Matt Chambers approached me once again late in 2019 with an exciting new challenge. The assignment was to build a an entirely new electric motorcycle from scratch. In his first job, University of Kansas graduate Vinay Valleru and I built an entirely new motorcycle platform featuring an industry first full immersion battery, adjustable rake and trail, and infinitely configurable ergonomics.
The experience of building a full battery/electric vehicle was a unique opportunity for gaining a deep understanding of an entirely new technology, and its limitations.
For a Fine Arts Major, there is no higher honor than to have one’s work shown in a museum. This happened at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in 2022, thanks to the curation of Paul D’Orleans. My design work was finally presented on equal footing with the industry giants.
A U.S. patent was granted for the novel combination of motor output shaft and swingarm pivot shaft.
Seven prototypes were built in the studio on Saint Ferdinand Street. This was to be the 4 th motorcycle platform that I put into production in New Orleans.