This is the first of a series of posts where I will give some insight into the design and manufacturing process for the upcoming Stark Drive Torque(SDT) - Thin & Fat Tire that will be launching on Indiegogo August 2019 (www.starkdrive.world - to sign up to get the best pricing when we launch).

Challenges and opportunities....

The road to development for SDT has had its share of challenges as we have gone all out this time to design our own custom frame design as well as our ultimate and most important goal being keeping the price as low as possible for the base model of SDT. We were also not satisfied in simply building a torque bike but wanted to add features that are not available on even similar looking bikes in the industry and we wanted to offer premium features that can be configured a-la-carté while still keeping the pricing at a fraction of others with the similar features in our industry.

Iteration is your best friend...

The first prototype of SDT which is currently on its way to the US for reviews by independent reviewers was an excellent first try at making this ultra affordable mid motor drive. The biggest feature on this prototype was the Bafang Ultra Max mid motor drive which we felt that due to the size of the fat tire bike was a must have and we could not compromise on power as it was related directly to the final user experience. Of course this motor is not cheap and it took a lot of negotiation with our supplier to keep true to our company's mantra of the most affordable electric bikes in the world. An interesting note is that just the motor alone on SDT Max costs more then the entire original Stark Drive which we launched in 2017. Of course performance follows price and this motor is a beast in term of performance, torque, and speed.

160Nm Torque

The torque on SDT Max is double that of our hub motor brethren, with for example, a hub motor 750w offering a poultry 80-85Nm torque. Not only that, the motor is must more responsive measuring the amount of pressure you apply to the pedals instead of sensing when the wheel is turning which makes it near impossible to go uphill compared to our torque where no hill is a challenge. Another benefit of the torque based motor is that you no longer need a throttle which is simply not allowed on an electric bike in many parts of the world as it changes the class of the bike to something similar to a moped with all the legal requirements that follow, complicating the use of the bike.

Frame Factory Visit

On my visit to the frame factory i got a first hand look at our two prototype frames and we discussed fine tuning and enhancements to the V2 prototype frame. Arguably one of the most important components on any bike, we wanted to get the frame perfect so that anything we attached to it would function at its best. We have designed this frame from the ground up and of course registered it internationally so that unlike the many other electric bike companies in the marketplace that simply take 'open mold' designs and pass them off as their original creations, we have done something different and i would say better then what anyone else is offering in the marketplace.

Frame Assembly Process

Here is a quick description of how a typical frame manufacturer builds the frames on your bike, be it electric or non. Its an intensive process with several steps and most importantly the precision to get every bike perfect requires an extensive amount of tooling which one of the highest costs associated with designing a frame. As each frame is different, an entirely new tooling process must be configured to ensure that every bike meets quality control standards as per the blueprints for the bike. As these prototype bikes are not in 'mass production' as of yet, they have been hand built at considerable amount extra effort and time.

I hope that this sheds some light onto how we designed Stark Drive Torque and check back here for the next installment where i will go into more details on our battery pack and how we have engineered the best battery in the marketplace for stark drive with features not found on comparable electric bikes in our class.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Our new Stark Drive Torque base model will launch on Indiegogo Approximately Middle of August. We have set up a mailing list sign up at

www.starkdrive.world

And for those whom sign up there you have the chance to not only win a free bike but also be the first to receive our launch information about the exact time that we launch so that you can grab one of the limited number of ultra affordable Bafang M400 based mid motor folding electric bikes. You can see a video of this ultra powerful motor in action below.

OUR SUPPLIERS ARE SECOND TO NONE

I just wanted to take a minute to give you an update to my trip to China whose sole purpose was to visit the companies who in partnership with Stark Drive LLC are responsible for manufacturing Stark Drive Torque (SDT). Due to excellent planning, I was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to visit every major player who has a part in manufacturing the mission critical components of Stark Drive. From the Frame Manufacturer to the Lithium Ion Battery supplier to our artisan boutique coatings partner (AKA Painter) and finally of course the main partner factory whom we have worked together with for over 3 years where everything comes together.

IT TAKES A LOT

It was a whirlwind trip and and really opened my eyes as to how hard our partner factories work to keep up to our demanding requirements and intensive schedules.

In the famous words of Henry Ford:

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.

