It has been a busy 20 months for the XP Zero and its designer Hugo Eccles, co-founder and design director of Untitled Motorcycles. Since its debut at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, the XP has exhibited in Milan, Italy and Portland, Oregon; won nine design awards; and been featured in hundreds of magazine articles - putting it in front of an estimated 3.1 billion people.
Goodwood not only kicked off an exciting year for Eccles, but it inspired a new venture for his San Francisco workshop. “Our experience at the Festival of Speed seeded the idea of building a stripped-down, race version of the XP,” Eccles says.
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Untitled Motorcycles has teamed up with a (yet-undisclosed) technical partner to build a track-focused version of their XP Zero road bike. The XP Race will contain various race-inspired innovations including advanced electric powertrain control technology which will give it a significant boost in torque, acceleration, and speed.
“The simulations are predicting a 28 percent and 38 percent bump in power and torque respectively” explains Eccles. The XP Zero already accelerates 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds - faster than a Ferrari F50, or McLaren F1 LM - and currently makes an impressive 140ftlb of torque, almost twice that of a Ducati Panigale V4R. The XP Race will be boosted to an incredible 173ftlb. To put that in context, that is the same torque as a Lotus Exige 240 R but in a vehicle that is 1,500lbs lighter.
The stock Zero powertrain tops out at 7,400 rpm and UMC’s technical partner anticipates that they can increase that to 9,000 rpm which will further boost horsepower. The road-going version of the XP is limited to 125mph but the race version will be derestricted to allow speeds in the 200mph range. The XP Race will also be lighter than its road-going sibling with the exclusion of various components like lights, kickstand, and onboard charger, although the design will retain the internal brackets in case a future client wants to retrofit the XP Race for the road.
Untitled Motorcycles XP Race
On the surface, the XP Race will be visually similar to the road version. The race controls will be simpler with the rear brake foot lever relocated to a thumb control on the left handlebar, which will also improve foot clearance and lean angle. The rearsets and handlebars will be redesigned to be adjustable. The body panels will be simplified and lightened with additional louvres to aid cooling and aerodynamics. The front winglets will be angle-adjustable for front-end stability, and the front wheel will sport brake-cooling scoops.
“The XP Zero was originally conceived as a race bike that had been retrofitted for the road so, in a way, this is full-circle,” Eccles says. Once the XP Race prototype is complete this summer, it will undergo rounds of testing at various racetracks.
“It’s exciting to get this chance to take the XP to the next level,” says Eccles. “We’ll be able to take much of what we learn with the XP Race and apply it to future versions of the road-going XP Zero for clients who want some of that thrill in their daily rides.”
Interested in getting on the XP Zero? You can start the process of ordering one from Untitled Motorcycles at: hello@untitledmotorcycles.com
About Untitled Motorcycles
Untitled Motorcycles (UMC) has been building award-winning custom motorcycles for 11 years in Europe and the USA. Based in London and San Francisco, UMC designs and builds motorcycles for both private clients and for brands including GQ, Ducati, Triumph, Moto Guzzi, Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, and Zero.
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