TECH THE MUGEN STORY…
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past decade or so, you'll be well aware of Mugen in the motorcycling world. They're that company Honda owns, and which makes really fast electric bikes that won every TT they entered, right? Wrong, wrong and wrong. The only true fact in those common assumptions is the one about making really fast electric motorbikes, which debuted at the TT races in 2012. Mugen won its first TT Zero three years later in 2014, then locked out the top step of the podium for the next five years, and the lap record of 121.91mph, which will probably stand for a very long time as the prospect of a return of the TT Zero race looks unlikely any time soon. So, yes you could say legitimately that Mugan came, saw and conquered the TT with its electric bike, but what is it up to these days?
We used the excuse of Mugen celebrating its 50th anniversary to take a ride out to an utterly non-descript, instantly forgettable location on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Milton Keynes – to a building located between Homebase and Red Bull Powertrains – to sit down with Mugen Euro's top man, Colin Whittamore, to find out.
I came away with an entirely new understanding of what Mugen actually is, and its journey in recent years, and also got a peek at its plans for the future, which has got everyone at Fast Bikes more than a bit frothy at the mouth – and which may come as a surprise, given Mugen's image for being all about electric and squeaky clean. But first, a brief history lesson from Colin…
“2023 is the 50th anniversary of Mugen; it was founded in 1973. We haven't done anything formal for the anniversary here, but they've done some things in Japan. When we went to the TT for the second time in 2013, it was our 40th anniversary, so I suggested the bike was called ‘Ruby’, but I wasn't allowed