I will be going into more detail and depth to each of our partners in upcoming blog posts but sufficed to say, i was exceptionally impressed by the level of dedication, attention to detail and quality of SDT. The thin tire is a perfect commuter bike for the city and even has a little animal instinct being caged inside that Bafang torque motor for some off road action. SDT Max is an entirely different animal altogether. Max hides nothing in the way of power which is glaringly apparent from the first time you climb onboard and press on that pedal to start accelerating. We will be using the latest and most powerful motor Bafang has to offer on Max topping out at 1000W. Furthermore, even though it's officially rated at 1000W, at 160Nm of torque, the internet is abuzz with ebike enthusiasts who have managed to tweak the bikes internal controllers to achieve upwards of 2500W out of this mid motor.

TESTING

In my testing of STD, i was able able achieve slightly over 40kph just pedaling in the highest gear. The number of gears on the bike i tested was set to 7 however we will be increasing this to 9 on the final version meaning that with a little effort a speed of up to 50kph should be possible.

My testing of SDT Max was much more fun and a different experience altogether. I would not say that SDT Max is a bicycle that has been made electric, i would more compared it to being a motor bike that has been switched to a battery driven electric motor. In my testing, remembering im around the 100kg (220lb) mark, i was able to achieve 64kph based on a 7 speed cassette and the amount of torque when you first start off the line is exhilarating and even a bit scary the first time you try it.

UPGRADES

There have been upgrades to both models all around from feedback we have received for the original Stark Drive as well as feedback we have from our internal testing with the two original prototype models that we received several months ago.

SHOCKS

This was one of the important factors we wanted to address from the original Stark Drive which used a spring based shock system that was adjustable only to turn it on or lock it out and nowhere in between. This gave a limited about of choice to our original backers when using Stark Drive and we knew we had to do better. Both models of SDT now use an air compression based front shock system that is fully adjustable, both with the amount of air pressure inside the shocks as well as a dial to adjust the amount of recoil you are interested in once the system is all charged. In all there are 9 user adjustable settings on SDT with a range of 120kg to 240kg of adjustable resistance.

BATTERIES

The battery system for SDT MAX has also been upgraded to 48V meaning a lot more power from the motor and from our testing a lot more range when not using the bike to its limits. We have calculated that you can realistically achieve over 120km of pedal assist range from SDT and over 150km of assist from MAX based on the lowest amount of assist in average terrain conditions. We have also upgraded the batteries internally to house a high powered USB out at 10W which no one else has in the marketplace. The batteries used on Torque are state of the art and the best we could achieve.

COATINGS

We wanted to experiment with new coating options for SDT as the bike stands out in a crowd so your paint job should as well. With our coatings partner we are now able to finish SDT using Hydrographics designs such as the ones pictured at the top of this post. There are thousands upon thousands of different designs available however we settled on the two above as we felt that these bikes were something the military would want to keep a secret if they were to take it to the battlefield.

BRAKING SYSTEMS

It was by necessity that we needed to upgrade the brakes for SDT as the bikes could achieve speeds that were so fast we needed to increase the brake pad surface area to help to stop the bike faster especially considering the extra total weight for MAX we needed something that would function reliably over a longer period of time without needed to replace the pads continually. The new brakes used on SDT have been battle tested and are based on the best bicycle brakes in the industry. We are not switching from disc brakes to hydraulic brakes for base model of SDT for the simple reason that the price difference in comparison to the improvement in performance negligible. This will be offered as an option for those that really want hydraulic brakes and for those die hard bikers that can not live without them can always put them on their bikes after they receive them.

ENGINE

It was a dedicated effort to develop our relationship with Bafang and work with them to incorporate their engines on SDT. The mid motor drives we are using for MAX is very new to the market and only a handful of other ebike manufacturers are using the same type of engine on their bikes. We wanted to go with the best and most powerful engines that were available and after doing a cost/benefits analysis decided that the only way to go was BAFANG. Their M400 Motor at 250W achieves more torque than a 750W hub motor at 95Nm and their 1000W motor tops out at 160Nm of torque. When you climb aboard SDT and start to pedal with the assist on its as if you are pedaling on a cloud. there is no exertion or resistance just speed and acceleration.

https://electrek.co/2019/01/17/bafang-ultra-electric-bicycle-motor/

Im looking forward to going into even more detail on SDT in upcoming posts. Stay tuned and sign up for our launch at www.starkdrive.world

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

In combination with the motor power level which is measured in Watts, another important consideration if you want to get the most speed possible out of your electric bike is to consider the bike or system wide voltage. The industry has settled for the most part on a system-wide voltage of 36V which is typical of most ebikes on the market but you can also find less expensive electric bikes operating at 24V and on the other side of the spectrum are ones operating at 72V and beyond.

