Electric motorcycle inventor crashes at Wired NextFest

The inventor of the “KillaCycle” electric motorcycle almost killed
himself during a demonstration at the Wired NextFest conference.
Bill Dube, a government scientist during the
day and electric bike builder at night, did a “burn out” in front of
the Los Angeles Convention Center, but accidentally accelerated too
much and crashed into a Minivan.


Here is the video:

’m Fine (scapes and cuts) Bike is a little bent….

First off, I’m just a bit scraped up. Embarrassed of course. I had not
intended the bike to move in the soapy water, just spin the tire.

Got it slowed down to about 20 mph. Front wheel is bent, as are front forks. Cowling is not nearly as pretty as it was.

Battery box took a hit from the front wheel. Almost certainly, some
cells were shorted. No smoke. No fire. Ultra safe cells. Had these been
anything but A123 Systems Nano-phosphate cells, shorts would have
caused a serious fire.

No major damage. We will have it fixed in short order.

Important to note: Area in front of the bike was CLEARED of ALL PEOPLE.
NO ONE was at risk but me. Concrete on both sides of area.

Yes, I am an idiot for not wearing a helmet. :-/

Credits: Chris Holewski