The press release in last week’s inbox only briefly caught our attention: “Soriano Motori reborn as high-performance electric motorcycle.” Sure, you think to yourself, another day, another player in the electric motorcycle market. And Soriano? Only a true moto-history buff would remember the brand briefly made motorcycles in Spain in the ’40s and ’50s—wasn’t it long defunct? Not anymore. It seems its legacy is now getting a refresh, this time as an Italian brand, and to signal its new mission statement, Soriano Motori is launching three new sporting electric motorcycle models.
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| © Provided by Cycle World The top-of-the-line V1 Gara brings a more powerful motor, but shares the same aluminum girder fork and three-speed gearbox with its lower-priced siblings. |
But let’s back up a bit. The old Spanish marque previously known as R.Soriano SA was founded in Madrid by Ricardo Soriano Hermensdorff von Scholtz, a bona fide marquis who also happened to be a pretty handy engineer. He designed and built a range of small two-wheelers in collaboration with Ossa boss Manuel Giro starting in 1942, but quit the motorcycle biz after making about 6,000 bikes. The new Soriano company says it will take that legacy and expand on it, while trying to maintain some kind of connection to the past entity. The name helps; technically, the American parent company’s name is Soriano Motori Corporation, but it’s also launched a European division, Soriano Motori Factory SpA, based in Italy, that will produce the bikes and “give them their reborn identity.”
The company is rolling out—or rather, making available for preorder—three versions of the same model. The Giaguaro, as it’s called (jaguar in Italian), will be available as the base model V1R, the more up-spec V1S, and the top-of-the-range V1 Gara. All three will be made in Italy at two state-of-the-art facilities in Oggiono and Lecco near Lake Como—and, hey, isn’t Moto Guzzi’s home base just a short boat ride up the lake? Many of the key details are still vague, but the bikes will pay homage to some of the old Soriano models (if only slightly), with aluminum girder forks and three-speed manual gearboxes—both unusual features on an electric motorcycle. But SMC also says it’s about “cutting-edge EVs” and innovation and, for examples of that, points to the bikes’ special liquid-cooled Duoflex electric motors and perimeter disc brakes. No word on geometry, other brake details, lighting, controls, or weight, but we expect all those numbers to be in well before the official November launch date.
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| © Provided by Cycle World The midrange V1S splits the difference in price and performance, outputting 90 hp (though the same 58 pound-feet of torque as the others). |
That’s probably because a concept bike is still being worked on, but we’ve read the two motors will be arranged in a boxer configuration making one unit (perhaps like BMW’s Vision Roadster concept?), and can work together or be activated independently, for either greater efficiency in urban environments or more power for highway cruising, depending on the rider’s needs.
Spec sheets say the top-line V1 Gara is powered by a 75kW (100 hp) peak output electric motor and claims to go from 0–60 mph in 3.5 seconds, but it’s unclear whether this is the dual-engine configuration or single. Going down the line, the lower-priced V1S uses a 72kW (90 hp) rated motor which gives it a 0–60 mph time of 4.4 seconds. The base V1R, meanwhile, generates a peak output of 60kW (80 hp) and sprints from 0–60 mph in 4.4 seconds.
Battery options range from 15kWh to 20kWh, both being lithium-ion configurations, but for stated range, there’s nothing too eye-opening there; the spec sheets claim 120–160 kilometers, or 75–100 miles, and we’re not sure if that’s city, highway, or combined. Founder and CIO Marco Soriano told us charging capacity is “within 45 minutes, and we can plug in to worldwide existing Tesla infrastructure charging stations and other EV stations” (we’ll assume that’s DC fast charging).
The bikes can be further customized with a broad selection of colors, and eventually various wheel and tire sizes and even dashboard layouts will be offered. There have also been mentions of offering different engine sounds as well. Each model will be limited to 100 units with production starting in September, but they’re available for preorder now. And you’ll pay for that exclusivity: The V1R rings in at 25,500 euros (almost $29,000), the V1S will be 30,500 euros (about $34,000), and the V1 Gara will run 32,500 euros (approximately $37,000). If it’s any consolation, SMC’s secure payment system accepts the British pound (BDP), US dollar (USD), and the euro (EUR), as well as mainstream cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC).
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| © Provided by Cycle World Liquid-cooled Duoflex motor can improve efficiency and power depending on mode. |
“Soriano Motori’s motorcycles represent the finest Italian design, image, branding, architecture, and engineering, that for the first time are being applied to EV motorcycles for the next generation of riders,” said Marco Soriano, founder of SMC.
The bikes were to be originally shown at this year’s EICMA show, but since that’s been canceled, the unveiling of the prototype and three pre-series models will take place in Milan sometime in November 2020, in an exclusive private event.
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