorcycles. Ought to they observe conventional motorbike design norms, or ought to they make the most of their radically completely different drivetrains to tread new floor? This sharp prototype from NUEN MOTO in Vietnam does each, and we’re right here for it.
NUEN MOTO is {an electrical} motorbike startup with its roots firmly on the planet of design. Co-founder Gia Nguyen first launched NUEN as a design studio, then added an attire label and a custom motorcycle enterprise. Now, they’re trying to launch their first manufacturing electrical bike.
You’re taking a look at their first prototype, the NU-E. But it surely’s not fairly the identical bike because the one which they’ll finally be taking to market. The NU-E was constructed as a proof of idea, and as a check mattress to assemble rider suggestions and make enhancements.
“We’re centered on designing and constructing the sleekest and most progressive electrical bikes for the Vietnamese and Asian market,” says Gia. “We’re a staff of true motorbike fans, skilled builders and engineers from Vietnam, Sweden and the USA. We’re actually keen about constructing a motorcycle that we’d like to journey and be happy with.”
The most important {custom} piece on the NU-E, and the focus of its design, is its modular aluminum chassis. It cuts a svelte silhouette whereas offering sufficient structural bulk to negate the necessity for extra bodywork. Its higher line mimics the form of a gasoline tank, but it surely’s not pretending to be one thing its not.
Gia experiences that the preliminary design got here collectively in lower than a month—however then the actual work started. The staff’s sketches fashioned the idea for a full CAD rendering, which was used to 3D-print a mockup of the chassis. As soon as it was refined, the ultimate items had been CNC-machined in aviation-grade aluminum, then assembled.
Complementing the bespoke body is a smorgasbord of high shelf components. Customized yokes maintain a set of race-spec forks from Okay-Tech Suspension up entrance, matched to the 17” wheel from a Triumph Trident 660. A modified Yamaha R1 swingarm does responsibility on the again, linked to a EMC shock through {custom} linkages.
NUEN picked Swedish-made ISR braking elements for the construct. The set consists of twin six-piston calipers up entrance, a four-piston caliper on the again, and ISR grasp cylinders all-round.
NUEN additionally fabricated a set of covers to encapsulate the central space of the bike, which is the place the battery and controller are housed. The one different actual bodywork is a modified BMW S1000R entrance fender, and a tidy tail bump behind the full-length leather-based bench seat. Oh, and a shocking set of rear wheel covers, impressed by the turbofan rally rims of the 80s.
The staff added new clip-ons, fitted with push button controls and Hookie Co. grips, plus a Quad Lock cellphone mount, in an effort to use your smartphone as a dashboard. Ending touches embrace a transparent quantity board, a small rear wheel hugger, custom-made foot controls, and an LED taillight that’s Frenched into the tail.
As for its drivetrain, the NU-E makes use of a rear hub motor with a rated output of 6 kW (nominal) and 10 kW (peak), good for a most velocity of 150 km/h [93 miles]. Its battery is nice for a minimal vary of 100 km [62 miles] of freeway driving. However NUEN estimates that it might handle 200 to 300 km [124 to 186 miles] within the metropolis.
These numbers don’t imply an excessive amount of although, as a result of NUEN are already engaged on the following prototype—which is more likely to function a vastly completely different drivetrain.
Gia picked this specific hub motor as a result of it served the minimalistic design that he needed. And since this construct isn’t avenue authorized, he’s solely been testing it on the race observe. So the rear wheel weight penalty that is perhaps a hinderance on rougher roads, hasn’t been that noticeable on the groomed observe floor.
It additionally helps that the bike weighs simply 160 kilos [353 lbs]. Regardless, NUEN are planning to put in a mid-mounted motor on the following NU-E, with the next energy output.
If they’ll pull that off with out ruining the NU-E’s neo-futuristic Scandinavian vibe—and add some lights to it—they may simply have a winner on their arms.
NUEN MOTO | Instagram | Pictures by NUEN and Rafik Duy at Revons Studios
