In 2016, a group of enterprising engineering students from a prominent institution decided to put their innovative electrical bike to the test against professional teams in the notoriously challenging. The 20-kilometer “Race to the Clouds” presented scholars with a daunting challenge: navigating 156 hairpin turns to reach the 4,300-meter summit.
By 2022, only two remaining members of the group have survived from the Pike’s Peak era. The team’s personnel didn’t remain constant – there were other modifications. In 2020, the Buckeye Presents team redirected its efforts from achieving mountaintop milestones to breaking records in land speed data. With the support of their sponsor, a team of college students from Monaco initiated the development and experimentation of an innovative electric bicycle, the RW-5 Voxan, in collaboration with the group’s patron.
On August, Venturi’s head of engineering, piloting the Buckeye Present group and the RW-5 Voxan, established four new world speed records at the Utah facility. The trials have been overseen by the Federation of International Motorcycling.
Rebuilding a File-Setting Crew
The Senior Affiliate Director at Ohio State University’s Office of Student Activities is the group’s academic advisor. The once-thriving Pikes Peak group, previously reaping significant profits, found itself dispersed by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing couldn’t have been worse, he admits. The team had just concluded a full slate of competitions and was now exploring their next move. As the pandemic struck, our numbers dwindled precipitously, leaving us with a mere shadow of our former selves.
As we concluded our time at Bonneville, I remarked to the team: “You started out several weeks ago as an ideal student body, but you’re departing as a racing machine.”
Two college students were involved in a project related to their coursework, working on various aspects and incorporating an electric dirt bike as part of their endeavors. With Laura Friedmann, a recent master’s degree recipient in mechanical engineering, they spearheaded the revival of the Buckeye Show group. In just two short years, they’ve successfully recruited new team members, conceptualized and built the RW-5 Voxan, and acquired a wealth of technical and entrepreneurial skills and knowledge that they would never have gained through traditional education alone.
The Oklahoma State University football team credits their swift turnaround to the access they have to top-notch resources and facilities, stemming from the university’s significant financial backing. “We have seven competitor groups, comprising approximately 300 college students, who operate from our facility,” says Cooke. We’ve collaborated in competitions corresponding to these two and others for 35 years, leveraging a wealth of institutional knowledge gathered over that time span. Although the group may initially comprise youthful college students, a significant number of senior members are always present, possessing the knowledge to teach essential skills such as machining, design, and rapid turnaround strategies on the machine.
File-Setting Efficiency
The FIM evaluates a motorcycle’s speed using a 9-mile-long, straight track. As the bike approaches the two-mile mark, having already achieved its maximum velocity, it crosses a laser beam, triggering a chronometer to begin recording elapsed time.
As you ride along the designated route, a second laser beam, either one mile or one kilometer farther away depending on the specific course guidelines, is interrupted by your bike, thereby stopping the timer. As the road unwinds, the remaining stretch provides ample opportunity for the driver to gradually slow down, allowing them to bring their vehicle to a safe speed before applying the brakes.
The FIM utilises a median pace across two consecutive runs, executed within a two-hour time frame, as specified in its documentation guidelines. Sabina Williams, group president and a fourth-year student majoring in mechanical engineering, notes that by the time the Motorcycle Velocity Trials commenced, Buckeye Present was capable of achieving the turnaround within an hour.
At the recent pace trials, The Buckeye Present group took part in the electric bike class for machines weighing between 100 and 150 kilograms by entering their 148-kilogram RW-5 Voxan. The organization also offers a category for machines weighing between 150 and 300 kilograms, while an “unlimited” class caters to those exceeding the 300-kilogram mark. To ensure the RW-5 Voxan accurately reflects its 150-kilogram limit, specific metallic components were meticulously machined to meet this requirement. The excess weight posed a significant challenge, prompting the team to focus on enhancing the bike’s grip on the notoriously slippery Bonneville salt flats, where the coefficient of friction is roughly half that of asphalt, according to Cooke. As an alternative to cruising on grippy asphalt on a remarkable Sunday, you’re driving on a surface whose traction is akin to that of asphalt following a light drizzle or snow and ice.
To contextualize the Buckeye Presents group’s bicycle innovation, consider the timelessness of the classic skateboard. While some lightweight scooters muster a modest 24 horsepower, the RW-5 Voxan’s axial flux motor boasts an impressive 130 kW (174 horsepower), highlighting its superior performance capabilities. The electric bike’s energy output is comparable to that of Ducati’s iconic, gasoline-powered sport bike, the same one that tips the scales at approximately 200 kilograms.
The Buckeye Group’s innovative combination of middleweight performance and lightweight construction enabled the RW-5 Voxan to shatter records in four categories.
- The fastest average speed without the aid of a fairing, achieved by traversing one mile: 171.15 mph.
- The fastest recorded speed without a fairing or aerodynamic assistance is approximately 271.5 kilometers per hour, which translates to roughly 168.7 miles per hour, achieved over a distance of one kilometer.
- The quickest common pace with a fairing: 289.74 kilometres per hour (180.04 miles per hour) over one mile.
- The quickest common pace with a fairing is 289.79 km/h (180.065 mph), achieved over the distance of one kilometre.
The following information remains subject to validation by FIM.
New Challenges for Buckeye Present
Despite the lack of a literal mountain to conquer, the Ohio State team still faced formidable hurdles. While preparing in Utah, Williams notes that racing his bicycle at or near peak energy levels caused the engine to overheat and subsequently burn out. The team replaced the faulty component with a readily accessible spare motor that happened to be lying around. Following an extended period of calibration work on the brand-new motor, they were able to complete the final two of four timed sprint sessions, during which the bike was thoroughly tested to its maximum capabilities. “That was a significant issue I once took pride in witnessing the team successfully navigate,” says Williams.
Within the framework of electrical bike communities, a common theme emerged: addressing battery temperature issues. The Buckeye Powertrain team struggled to effectively dissipate heat from their 567-volt lithium-ion battery pack in the scorching conditions of the salt flats. Williams observes that a rival team struggled to maintain adequate battery temperature during morning races in cold weather conditions. As the groups pedaled on, they faced an unyielding struggle to shield their bikes’ metal parts from the corrosive effects of salt left behind by the winter’s snowmelt.
The world documents’ achievements prominently highlight both the sustained excellence of the Buckeye Present team and the boundless potential of e-bikes to establish new standards for speed and performance. “What struck us was the sheer volume of exceptionally talented aspiring engineers in our group,” Cooke remarks. “Lacking was a single expert with in-depth knowledge of race vehicles and racing groups.” As our time at Bonneville drew to a close, I gathered the team and declared, “You’ve transformed from an ideal student group to a high-performance racing outfit.”
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