Electric motorcycles have a new land speed record 329 km/h

An electric-powered motorbike has exceeded 200mph for the first time in history to secure an FIM Land Speed World Record during the annual Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The Mobitec electric-powered motorbike has exceeded 200mph for the first time to officially secure an FIM Land Speed World Record during the 2019 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Japanese rider Ryuhji Tsurata clocked 204.629mph (or 327km/h) in one direction and followed up with a second, return pass of 204.484mph (still 327km/h) to ratify an official FIM-endorsed Land Speed World Record.

The Nagoya-based, Japanese-led Mobitec team spent five years working intensely to break the 200mph barrier for the electric motorcycle. They decided to attempt to break the existing record of 181.608mph – set in 2011 by Chip Yates – they did it. The FIM endorsed land speed record comes a year after the team's original rider Kaz Mazutani crashed at the 2018 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials whilst attempting to break 200mph.

To put this epic feat into perspective, the Kawasaki Ninja H2 team attained a speed record in 2018 when it reached 337 km/h in the (petrol) motorcycle category of up to 1,000cc. Team 38 (of whom, actually, very little is known), with Shigeru Yamashita as a pilot, achieved a resounding success. In the first attempt, they hit 340.571km/h (211.621mph) and in the second they marked 333.557km/h (207.263mph).

Watch the onboard cam video posted by pilot Ryuji Tsuruta of his team's Land Speed Record attempt. The video was posted to Tsuruta's personal Facebook page and shows his team's reaction as he comes on the first pass and they celebrate their victory. It's authentic and brilliant!

See the results https://bonnevillespeedtrials.com/results-2019/

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