This is the new Silver ANT by the team over at Hookie Co., it’s a 100% electric motorcycle that’s street legal, licensed as a 125cc-equivalent in the EU and USA. It’s intended for urban commuting and the battery can be fully recharged in 3 hours or less.
This Silver ANT is based on the Cake Ösa, an electric motorcycle from Sweden that was designed as a mobile workbench with its own built-in electrical supply for powering tools. Hookie Co. then took the concept and flipped it, creating a low, lean electric motorcycle that looks like a futuristic cafe racer.
Fast Facts – The Silver ANT By Hookie Co.
- The Silver ANT by Hookie Co. is a highly customized version of the Ösa from Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer Cake.
- Whereas the original Ösa is designed as a utilitarian mobile workbench with its own built-in power supply, the Silver ANT was developed as a sleek, low cafe racer style motorcycle with clip-on handlebars futuristic look.
- The Silver ANT shares the specifications of the Ösa, meaning it has a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph), a range of 84 kms (52 miles) of mixed city riding, it weighs 89 kilograms (196 lbs), and it produces 13.5 hp with an impressive 151 Nm of torque at the rear wheel – that’s 111 ft lbs.
- Hookie Co. is a design firm based in Dresden, Germany. It has six full-time employees and it’s become one of the most highly regarded custom motorcycle companies in the world, also providing kits for people to customize their motorcycles themselves.
Turning The Ösa Into The Silver ANT
The Cake Ösa was designed from a blank slate as a purely utilitarian electric motorcycle. The Swedish company describes it as being a “rolling workbench and power station on two wheels” due to the fact it has multiple power outlets allowing you to power tools and devices while on the go.
This is how the Cake Ösa looks when it’s delivered from Sweden. It was designed as a “rolling workbench and power station on two wheels.”
Although it was never intended to be a sporting motorcycle, the German team over at Hookie Co. saw something in the design of the Ösa that none else did.
They got their hands on one and began a teardown process that kept the frame, electric motor, and battery pack in place, but removed the seat, handlebars, fenders, lights, forks, and mirrors.
The team then fabricated a new one piece alloy body and fairing unit for the bike that fundamentally changes its overall appearance. A set of low clip-on handlebars were fitted to change the rider’s posture and reduce frontal aerodynamic drag.
A new set of forks was modified to suit the low weight of the Ösa and bolted into place, a Magura HC3 front brake lever was then fitted – the bike only needs one as it has no clutch due to the electric drivetrain.
The Hookie Co. rebuild of the Ösa completely changes the way the bike looks and rides, thanks in large part to that single-piece aluminum alloy body faring and the clip-on handlebars.
The ECU was modified, the folks over at Hookie Co. explains that it was pushed to the maximum through adjustments to the motor control unit. A set of more grippy street tires were then fitted, propelled by the long-lasting PolyChain GT Carbon belt.
LED matrices with a resolution of 8 x 16 px were embedded at the front and rear of the Silver ANT, they offer the possibility of displaying graphics or animations via an integrated Arduino unit.
As electric motorcycles become more and more commonplace it’s interesting to see how the custom motorcycle industry will modify and adapt them. If the Silver ANT is anything to go by then the future of custom motorcycles looks very bright indeed.
Visit Hookie Co. here to read more about the Silver ANT and to see their other custom motorcycles.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
