The Stark Varg is another electric-powered, dirt carving bike

This is a brand new electric motorbike... and it’s also absolutely not that. We’ll explain. 

Stark Future (no relation to Tony, as far as we know) actually announced the Varg, its first motorbike, back in 2021 – with a typical surfeit of optimism and nigh-on grandiose statements of intent, of course. But as we were just finishing off our Bachelor of Pessimism with a major in Vapourware, we held back and waited for the... well, stark realities of starting an automotive company to set in. 

But now that Stark has started delivering bikes to customers, there’s at least a legitimate product to support the lofty claims made back in 2021 – ‘unparalleled performance’, ‘class-leading powertrain’, ‘the most advanced electric motorcycle in the world’ and ‘the fastest motocross bike on the market’. Whether the Varg achieves any of that is something we’d probably need to borrow an MXGP champion to test adequately, but with 80 horsepower shifting just 118kg (plus a presumably gurning rider), that’s the kind of power-to-weight ratio that should see it walk away from 450cc race-ready dirt bikes. Assuming there’s ever enough traction to get all that power all down, of course. 

If this feels like an altogether more serious set of wheels than the 89kg, 21bhp Cake Bukk, it very much is. Rather than adding an on-road kit or picking suspension options for your intended ride, as per the Bukk, the Varg’s configurator sets the bike up for each rider’s weight and chooses between a motocross-ready 19-inch rear wheel or an enduro-spec 18-inch. There’s even the choice of leaving the side stand on the shelf – because you’re using race stands anyway, right?

There’s also the option to save £1,000 on the £11,900 list price by choosing the 60 horsepower ‘Standard’ version over the getting-on-for-neck-snapping Alpha version with 80. Which still feels pretty close to the mark for both motocross and enduro. On calmer trail rides, Stark says the 6.5kWh battery (up from the 6.0kWh the Varg was announced with) can keep it up for six hours before needing a one to two-hour recharge. And it’ll do so with a quietness so pronounced that you can easily hear tyres locking up or losing traction, not just feel or see. Which feels like a boon for everyone – the countryside doesn’t echo with braaps and pops every weekend, while riders don’t feel the force of the fun police, simply for trying to eke out a little joy in what’s been a fairly difficult run for humanity.

Also, someone with the talent of Stefan Everts can likely go even faster around a motocross track. And if beating petrol cars at their own game sold people on the concept of Teslas...