Honda to debut electric race bike

Honda made its motor racing debut at the Isle of Man in 1959, where it won in the 125 category, and now the company is approaching returning to the Isle of Man TT for another motor racing first - the debut of its electric race bike.

The new electric bike will officially be fielded by Mugen, Honda's motor racing arm, in the Isle of Man TT Zero category and it's rumoured that the new electric race bike will have a bit of help from HRC.

It's not yet understood what bike Mugen will debut, but the Honda RC-E concept (first two images) could be a hint of what's to come. Then again, the Honda tuning group might just take a Fireblade, gut it, and wedge a giant electric motor and battery pack between the frame.

Whatever motorcycle Mugen fields, you can bet that if it wins the TT Zero event the headline will read "Honda wins" and not "Mugen wins".

Though Mugen is best known for its go-fast car parts, the company also builds a number of special parts for a range of Honda bikes - from the CBR1000RR and CBR600RR (pictured) to a range of scooters, nakeds and even dirt bikes.

As one of the world's longest running and most prestigious - not to mention dangerous - motor vehicle races, the Isle of Man TT is also one of the world's premier showcases for electric race bikes, and now that Mugen/Honda has confirmed it will build an electric bike for the 2012 event in late May expect the world to be watching.

Thus far all the competitors in the TT Zero have been from smaller companies wanting to prove their technology is sound. But with Honda entering the fray and committing resources to the electric race bike formula the category is about to get a lot more attention.

The next question is, which other mainstream manufacturers will be jumping onto the electric race bike band wagon? Watch this space...