Secrets of the 'Stealth' Hybrid Motorcycle

 

San Francisco-based BRD developed a reputation for innovation with its RedShift all-electric motocross bike. Logos Technologies perfected its compact engine generator for a UAV. DARPA's quest for a quieter, long-range, military scout bike brought the two companies together.

Militaries have used motorcycles in war and peace time for a century now. Their ability to go places conventional vehicles can't has earned them a place in every modern army's arsenal, including America's.

The most recent vehicle is a diesel version of the Kawasaki KLR650, dubbed by the United States Marine Corps the M1030M1. First introduced in 2005 and designed to run of JP8, the same grade of fuel used in the both the Abrams tank and HMMWV, know more widely as the Humvee, it supposedly has a top speed of 90 mph and a fuel consumption rate equivalent to 115 mpg at 55 mph.

Now DARPA is looking for something better, a hybrid-electric off-road motorcycle that offers not only excellent fuel economy but importantly, the ability to operate in either silent or near silent mode, which would give troops an ability to approach targets with much more the element of surprise on their side.

Two companies have partnered to develop that next generation replacement for the M1030M1, depicted in the above photo. BRD is known for its RedShift all-electric motocross racing bike. Logos Technologies has developed a compact, multi-fuel engine-generator, originally destined for a unmanned aerial vehicle. Now the challenge is to bring the two systems together.

The media-generated term 'stealth' is somewhat of a misnomer; it implies the bike will somehow be invisible, but as Logos Technologies' Wade Pulliam, their director of advance projects development, points out, the goal of the program is to reduce the bike's acoustic signature, not its visual or infrared profile. The rider will still give off a heat signature, as will the exhaust.

The two teams met in San Francisco recently and both Pulliam and BRD's CEO Marc Fenigstein sat down and via telephone conference call talked with EV World's Bill Moore about the program. They have given a three-month development window to find a way to marry their two technologies, which they are only now beginning to explore.

As for the status on the Red Shift, Fenigstein reports that he will be making more announcements about their bike this summer.