The magnificently overpowered Stark Varg has been remixed and released as a street-legal electric enduro bike – and due to weird laws in certain areas, you may not even need a motorcycle license to ride this 80-horsepower, 120-kg (265-lb) monster.
We first saw the Varg in 2021, and our jaw immediately hit the floor when we started scrolling down the spec sheet. Setting out with the mission "to show that electric technology is superior to gasoline by outperforming all traditional motocross models available," the Varg weighed little more than a fully-fueled 450cc MXGP motocross race bike, but offered considerably more power and a frankly silly 1036 Nm (764 lb-ft) of torque at the rear wheel.
Its battery pack promised to take you about as far as the gas tank on a 450, for up to six hours of trail riding, and Stark Future, the Spanish company behind this electric fire-breather seemed uninterested in anything short of world domination. We shall see – but the Varg won not only its first big race, but the entire UK Arenacross championship over eight rounds of competition in 2023-4. Check it out:
Now it's available as a streetbike, fully homologated for road use in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The Stark Varg EX street-legal dual-sport enduro machine is a little heavier than the motocross racer, having gained a 4,000-lumen headlight, a license plate, a horn and some beautifully integrated flexible indicators, as well as a 7.2-kWh battery pack – that's 20% more energy storage on the motocrosser.
It keeps its prodigious 80 horsepower (60 kW) peak power – albeit available through several modes, which can make it anything from a pussycat to a tiger at the throttle, and Stark has upgraded the electronics to allow riders the ability to draw out their own preferred power curves, as well as adjusting peak power and regen braking characteristics.
And despite the fact that its power-to-weight ratio would destroy the average 450cc enduro machine, some countries won't even make you get a motorcycle license to ride it.
"Thanks to progressive electric vehicle regulations," says Stark Future Founder and CEO Anton Wass, "even with 80 horsepower, the Varg EX can be ridden with an A1 license in Europe due to their way of measuring the low continuous power. And in many countries in Southern Europe, such as France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, it's even legal to ride the bike with a car license."
Mind you, it's still very much a dual-sport machine; Stark has built this thing more to connect the paved dots between off-road trails than to tour or commute on. We wouldn't expect it to get very far at highway speeds, it's still very much a super-focused off-roader, and the tire options range from extreme enduro through to enduro and rallycross hoops ... None of your TKC80s here!
The dash, again, is a removable "military grade" Android phone, fully functional with cameras, GPS and all the good stuff. Pre-installed is an off-road navigation app.
Pricing starts at US$12,900 plus shipping and taxes – yeah, it's a lot. But it's by far the most powerful dirt squirter on the market, as well as being quiet enough that you can probably get away with riding it places no ICE bike could go. And Stark points out that if you actually put hours on your dirt bikes, the Varg's vastly reduced maintenance makes it "actually the most affordable enduro bike you could own" even if it's one of the most expensive you could buy.
Production has already begun, according to Stark, but will be limited, and orders are now being taken.
It sure is one barnstormer of a bike, and Stark Future has rapidly become one of the most exciting off-road brands in the industry. And things are set to get a lot more interesting soon, as the company has announced it plans to pioneer the use of 3D metal printing in mass production, in a way that opens the door to some super-crazy shapes and designs.
Very neat stuff! Check out a detailed video below. At the very least, fast forward to 7:24 for one of the most eyebrow-raising sentences I've heard from a man in a skivvy and a ponytail since Tom Cruise in Magnolia. Enjoy!
Source: Stark Future