Is Curtiss’ ‘The 1’ the Future of Motorcycles?

Curtiss Motorcycles is looking to change the face of the motorcycle industry and rewrite what’s possible with the debut of their creation – ‘The 1.’ How are they doing this exactly? Let’s take a look.

Headquartered in New Orleans, Curtiss Motorcycles has decided to embark on a new journey. Armed with only a clean sheet of paper and their imagination, it has seen them dive off into the deep end of creativity in the pursuit of designing a motorcycle that will in their own words “last forever.” It’s ambitious stuff but as you’ll see in the photos throughout this article, they’ve created something truly unique and absolutely beautiful. Minimalist, sleek and futuristic, it looks like something straight out of ‘Westworld’. In my book, that’s definitely an awesome step in the right direction.

So what about the more nitty gritty details?

“The 1” contains a patent pending Central Powered Axis which stabilizes the motorcycle, yielding a smoother and more balanced riding experience. It also has an industry-first immersion cooled Curtiss Hex Pack battery solution (inspired by the natural hexagonal design of beehives) that alleviates all of the heat generated while also providing insulation and optimizing the rider’s safety in the process. This is combined with an axial flux electric powertrain, billet aluminum, titanium and a carbon fiber state of the art monocoque with a fully-adjustable multi-link suspension system. It also has a Cascadia Motion PM100 Inverter. If that doesn’t start tickling you in all the best engineering ways, then I’m not sure what will.

The overall width of the motorcycle (including the handlebars) is just 27 inches and weighs 215KG – not bad at all. ‘The 1’ has a current range of 120 miles in a city (it goes down to 70 if you’re on a motorway) with up to 147.5 ft-lb of torque. Currently, it can reach a top speed of 82kW (110hp) but future models are expected to make the jump up to 159kW (217hp). It takes less than three hours to recharge the bike fully and you can do it easily enough with a Universal J1771 connector.

Oh and did I mention that ‘The 1’ is customizable? Every version has the above specs but you’re in no way limited there. Curtiss are determined to put the customer first so if you’ve got a design or style/color scheme and more in mind that you want for the bike, head designer J.T Nesbitt is keen to push the envelope even further and make it happen.

“I went back to the project with fresh energy, asking one simple question – how do we take this even further than anyone has ever gone with a true bespoke philosophy that will be non-disruptive to production and therefore quality?

What our team has achieved is a system of customization that allows for not only every color of the rainbow, but also any material, texture, and finish of select parts.” – J.T Nesbitt – Designer of ‘The 1.’

There is a slight catch to this though – if you want this extra bit of wizardry done on your bike, you’ll have to be one of the first 30 customers. But if you’re not, it’s not all doom and gloom.

The technical aspects of the bike are still customizable. Curtiss don’t want this bike to just be for the select few – and with that in mind, they designed it in such a way that you only need three small tools – a 5mm hex key, a 13mm box end and a 22m normal wrench (which they also supply when you buy the bike) – and with these, you can tailor everything from the ride height to the very geometry of the vehicle to whatever works best for you. The motorcycle itself is minimalist as it consists of only 175 different components, some of which are strong and able enough to fulfill multiple purposes and not be wasteful in the process. Pretty neat huh?

What’s really great about this luxury brand though is its potential. If this is what Curtiss is capable of doing with their first model, then what might their third or fourth generation version look like? From the looks of it, it also wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to see those in the film and television industry taking note of this and wanting to incorporate ‘The 1’ into one of their creations. The motorcycle already looks like something you’d maybe see turn up in the upcoming ‘Blade Runner 2099’ Amazon TV Show or a bike that Robert Pattinson’s Batman decides to customize and transform into a fully fledged Bat-Bike – and those are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ideas.

Curtiss have also recently released a documentary all about ‘The 1’ on their YouTube Channel and website. It’s just over 40 minutes long and does a terrific job of introducing you to the company, the small but powerful team behind it and the bike itself. Entitled “The Opposite of Death”, at first glance you’d be forgiven for wondering quite how it ties into ‘The 1’ and the story of Curtiss Motorcycles at all. But by the time it ends, it will all make sense and if you’re either a die hard motorbike fan or a relatively new one like yours truly, you’ll still find yourself stuck with a grin on your face and itching to get your hands on one for a test drive.

‘The 1’ is just a genuinely exciting piece of sublime machinery that is going to make people stop and stare when they first lay their eyes on it. On a personal and professional note, I’ve never been a massive motorcycle enthusiast but after setting my sights on this as I watched the documentary mentioned above, I have to admit it changed the game. Only time will tell for sure if it and Curtiss will do the same for the motorcycle industry.