Typically higher voltage results in higher RPM and theoretically a higher efficiency on your motor if its designed for such. Peak efficiency is improved at higher voltage without any appreciable decrease in battery life however the biggest impact on your battery life is drag and at higher speeds you will have the higher drag which will have the largest impact on your battery life. Increased performance and and efficiency, which equates to acceleration and greater range, will result from increasing the voltage on your bike and gearing down. This will also result in less energy loss associated with the heat in the copper and lower temperatures result in lower resistance (as we all know coppers resistance increases with temperature, the reason behind huge heat syncs for example on high powered computers processors).

For our upcoming Stark Drive Torque (SDT) Max which will operate at 48V we have chosen a 13S configuration for our battery packs. This compared to the 10S configuration that is used for a 36V pack and this has some important consequences for those that purchase batteries. A battery pack that is switched from 36V to 48V will require more cells to achieve the same AH rating that is typically used to describe the total 'capacity' of the battery pack. Typically the restricting factor on a battery pack is the space inside the battery housing and as you increase the amount of cells, you also increase the amount of internal resistance in the pack.

One of the things we have noticed in the industry has been an overly optimistic description of the range of any given pack but the reality of the situation is that you can expect about 32km of range from a 3.5kg lithium battery pack. Companies that claim 80km on a charge either have a 10kg battery pack attached to their bike or intend that you pedal for 65 km then turn on the battery for the last 15km. The Cells inside the battery pack are a constant and you can do the test yourself by weighing your battery pack as the battery housing weight is near insignificant.

What will make SDT Max super fast is the 48Vs that the battery pack delivers and in our testing we easily achieved 45-50kph with the restrictions disabled and pedaling in the optimal gear. That being said, SDT is no slough either easily getting 35-40kph mainly due to the lighter total bike weight.

As all our batteries are installed internally in the frame, hidden from view, there is no need to worry about mounting the battery. SDT Max will get you much better performance on challenging terrain and hauling heavier loads while SDT is the perfect bike for those that are just commuting from point a to b in the city. Both of these upcoming bikes will come with exceptionally well (some might say over) designed mid motor drives from Bafang and there is a lot of information on the web testing and reviewing these motors on the web in real world conditions. SDT Max in fact has been rated to function up to 2500W.

Just a short bit of information about how and why we designed STD the way we have. We hope that its going to be the perfect ebifor you and how you choose to experience the thrill of a mid motor torque based drive system instead of the more antiquated and less performance focused hub motors that are so prevalent on the market today.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Hello Everyone,

Development on the feature packed upcoming Stark Drive Torque (SDT) is progressing as planned and we are super excited to share with you some of our more recent accomplishments including a fully functioning fingerprint recognition solution that will be available for Stark Drive Torque doing away with the need to carry around a key in order to start the electrical systems on your bike as is the case now with our first two models Stark Drive and Stark Drive Mini as seen below.

We have opted to improve not only the security of SDT by enabling biometric authentication but also to improve the overall usability of the bike in some very significant ways. For example with a key based system (which is the common standard in the ebike industry) it's an excellent way to lock out the powered functions of an electric bike so that if for example the bike was stolen, the thief would not be able to take advantage of any type of electrical assist. They have still made off with the bike however which is why we have always offered GPS tracking solutions built into our electric bikes so that in the event the worst happens the bikes location can be triangulated to a smaller area and hopefully recovered.

Keys are great and while Stark Drive's company mission or 'mantra' has always been to lower the cost of entry into electric transportation. We achieved this with Stark Drive, which started at $399 and further went onto achieve this again with Stark Drive Mini which launched at an incredible $299.

It's Hard to Forget Your Finger

The problem with keys for me personally has always been that they are a physical object that must be carried with you and there are a limited number of them. For example Stark Drive only ships our bikes with 2 keys, sure you can make more yourself however in the event that you lose your key(s) you no longer have a way to start SD as we dont keep any records of your keys.

