Kutti Blog from Tokyo: E-SPEED breaks ground
A trip to Japan’s capital is already exciting. If you are carrying a totally new concept for a scooter to the famous Tokyo Motorcycle Show in your hand luggage then it gets really interesting …
KTM E-SPEED? Yes, E-SPEED. The latest firework from Mattighofen in Austria. A scooter; ta-dah! And peerless thanks to a groovy electric drive (a second ‘ta-dah’!) Do not panic yet as this little baby is not yet ready for the factory floor…it could soon be though
From a distance it looks like an over-excited sports scooter (in typical Kiska design) and – like a karate chop – the impact close up is pretty intense. What you see are motorcycle ideas applied within a special scooter ‘architecture’; a treat for the eye for bikers as well as ‘scooterists’. This is due to gleaming details like the trellis frame, steep UPS hub front end and catchy rims with fat tyres. Yeah! Add styling that implies light weight and agility and you’re set; no nic-nacs in Nippon …
The unveiling of the concept study from Austria sucker-punched observers…like an uppercut but without the bad intent. KTM doesn’t only dream of this stuff…we make it happen. So feel free to take a look, but please don’t sit.
So far the e-SPEED is a one-off; bolted together at the last second, photographed, wrapped and squeezed through customs. We are focused, and in this case we are looking ahead very seriously. KTM is set on e-power and will continue to be so. No illusions, only hard work and time are necessary in order to transfer knowledge and technology into experience and then into finished products.
The bullet is out of the gun. E-mobility is on its way at KTM and will gain further momentum. Highly-charged fun is on the way.
More soon …
So after leaving this little appetiser for the public we now head out into this great country in search of sushi and some drinks. To toast our engineers and designers who have worked frantically to create the E-SPEED ‘just in time’ to make this journey right into the heart of Tokyo!
Cheers – Kanpai!
