With its recent CES award win for Vehicle Intelligence & Transportation under its belt, Damon, an electric motorcycle startup in Vancouver, Washington, is getting a lot of press. The company’s HyperSport is the 2-wheeled design that so mightily impressed the CES judges, and it joins a growing family of quiet, emissions-free ’cycles on the road, bikes which are designed as both highway commuters and urban sportsters.
The HyperSport is more the latter than the former, but it looks capable of fulfilling both roles, and doing so safely. Roadgoing security is central to the design, and that’s a good thing, because this bike’s electric motor can pump out 200 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, which—combined with the light weight—can drive it to a top speed of 200 miles per hour.
Damon calls the safety system CoPilot, and it uses BlackBerry tech and radar, cameras, and other sensors to establish a 360-degree warning system; the information is collected and sorted in the Cloud using AI tech, sending updates to the bike, and its rider, as necessary. Damon also developed Shift, a rider ergonomics system that allows adjustment during operation.