Share Stark Drive With Your Friends

There of course is a better way which is using biometrics such as your fingerprint. Apple brought this into the mainstream with their iPhone 5S which introduced fingerprint recognition a few years ago. A phone is considerably more 'personal' than a bicycle can be however that did not mean that people could then go ahead and share their phone by registering several different fingerprints on the device. The same is going to be true for SDT. The fingerprint reader can record several dozen fingerprints and once registered anyone of these registered fingerprints can unlock the bike. You can of course still opt to use 20th century technology and go 'keyed' however just as the horse and buggy was replaced with ICE's and will eventually succumb to pure electric transportation, we believe that keys will go by the wayside as technology makes other forms of 'unlocking' more accessible and useful.

Stark Drive Torque Fingerprint Solution Proof of Concept

The fingerprint reader will be electrically integrated and protected on Stark Drive and will function similar to models produced by the incredibly innovative

Greyp Bikes in Croatia

which have included this technology in their bikes for several years and with a starting price of about $10,000 they are excellent value for the raw power they pack in. We at Stark Drive strive to develop equally powerful technology for our electric bikes but at a price-point making affordable to anyone that wants one.

All Teslas Are Keyless

Tesla's did away with the key almost a decade ago with their vehicles opting instead for a keycard and eventually moving onto your mobile phone for authentication. In addition to fingerprint unlocking, SDT will also include NFC options for those that want to skip having to use their fingerprint and instead use their NFC enabled mobile phone or NFC keycard or ring which will be options available on SDT

Two factor authentication?

A key can be stolen, and so can a mobile phone so SDT will have the option of including more than one factor of authentication to enable the power systems if that is something that is important to you. Giving our supporters the choice of how they want to use the technology that we pack into Stark Drive is our number one goal.

SDT during our Launch campaign

We are building SDT from the ground up with our own trademarked frame design which works exclusively with the most powerful mid drive motor that BAFANG produces. Our Frame will support up to the Bafang Ultra Max mid drive motor which tops out from our supplier at 1000W however has been tested and works reliably at far higher power capacities. In fact the motor itself has been tested to work at 2500W noting that this is over 6X the average max power that a cyclist can sustain for a short period of time, if we are talking about a trained cyclist.

Configure Your Perfect Bike

As always our backers on the upcoming launch as can be seen here:

https://starkdrive.world/

Will be able to configure their perfect bike be it:

• 36V total System power up to 48V of total system power
• fingerprint recognition
• up to 1000w Mid Drive Bafang Motor
• NFC
• battery capacities up to 22ah
• FAT Tire or Standard
• Color or B/W display
• Ludicrous mode topping out at 60kph!
• DISC or Hydraulic Braking System
• and much more!

How does NFC work and how will it be implemented:

NFC stands for Near Field Communication and is included in most current generation mobile phones as a standard feature. Its currently mainly used for making wireless payments through services such as ApplePay or GooglePay. This allows you to skip the credit card or sliding or inserting anything into a machine and simply waive your phone above a reader. SDT will include a reader which will connect to the electrical systems on the bike so by using your mobile phone or another device you will be able to unlock the bike without needing a key. The NFC unlock can also be shared with those you would like to allow to use the bike when you are not using it.

We will publish more information about SDT over the coming weeks in preparation for our launch in August 2019.

Thank you

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

We have been working hard at marrying the best available components to work seamlessly together for our upcoming Torque based electric bikes and one of the key features here is the display or as its also known the HMI. The features of most electric display units on the market today are very similar displaying speed, power assist level and remaining battery power with the differences being how this information is presented. There are also advantages to going to an active matrix color display in that you have more of an operating system type interface with multiple layers allowing you to access and adjust more features of your electric bike from the display.

Bafang HMI C171 and C181 Photos Respectively

C171 Specifications

C181 Specifications

There will be benefits to opting for the color display but it will not be a requirement in order to get into an ultra affordable torque based electric bike from Stark Drive.

Such benefits will include being able to program your electric bikes settings at the system level allowing adjustments that would not normally be accessible such as top speed, voltage cut off, and other such features. There will also be benefits such as the upcoming app that will act as a companion to the bike computer to display more information about your ride as well as maps that are synced to your travel and other health data. More about this on a future post.

