A very big deal happened in Japan over the weekend when Trey Canard, now the production R&D guy/race team test guy at Honda, debuted the prototype Honda CR-E electric bike at the All Japan Motocross Championship. Super cool opportunity for Canard and although 2-DNF-DNF scores weren’t ideal, it wasn’t because of failures on the bike.
We talked to Trey on the PulpMX Show on Monday about this chance of a lifetime.
Racer X Online: When did you first ride the CRE?
Trey Canard: I went over I think at the beginning of September. I went over in July, and we had some other testing going on, and they kind of had a mocked version, just so I could sit on it and see how it was going to feel, if they needed to make any changes before I actually rode it. So, I saw it then and then rode it in September. I was there for two weeks. Kind of just went at it for a little while. Rode it those two weeks and then came home, and then went back for just a few days and did some final testing. The week before the race I rode it a few times too.
What’d you think? I’ve ridden one. It’s just smiles. It’s really cool, really fun.
I understand. The same guy that’s really upset about the two-stroke is upset about this. But I just hope people give it a chance because it is so fun to ride. The first time I rode it, it needed to be developed but I was all smiles the whole time. To me, that’s what motorcycling is all about is being on a bike smiling. I think any way that we can continue to create that is a good thing.
What was it like riding it in the mud compared to a gas bike?
It was different. Saturday I struggled, for sure. Part of that was just I hadn’t raced in a long time. Mammoth was it and then before that was Red Bud of ’17. So there was a lot more nerves, and a lot of pressure around the bike too. The first thing I did when I lined up for practice was spun out with like 20 cameras around me. There was just a lot of things going on through the Saturday struggles. Part of that was I had only ridden it on the hardest hard-packed of tracks. So there was definitely some adjustments to be done. I think everyone adapted super well. The whole team developing that bike did a really good job on race day. It was a lot of fun.
Can anyone here that rode the bike in Japan or works for Honda (HRC manager Lars Lindstrom was in-studio), can anyone talk about when the production thing is coming?
I don't know if there’s really a solid date on that. In Honda fashion, they’re going to take their time and do it right. This was definitely a testing event. I’m super glad that we did it because it really brought out a lot of things that haven’t come out in testing. Obviously, to create the hype for the bike as well. Which I thought other than the second moto shenanigans and me making a bonehead move in the last one, I think it was a pretty good showing.
When you had to do a start with no clutch or anything like that, I get it. The thing has instant torque and all that. The social media video proved that the thing was maybe a little bit slippery on that gate and the mesh was tighter, it looked like. But doing a start with no clutch and all these motors next to you making noise, that must have been tough, wasn’t it?
Yeah. I know that’s a strong suit of the bike, obviously it’s going to get a good start, but you still have to execute. Take everything you know about RPM and clutch release and all that and just throw it out the window because nothing really translates. So there’s a lot of different techniques. I had to climb on the front of that bike. I’m sitting on the… I guess it’s not a fuel tank, but the plastic there. It’s all in the release of your wrist, which is super difficult to nail. Then just sitting there in silence was really hard, too. The revs go up and you’re just sitting there. You’re like, "This is so strange." But it feels so cool when you nail it.
I did a bunch of them before the race and obviously missed a bunch of them, but when you really did it, you just feel the horsepower and the instant torque of that bike, and it all connects. It’s really cool to actually do it by yourself just because you can hear the traction and everything that’s happening that you don’t normally get to experience.
You’re not matting it, right? It’s too powerful for that? Or can they change the start strategy so you just mat it? I would imagine it is very hard to modulate the throttle?
We developed a curve that obviously made it as easy as possible, but if you make it to where you can just go zero to one hundred instantly, it’s kind of too slow. It’s kind of like when the gate drops, you go and the response gets kind of too delayed. So you lose that handlebar. I ended up on a map that was maybe a little bit aggressive, but I just had to deliver the throttle well. I knew if I just got over the gate good, ten feet out of the gate I think I would be good.
You got two of the three holeshots?
Yeah.
Your third one it didn’t look like you had the absolute holeshot coming into the first turn, but you cut under Jay Wilson and then pinned it and came out front.
Yeah. I thought maybe I could battle him, but I was like, last time I was on the outside it didn’t go so well, so I’ll just cut under here. It was cool. It was fun. Obviously, my race craft was way off in the beginning on Saturday. I felt like I was starting to come around as a racer. Just bummed I didn’t get to finish it off.
Your crash in the third one, anything related to electric bike, not being aware of it? Or was it just a dorky crash that you would have done on a gas-powered bike?
When I talked to Jay before the race, he was like, “Man, it is so slick.” That’s kind of what I had prepared for, even with the bike setup. But they ripped it really deep and then it rained like two inches on Saturday morning, so it ended up being just super deep rutty. Then the last lap it finally got that sun and I just didn’t respect it enough. Obviously, there is a lot of instant torque that I probably should have respected a little bit more. It just kind of spit off a rock and the way that I landed in this pothole, I twisted the front end all the pieces and the wheel wouldn’t even roll, so I had to be done.
You were wildcard so they gave you last gate pick, or something?
Yeah. Last gate pick in the qualifying race. There’s other things about racing an e-bike that you don’t think about as far as how you’re managing your economy and not having a clutch. The first lap of the qualifying race, I was a mess. I was riding hard like you normally would, and probably over-revving it but there was not clutch to kind of save me. When I got out of sorts, just pull it in a little bit. I jumped out of probably six ruts. I was all over the place. Then the thing that really got me was when I was around five or six bikes, I couldn’t hear my bike at all. There’s almost no vibration. So trying to understand what was happening with the bike, what kind of power it’s putting out and that kind of thing, was all different. But I felt like I adapted pretty well. It was a lot to take in and try to perform all at the same time. I’m just happy that they allowed it to race, because I think there’s people that aren’t for it. The next step of development for that bike is to go racing. I think it’s exciting.
For you being chosen to do this, electric CRE, it’s kind of neat that you were the first guy.
I’m honored. I think my role has changed a little bit over the last couple years with Honda. I’m honestly really excited about the next couple years. It was just a really fun thing to be a part of, as far as the development at this level. I’m enjoying it a lot, man. I think it’s really cool. The trips to Japan are tough sometimes. It’s a long flight and different time zone and all that, but I’ve really enjoyed just being a part of the process and being able to add any kind of feedback. Especially to be able to kind of relay our race team the things that our guys are asking for or needing or wanting. To be able to try to offer that at the very base level to the guys that are building the bikes is pretty valuable I think, to me. I hope it pays off the next few years.
