My Review
This is the VERY first time I've been able to ride the Stark Varg! I was able to take this out to my local Boise Idaho area track called Skyline Mx that has an assortment of tracks available to play one for motos, cars and flattrack! I have had the pleasure of riding many bikes over the years personally as well as through test riding for VitalMX for a few years and so I have been eagerly awaiting some seat time on this electrifying new experience!
FIRST THOUGHTS:
The bike is extremely sleep and refined in how it looks and feels. From the integrated carbon front half of the chassis to the aluminum grab bars that are flush within the single body white kit, everything looks as if it was designed with intention and crafted to look simplistic but beautiful.
The bike looks a bit shorter than what I'm used to since the rear fender appears a bit shorter, and the bike is very thin, but this felt great for me personally. The little unique features that Star Varg has included in this design showcase their engineering strengths and capabilities to help make things like adjusting the chain, greasing pivots, installing foot pegs or gaining access to the chassis below the bodywork such easy and intuitive tasks.
FIRST RIDE:
I will say coming from a couple years time on emtb's it felt unusually similar to me but just in full size moto size haha...The connectedness between your hand and the power/traction feels like a 1-1 ratio to me. Being able to tune your HP and your compression braking inputs is absolutely incredible and so fun to mess around with. I love being able to switch them around on the fly. The power feel is that similar to a jet taking off on a runway, instant, strong and continuous. This is unlike any gas bike I've ridden to date. Since the bike has no piston there is noticeably less gyro impacts as you go in and out of corners. This is the most stand out aspect and difference of the bike to me, this bike corners like a dream and entering a corner with out vibration, noise or anything trying to stand the bike up is unreal. Feels like you're on a mtb dropping into a corner and then like a jet as the bike simply tracks 100% as you exit all corners (regardless of sand, silt or mud). I feel that as I get even more comfortable on this bike that the corners are where I'll be able to make up the most time for certain. The bike handles and feels completely balanced in all areas. It takes a few minutes to get used to how the bike moves in the air but is easily adaptable as you get a few practice jumps down. The bike's suspension is great being a bit KYB SSS fan of course, it's easy to be comfortable on the chassis. The seat allows you to move around very well and very easily without any interruption. The hand rear brake is what I opted for and I'm honestly still getting used to that as that change has been more difficult than I though it would be to adjust to for me. If I had the foot brake I think my lap times would have been much quicker but I'm willing to learn the hand brake for long term ease of use and benefit.
COMPARED TO MY 250 TWO STROKE:
I have a 23' MC 250 that I brought out as well this day to ensure I was able to go back and forth on the bikes. It was the weirdest feeling to go back onto the GasGas after the Stark Varg as it reminded me of the first time I drove an old 60's muscle car. I instantly realized all the vibrations, the gyro affects and the inefficiencies of the bike as a whole. In short, it was a lot more work, for a similar or slightly less effective outcome than on the Stark Varg.
BATTERY THOUGHTS:
Overall the battery seemed to have been sufficient for someone like myself where I typically put in anywhere between 45-75 minutes of actual ride time when I go to the track. I rode about 40 minutes or so on the bike personally (mix between laps and sections for videos/photos) and then in addition to that my brother rode it for about 3 laps as well as my buddy for another 3 laps or so in total. After that my other friend took it out for one lap as well. So I will do a day where only I ride the bike and will have a better idea but I will likely explore getting a generator to keep it charged during the mornings I'm riding. I also look forward to a trail outing soon!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
All in all, for this being a first outing on a completely new type of bike, I feel very happy with the outcome and am more than excited to get back on this bike again for more!