Our goal with the display unit is a balance between features and cost and our close partnership with Bafang in China is enabling our goals of releasing Stark Drive Torque when we launch in Summer 2019.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Stark Drive Torque, The Ultimate Mid Motor Electric Bike

The refinement of Stark Drive Torque (SDT) and finalization of its feature set is progressing ahead of schedule and according to our plans. We have been working closely with our manufacturer to ensure that testing is running concurrently with manufacturing in order to reduce lead time on the final assembled version that we will use for our internal testing.

We want to pack as much (ultra reliable) tech into this bike as we can find. Once again although we have reinvented the frame for SDT, however, we are not interested in reinventing the wheel. All of the tech that we are including in SDT has been available in the marketplace for several years now but it has only been the high end electric bike manufacturers that had the funding (and correspondingly high price points for their customers) that could afford it.

One more thing.....POWER

Our upcoming 2 models of Stark Drive Torque will be based on the M Series Bafang Mid Motor Drives. These are industry leading mid motors that have been in development for years and we can personally attest to their power after having tested them internally with the prototypes that we have received.

250Ws but a heck of a lot of Torque

We will be launching a regular tire (non FAT) model that will be based on the 250W engine that Bafang offers. Even though the motor watts is rated at 250 does not make this motor a slouch when it comes to performance. if you check out the specifications sheet below you will note that the max torque that this motor can provide is up at 95Nm which is better then even a comparable 750w Hub motor from our competition. On top of all this the mid motor drive itself only weighs about 3kg which is less than many comparable hub motors on the market today.

Did you say 1000W, Crazy!

The Fat Tire Max model of SDT will be offering the most powerful mid motor drive that we could economically incorporate into Stark Drive without breaking the bank!. The model will have the the rated power of 750/1000W which sounds confusing but the same motor can be adjusted to work in either scenario depending on local legislation or lack thereof. A summary of the most important characteristics are below and we would like to point out that

THIS MOTOR HAS 2X THE MAX TORQUE AS OUR NEAREST COMPETITOR AT 160Nm STANDARD

SDT FAT MAX will be unrivaled in its class when its released not only due to the performance and power but also the price point which will be a fraction of anything comparable with more features then the other guys.

Stay tuned to our blog for more updates as to the feature set as well as videos of our prototypes and testing as they come available over the next several weeks. Our next post will go into more detail about the upcoming companion app which will be released concurrently with SDT.

SIncerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Hello,

well the public has spoken, Mini bikes that are ultra affordable are not the 'in' thing. We see that and are responding by following through with our Master Plan which we laid out back in 2016.

Although I personally still believe that the Mini bike is the ultimate short range city commuter and i should know, as i use mine every day, it seems that people want power, speed and size. We are responding and will be launching two new models in 2019:

Stark Drive Torque 36V⁣⁣

Stark Drive Torque Max 48V (Fat Tire)

Both of these models come with a powerful Bafang Torque based engine which drives these bikes and makes them much more capable and responsive to their hub based motor brethren. These torque based motors sample the pressure that you apply to the pedals hundreds of times per minute in order to deliver power instantly when you need it, not after your rear wheel rotates the required number of times to 'sense' that you are moving.

Torque based electric bikes are the future but the problem (up to now) has been that the future has been out of financial reach for many with just the motors alone costing more than the original Stark Drive that we launched in 2017. We have been working tirelessly with our factory and especially their suppliers in order to find a way to bring the price of TORQUE to a level that everyone can afford.

It pleases me to tell you know that we have in fact achieved this goal!

While others may be touting hub based fat tire bikes with higher voltage, nothing compares to a torque based model in terms of performance, speed, maneuverability and power.

Above you see the video of our upcoming FAT tire version of Stark Drive Torque. Its based on a systemwide 48Vs and comes with an ultra powerful 1000W bafang motor that you might confuse with a motorcycle, or so we have been told by the lucky few that have had a chance to try it.

We have upgraded everything on Torque from the front shocks to the brakes to the entire wiring system which is now plug and play making upgrades as easy as assembling lego. No more need to dig out the controller and find the correct wire. Torque wiring is all color coded and only fits one way so there is no confusion or mistakes when the DIYer wants to add features to their bike.

We have already tested the new cabling system for a lucky few that have received our prototype Stark Drive at 750W which has been provided to a lucky few in the USA.

Stark Drive will of course come in two flavors as there are still strict ebike regulations throughout most of the world limiting the maximum watt power output on electric bikes and we will offer a 250W Torque based model for these unlucky countries that have these ludicrous limits placed on them.

