Bultaco is Back but With Electric Motorcycles

Bultaco Motorcycles announced plans to reinvent itself as an electric motorcycle manufacturer. The Spanish marque had ceased production in 1983 but now has found a way to get back into the groove. Bultaco revealed its Rapitan and Rapitan Sport - electric-powered prototypes which it claims are "close approximations" of EV models which it will bring in 2014.

The new Bultaco claims direct legitimacy from the Bulto family. Daniel Oliver Bulto will serve as Head of Business Development for the new company. A former Spanish racing champion, Bulto is the grandson of Francesco "Paco" Bulto, who founded Bultaco in 1958. The reborn Bultaco's origins are traced to the Spanish engineering firm LGN Tech Design, founded in 2010 by Jose; German Perez, Raul Perez, Juan Manuel Vinos, Gerald Pollmann and Jorge Bonilla. They worked on a project to make an electric motorcycle and this LGN project developed into the new company, officially named Bultaco Motors.

So, back to the bikes. The two prototypes teased by Bultaco are the Rapitan and Rapitan Sport, the first looks like a naked standard, while the latter features flat track/scrambler-ish lines with MX-style bars which I think looks similar to Husqvarna's MOAB Concept.

Both the bikes develop 53bhp and 125Nm torques. The bikes come fitted with lithium battery but the capacity hasn't been revealed. Bultaco says that the bikes will carry a range of 201kms in the city and close to 110 if ridden at 120km/h.

Weighing in at just 189 kgs, Bultaco says that the first production models of the Rapitan should arrive at the end of this year. Bultaco plans to produce 1500 bikes by the end of 2015.