You can't talk about Terra without getting to know my story. I founded Terra in 2020 in the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak. My fiance and I had escaped to southern Utah to weather out the storm with my parents. We helped with the farming, would go on long walks in the desert, rode bikes and hit some slot canyons. But we were weren't just to be desert rats — we were constantly exploring what we could do with this extra bit of time we found ourselves with.
My dad, Ricki, always has a project motorcycle in his shop. And at this time, he had two Honda CRs, a 450 and a 750. The 750 was running, but the 450 was in shambles – he was having the block rebored. But as I started thinking about Covid, the way we as a society commutes – or in our case, in southern Utah, recreates – an open air, clean, electric moto concept came to mind.
I love classic motorcycles, but I honestly, don't love the grease, the maintenance and especially, the noise. With the rise in electric bikes, I decided to give it a go. I built a Stealth Bomber kit from China that summer. It was a great bike – fast, quiet and pretty economical. But there were some serious flaws. To start, a powerful motor does not pair well with "bike" pedals – off-road, you end up taxing one leg, and getting the build on and off a rack, those same pedals tend to bash shins. The second and third issues I found were the center of gravity – hub motors are good for cruising sidewalks, but not for romping dirt trails. And finally, having an electric motor, battery, controller, etc. waterproofing was a huge factor.
So I took to the drawing board. I knew what I wanted, and I what I didn't want. What I came up w/ was the TERRA PRIME – a low-weight motorcycle, that has long travel for ripping trails, but comes equipped with a DOT approved headlights, indictor lights, wheelsets and a horn. I designed the "battery enclosure" to be water and dust proof. And of course, I maxed out the motor/battery to provide the fastest acceleration and range possible.
What I ended up with is an ode to the classic motorcycles of my dad's garage, but also a modern electric machine that goes beyond convention.
Oh, and did I mention we don't use plastic... anywhere!