The good news is that even at 36V 250W Torque is very powerful and when you dial up the assist to the max you can get to where you want to go quickly without any fear of being limited to gentle rolling slopes or flat terrain. For the lucky ones that plan on offroading with Stark Drive Torque or can take advantage of more power in their region our 48V 1000W motors will give you limitless power and speeds up to 83kph (in our internal unscientific testing). The motor is so powerful it needs vents for cooling.

As always Stark Drive ALWAYS comes with a front light and horn by default for safety, this is not an add on feature that some others might charge you extra for.

On top of this we have seen fit to add a few additional features not seen in this first prototype of Stark Drive Torque above.

Fingerprint Recognition

This has been a feature offered by a few in the marketplace at price-points nearing the $10,000 mark but we have found a way to add this feature and still keep Torque affordable. It will allow those that choose to include this in their bikes the ability to unlock the engine and start using the immense power with the touch of a finger. Further, you will be able to code several different fingerprints into the system so that you can share the bike without needing to provide a key to everyone.

NFC

Version 2 of Torque will also include the opportunity to unlock your bike using NFC so anyone with a compatible mobile phone will be able to unlock it by placing it in the cradle. This is a cool feature but it also has enabled another feature in conjunction with it.

Wireless Charging

Torque will allow you to charge your compatible mobile device wirelessly by just inserting it in the cradle so you never need to worry about running out of power. Don't have a mobile phone that supports wireless charging? Don't worry we have not forgot about you, Torque will also have a USB output on the bike computer so that you can still charge your phone when the need arises.

USB Powerstation

We have redesigned our powerpack from the ground up to make it more capable and useful instead of just sitting there in the bike or at your desk when removed from the bike, we have added a high output USB port allowing you to use the battery pack as a powerstation to charge any USB device capable of being charged through USB. We have also added a fuse that acts as protection in the event of an unforeseen spike in current and increased the capacity of the battery pack from 17Ah up to 21.5Ah. As always we use high quality cells made in Japan to ensure maximum life and power delivery to your bike.

Improved Components (Braking, Shocks)

With the power that torque offers and our goal to improve performance, we have upgraded the front shocks on Stark Drive Torque from a spring system from a coil spring which was used on Stark Drive to an air spring system (pressurized air in a chamber). Air springs are infinitely more adjustable as you can change the amount of compressed air in the shocks as well as adjusting the damping using the selector on the shocks from 9 pre sets. The adjustment can go from 120kg to 240 kg and air springs are lighter as well.

Braking

We have also decided to upgrade the braking system on SDT with disk brakes that have a larger surface area for the pads that actually stop the bike. With the speeds that can be achieved on SDT braking is even more important and a reliable and efficient braking system is baked into every bike.

Stark Drive APP

We have always had the intention of integrating Stark Drive with a mobile based app and with our partnership with Bafang we have developed an app that supports both iPhone and Android and is only compatible with the Bafang drive systems. This app will support real-time access to ride data, real time health data such as your heart-rate and amount of calories burned as well as access to the navigation data that is collected by the computer built into the Bafang motor.

Stark Drive Torque Designed Inhouse

There are a lot of players in the electric bike market and many of them simply take a commonly available 'open mould' and add a few components here or there and call it their own bike. We should know, thats exactly what we did with Stark Drive and Stark Drive Mini. The reality is that these bikes are available, at normally a fraction of the price, on sites such as Alibaba. Of course not Stark Drive as we are generally priced lower than whats offered there which has always been our goal.

We wanted to do something different with Torque so we started from the ground up and designed our own Frame to harness the power of the Bafang engine. There is not an 'open mould' and you will not find it anywhere else.

China

I will be travelling to China in the spring to inspect, test, and evaluate Version 2 of Stark Drive Torque which will include all the aforementioned upgrades and will be reporting the progress back to all of our upcoming backers with video and commentary on the entire process.

Delivery

When we launched Stark Drive, our team had everything planned out and we were ready to deliver right from the starting gate but as we had mentioned in our past BLOG UPDATE there were conspirators in our midst which delayed the first deliveries of Stark Drive by approximately 6 months. We still got the original Stark Drive out to our first backers in a reasonable amount of time considering the issues we faced with our former partner and have been improving deliveries ever since. Stark Drive is now a STOCK item letting anyone that wants one get it in just a few days. We dont believe in making people wait to enjoy the fun and convenience of Stark Drive. The process to produce and deliver stark drive is not rocket science from order to completion of production only takes 45 days and from there we ship. We will be following the same procedures for Stark Drive Torque.

