Tarform is launching the 'motorcycle of tomorrow'

Could ‘Fuel! Fire! Desire!’ of petrol-powered motorcycles soon be taken over by pineapples, flax seed and algae? According to electric motorcycle startup Tarform, the answer is a definitive ‘yes’, and it’s already happening.

Tarform aims to pick up where the likes of Tesla have left off by offering zero-emissions transportation into the mainstream. But that’s where the similarities end because the Brooklyn-based electric motorcycle marque aims to build recyclable bikes that are made from natural materials while going as green as possible.

Instead of using polyvinyl chloride, the company uses non-toxic, high-performance biomaterials, such as crafting its leather seats from pineapple, mango, corn or other naturally-derived fibres. Flax seed replaces the plastic on its side panels, and the pigments coloring the bodywork are derived from natural algae rather than conventional, toxic paints.

Other design details include components that are not permanently glued or bonded, making upgrades and repairs easy, as well as a swappable battery pack as technology improves.

Powering Tarform’s sexy scrambler is a 41kW air-cooled electric motor with a claimed riding range of almost 200km thanks to a 10kW lithium-ion battery pack. Unusually, the belt-driven bike features a 3.3kW onboard charger that can recharge the battery up to 80 per cent capacity in 50 minutes, according to the company.

It has a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 150km/h. Kerb weight is not mentioned.

Other technical highlights include fully adjustable Ohlins suspension; ISR-branded brakes; a blind-spot detection system that vibrates the seat to warn the rider; a 180-degree rear-view camera and an app to monitor the bike’s data.

The first production model, the hand-built Founder Edition, goes on sale in the US later this year from $US42,000 (about $A59,000) while the garden-variety model, the Luna, will go into production next year priced from $US24,000 ($A33,000).

Tarform already has 1500 orders since the bike’s December unveiling, 54 of which are for the exclusive Founder Edition that will be built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“The idea was to create the motorcycle of tomorrow,” Tarform founder Taras Kravtchouk told The New York Times. “What principles would it be? Electric, but also with the least harm to our environment.

“Today, we design things for obsolescence. In the ’60s, we used honest materials. That’s why vintage bikes from that era still last if you take care of them.

“People are tired of constantly being told to buy, to recycle, to be green. In the end, they don’t know what to do,” Kravtchouk says. “The thing that is ultimately the most sustainable is the one you don’t throw away.”