“Curtiss Motorcycles: The Revolutionary Electric Motorcycle Manufacturer with Axis-Centered Design Patent”

Does the name Curtiss Motorcycles mean anything to you? Even we didn’t know him until recently, but we should probably remember this name, because we will probably hear a lot about him in the coming years. It is an electric motorcycle manufacturer that, thanks to its revolutionary inventions and one remarkable patent, can be the leader among electric motorcycle manufacturers.

The comparison with the Tesla car company is therefore directly offered – and this is also because the Curtiss company also comes from the USA, specifically from the city of Leeds in the state of Alabama. Their first model with the characteristic designation 1, or “The 1” to be precise, carries steampunk design elements, although of course it is not powered by steam.

The electric drive produces 219 horsepower and the manufacturer promises a range of up to 192 km. The company plans to enter the market in the near future, and its big advantage is the fact that the Curtiss 1 practically has no direct competitor on the market. At least for now.

The name of the company is inspired by Glenn Curtiss. This motorcycle and aircraft inventor from the early 20th century came up with a number of pioneering technical solutions in his time and at one time even held the one-mile speed record with his own motorcycle powered by a fork eight cylinder. The record was valid from 1902-1930, that is almost thirty years!

That the Curtiss company is following in his footsteps is also proven by a remarkable patent – it is a set of solutions called Axis-Centered Design, which can be loosely translated as “construction around a central axis”.

The electric motor, the drive plate, the drive shaft, the mounting of the swing arm of the suspension, the gufero and the circular mounting of the electric motor have a common center in the vertical axis passing through the center of the wheel. At least that’s what the instructional video shows, where designer JT Nesbitt explains the whole principle. In simple terms, the drive train is in one vertical plane with coaxial suspension, the center part of the engine, the bearings and the buffer.

It might not seem like it at first glance, but The 1 from Curtiss Motorcycles uses minimalism to use as few components as possible. That’s why Curtiss engineers carefully examine the function and properties of each component, and those that enable it perform more than one function whenever possible. Allegedly, some 75% are like this in the construction.

For example, the drive shaft is located in two places – on the one hand, it helps drive the front wheel, but the same shaft is also located in the rear wheel, where it passes through the beam blade, bearings and gufero, thanks to which it also turns the rear wheel. The rear wheel is then driven by a belt, which turns the drive plate together with the circular motor mount.

The whole principle is pretty much so simple that it’s actually complicated, and its creators consider it “the most stable structure on two wheels”. In addition, the platform is modular, so in the future it can be used to build other models or custom motorcycles specified by customers.

Of course, Curtiss is not the only manufacturer of electric motorcycles, but their patented design probably best benefits from the principle of electric drive as such. The manufacturer hopes that it will be able to get ahead of the times in a similar way as the Tesla car company once did.

Those interested can now send orders or even make a deposit. According to the latest information, the production of the motorcycle The 1 will begin sometime at the end of this year, and the first pieces should reach customers at the turn of the spring and summer of 2024.