Thank you for all of those that supported us to help bring us to this point and we hope that when people want an affordable electric bike, they think Stark Drive.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

UPDATE: Note that this was an April Fools Article, No way we would sell Stark Drive.

Hello Everyone,

It bring an untold amount of excitement to be able to say that after several years of ups and downs with both internal company matters and an ongoing lawsuit with a former mate over tortious interference we had been in discussions with our competitor. Due to the recent success that this company has had during their most recent campaign they have had excess funds that they felt would be suitable to put towards fixing some of the wrongs that have been committed in the past as well as resolving a potentially huge liability for them going forward.

Chinese Factory Partnership (with subsidiaries in Thailand)

For me the key has always been to help to drive ulta affordable electric bikes to market and this partner shares the same mantra albeit with higher prices for less features than Stark Drive currently offers. Another huge plus is that our factory has a subsidiary in Thailand where we can manufacture our bikes from start to finish in order to avoid the anti dumping duties that are currently imposed on their production as their bikes are made in and shipped from China. We have been taking advantage of this to save our EU clients at least 80% in duties and our USA clients at least 25%.

Part of the agreement will involve a relocation to our factory which will end up in a WIN/WIN in terms of saving the company money on the manufacturing of their existing lineup, which is just based on an open mould and can be produced anywhere just like Stark Drive.

Stark Drive Torque

Further they are exceptionally excited to work with us to bring to market Stark Drive Torque which will be at least 50% less then the most affordable torque based electric bike currently on the market with options to add an ultra powerful bafang motor up to 1000W.

CoC Europe (1000W Motors)

Another advantage to the purchase of our assets is that Stark Drive currently has a valid CoC (Certificate of Compliance) for the EU marketplace allowing us to bring to market electric bikes up to 1000W in power to the European Union, a feature that they have promised but been unable to deliver on for the last year.

All in all, Stark Drive is proud and excited to be teaming up with our former competitor to help push the electric bike market forward and drive adoption in the fastest possible way so that anyone that wants an electric bike has access to one no matter what.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Stark Drive Mini Deliveries

We are happy to report to our backers that deliveries of Stark Drive Mini are ongoing with an expedited manufacturing schedule for our backers on indiegogo. several units have already been shipped and we hope to get feedback from these people whom have received their bikes in the near future. This is a record for our company from backing to deliveries happening in a timescale of weeks instead of months and in the case of some of our competition, years. Many of our backers have opted to upgrade the base model of Stark Drive Mini and add features such as more advanced displays, carbon belt drive train instead of chain and battery pack upgrade.

Stark Drive Torque Progress

We are still on track to launch Stark Drive Torque in late summer 2019 and after testing the prototypes we have in in Stockholm, we have been working hard to add even more unique and value added features that are normally found only on comparable products that are selling over $10,000 on the market today.

Biometric Authentication

The above image is not from our bike but this technology is already implemented on our competitors electric bikes allowing you to unlock and use your electric bike without needing to have a key with you. You are also able to change the usage profile by programming each to a different finger unlock. We will be implementing fingerprint unlocking technology in Stark Drive Torque

Stark Drive Powerpack

we have redesigned the battery pack from the ground up with several upgrades. The battery pack can now support up to 21.5 AH of power and we have also now included a fast charging USB port right into the battery pack so that when you take it with you, it can be used to charge your devices on the go, no matter where you are.

NFC / Wireless Charging

Stark Drive Torque will also come with NFC communication (as yet another method to unlock your bike) as well as wireless charging meaning that you no longer need to carry a USB cable with you if you want to charge your wireless charging enabled phone. Of course it will still have a USB port so that if you are using a phone that does not support wireless charging you are still able to top up when it's needed.

Models

Stark Drive Torque will come in 2 variants, a regular tire and a fat tire model. The regular tire will be running at 36V with a Bafang G330 Drive System and a Fat tire variant running at 48V and a G510 Drive Train. Both are exceptionally fast with the latter topping out at 83kph in our testing. We will also be offering both B/W and Color display options for Stark Drive Torque.

Stay tuned for more details as we confirm in the coming months.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC