Kiwi start-up FTN Motion on track to rival Savic, Fonz

A Kiwi start-up is introducing an electric motorcycle that can carry five six-packs in its centre console to the Australian market.

A Kiwi start-up which has designed an electric motorcycle able to carry up to five 6-packs in its centre console is looking to shift from across the ditch and rev up a storm in Australia.

FTN Motion, founded in Wellington, will on Tuesday announce it is bringing its Streetdog80 to Australian shores early next year, looking to stir up competition and convince traditional motorcyclist to jump on its electric alternative. There are 160 bikes already on the roads in New Zealand.

Their product is an 82kg cafe-racer styled electric motorcycle which can reach up to 80km/h and travel as far as 80km on a single charge.

The removable battery on FTN Motion's Streetdog 80.

FTN Motion was started by a pair of engineers who met before high school, studied together and even landed their first full-time gig at the same company, Kendall Bristow and Luke Sinclair, both 33. Saskia Thornton later joined as a co-founder.

The pair had a bit of a “light bulb” moment in 2016 when they put a hub motor on a bicycle and strapped two batteries to it with cling wrap.

“We’ve always had little projects on the go but it was almost 10 years ago, I think, when we started first looking at electric mopeds and we actually did a conversion of an old BMX frame with a hub motor,” Mr Sinclair said.

“We glad-wrapped some batteries to the frame and yeah, away we went. That was a real light bulb moment for us about the specific use of electricity for low speed commuting.

“Back then you could even see how electric was going to outperform the 50cc equivalents in that class so that’s why we started in the moped class.”

Co-founder Luke Sinclair on a Streetdog80 in Sydney.

FTN Motion is also planning to bring a smaller version of the Streetdog80 to Australia, one which can be ridden with a car license — in certain states, such as Queensland.

After the BMX breakthrough, the pair kept experimenting and by 2020, during lockdowns while sharing a flat, they finished their first prototype.

FTN Motion's prototype electric two-wheeler BMX next to the Streetdog.

“We managed to get all the parts ordered in time before they shut the borders and yeah, we got a pretty slick prototype together and we just thought it was awesome,” Mr Sinclair said.

The start-up now wants to occupy the space between mopeds and motorcycles. Mr Sinclair said there was a niche market between the electric mopeds from the likes of Redfern start-up Fonz and performance electric bikes from Melbourne’s Savic Motorcycles.

FTN Motion co-founders Luke Sinclair, Kendall Bristow and Saskia Thornton. Picture: Alastair McKenize

The bike is designed to maintain the “analog feel” of a motorcycle with all the benefits of being electric, Mr Sinclair said.

It is a simple bike, weighing just 82kg, light enough to pick up if you drop it but heavy enough so it didn’t feel unsteady in the wind.

FTN Motion had intentionally forgone fancy tech features, and instead opted for what it believed was more practical with a USB charger, a touchscreen display which can unlock the bike if someone has forgotten their keys and 30 litres of storage in the centre console.

The Streetdog80 in different colours. Picture: Alastair McKenzie

“After you put a hub motor on the wheel, all of a sudden, you’ve got all this space within the frame of the motorcycle and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Mr Sinclair said.

The New Zealand start-up, which has raised near-$6m from private investors, will launch in the Australian market in the first quarter of next calendar year.

It was started in Wellington but recently moved into a new 750 sqm workshop in Hamilton, New Zealand, and is on track to be able to produce up to 50 bikes a month.

Originally published as Kiwi start-up FTN Motion on track to rival Savic, Fonz