Shawn Lawless teams with Orange County Choppers, steals quarter mile crown from Killacycle [w/video] *UPDATE

It appears the guys over at Orange County Choppers have put their bike building skills to good use on another battery-powered machine. This time, instead of a fancy looker meant to generate headlines and adorn a corporate office somewhere, the motorcycle in question was purpose built to accomplish a set of not-so-modest missions: to be the quickest and fastest electric motorcycle on the planet.

OCC teamed with long-time builder and racer Shawn Lawless on the project for a two-part episode that should air sometime this Fall. On August 29th, Lawless Larry McBride piloted the brand new beast down the dragstrip at Quaker City Raceway and wrested away the quarter-mile crown (though not the official NEDRA record) that had adorned the handlebars of the Killacycle for quite some time. The new time? 7.77 seconds at 165 miles per hour.

While you can learn all the details when the episodes are broadcast, we have learned a few powertrain details. The 13" motor is a 200+ lb. brute that was originally rebuilt to motivate Denis Berube's S-10 called "Smoke Screen." With the help of an undisclosed amount of A123 cells, the DC unit should put out about 600 horsepower and is running at 360 volts. Hit the jump for a shaky-cam view of the run as well as smoke-filled footage from its very first crack at a track.

*Update: The rider was Larry McBride, not Lawless.

[Source: The Electric Chronicles / El Moto / Aaron Equipment]

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