By BOB NORBERG

A new generation of racing technology rolled onto Infineon Raceway Tuesday, where sleek, handcrafted motorcycles reached racetrack speeds while sounding no louder than a kitchen blender.

“Just a low whine,” said Kenyon Kluge of Santa Cruz, the owner and rider of K Squared Racing. “That is part of the resistance … people want the noise.”

The class is Time Trial Xtreme Grand Prix, or TTXGP, and the motorcycles are electric-powered and a new, loosely regulated international class that is racing for the first time in the United States this weekend.

“The challenge is still there, the rules are wide open,” said Jon Bunne of Milwaukee, Wisc., who is an engineer on the Zero Agni team. “It’s a breeding ground for innovation. There are as many different ideas here as there are people here.”

Ten teams will be racing in the new class Saturday as part of the Sonoma race track’s annual weekend of professional and traditional motorcycle racing, the first of four electric motorcycle races in the United States.

Source: PressDemocrat.com