Top motorcycle drag racer Larry "Spiderman" McBride has entered the record books once again by piloting the Lawless Electric Rocket to a National Electric Drag Racing Association record run of 6.94 seconds at 201.37 mph (324 km/h) over a quarter mile (402 meters) from a standing start. While the electric drag bike looks monstrous when posing for the cameras, it's simply jaw-dropping when on the move – as you can see from the video after the jump.
It's not the first time that the Rocket has broken records at the Virginia Motorsports Park near Petersburg, VA. McBride managed a time of 7.469 seconds at 177 mph (284 km/h) with a 363V version of the drag bike in September 2010. At the time, the build team said that once they'd found a way to put more horsepower to the pavement, the vehicle should be able to achieve 200 mph (321 km/h).
Ohio's Lawless Industries and Orange County Choppers (the custom bike shop responsible for the rather gorgeous electric Siemens Smart Chopper from 2009) found the answer in a newly-designed 355V/14.2kWh Li-ion battery pack weighing in at 268 pounds (121 kg) and packing 1,350 hp that was built by Derek Barger of High Tech Systems. The bike features an electric DC Drive System, a 13-inch diameter, 36-volt GE motor with a peak output of about 1,000 hp built by NEDRA veteran Dennis Berube and a 4,000 amp Zilla 4K EHV motor controller designed and built by Otmar Ebenhoech.
Shawn Lawless told us that the ultimate goal is to get under six seconds and over 255 mph (410 km/h). For now though, enjoy the following video of the bike's brief but astounding record run:
Source: NEDRA
