EV motorcycles are a tough sell.
Inherently, they're compromised machines being sold to those who are unwilling to compromise. What I mean by that is motorcyclists want freedom. They want the freedom of choice to go and explore, go for a ride, or choose a different means of travel for their commute. Something that untethers them from the ordinary caged structure of modern life. They want a lack of constraint. EV motorcycles don't offer that, though. Fundamentally, you're tied to the bike's lackluster range.
See, while automobiles have the space to hide bigger batteries for what most consider conservative range, you can't hide anything on a motorcycle. There's just no room. So range—that is, until we figure out solid-state batteries—is basically the death knell of the EV motorcycle. At least, that's the case for on-road bikes, which is why the likes of LiveWire, Zero, Energica, and others continue to flounder. I'm not mentioning Damon in that, as that company's issues were more structural and personal than anything regarding range.
Dirt bikes, however, continue to show the path forward for EVs within the space, as continually proven by Stark Future, which again found profitability within a sector that remains wholly unprofitable for literally every other company.
The brand's press release starts by stating, "Stark Future, the Barcelona-based premium electric-motorcycle manufacturer, today reported revenue of €86.0 million for the first half of 2026, up 46% year-on-year, and confirmed the business was both EBITDA- and EBIT-positive for the period, an important marker of the quality, not just the pace, of its growth," adding, "EBITDA reached €5.3 million, a 6.1% margin, compared with a €1.7 million loss in the same period last year, a swing of roughly €7 million. Gross margin improved 9.3 percentage points year-on-year to 39.6%, with per-unit bike costs falling as volumes scaled. The company delivered 8,124 motorcycles in the half, 45% more than a year earlier, and the second quarter set new records for monthly revenue, Dealer sell-out volume and factory output."
What that translates to in Human is that Stark Future is profitable, a feat that the likes of LiveWire haven't been able to do despite it having the backing of Harley-Davidson and nearly a decade in production. Basically, Stark focused on a platform that was relatively inexpensive to produce in a segment that wouldn't mind a range of about 60 miles, and priced it accordingly, which made it attractive to a whole host of folks that maybe wouldn't have considered an EV motorcycle. Add less maintenance, insane power, and the ability to whip harder than almost every other dirt bike on the planet, and it becomes easy to see why Stark is winning.
And why so many others are now trying to follow in its footsteps.
Recently, LiveWire announced its acquisition of Dust Moto, another EV dirt bike startup, aiming to catch some of the market for itself. Zero, after more than a decade delivering road-going EVs, announced it would heavily focus on the off-road segment with the XE and XB dirt bike platforms—one of which is in my garage, so stay tuned. And SurRon, Talaria, Niu, and others have focused their respective lineups on the dirt worlds, as well. All have seen Stark's ability to turn a seemingly unprofitable segment—EV motorcycles—and make these motorcycles actually make money.
Stark Future's CEO and founder, Anton Wass, said, "We set a plan, and we exceeded it. Reaching EBIT-positive while still investing heavily in new technology is the part that matters. It shows the growth is funded by a strong underlying profitability, real demand and disciplined execution, not by burning cash."
That last line is important, too, as LiveWire has burned hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D on a host of motorcycles. As did Damon, which couldn't focus on one specific thing, and just went wherever the wind blew. Stark focused. It delivered a dirt bike. It sold a dirt bike. It made money.
Maybe business ain't all that hard if you just, you know, focus on a thing?
