Say the name 'Damon Motorcycles' in a group of people, and chances are good you'll get one of three reactions.
From both non- and new motorcycle people, you'll probably get a "Who?". But for the obsessives, you'll probably get a confused "They're still around?" And from the more cynical-minded, you'll get something along the lines of "You mean Skully 2.0?"
We've talked about the various fits and starts of Damon Motorcycles very recently, so I won't go into any of that here. Instead, I'm here to talk about the company's recent announcement of a partnership with Italian design and prototyping firm Engines Engineering, ostensibly to develop "the HyperSport Race Program," which "will serve as a technology demonstrator for Damon." Presumably, one beyond the existing tech demonstrator that RideApart contributor Tim Stevens got to ride a few years ago.
Hey, you can totally have more than one tech demonstrator if you're a startup! But there are a few points of interest worth tackling here, with the first being Engines Engineering.
As previously stated, it's a motorcycle development firm based in Italy, and it's been around for over 40 years at this point. In fact, we've written about several of its creations over the years, like the Benelli 302-based Harley XR338 Street Tracker Concept, as well as the Stratos electric off-road concept. And as you might expect, E&E's development services have appeared in prototypes, benchmark testing, and design work for plenty of combustion bikes and scooters, but it also has an entire vertical devoted to electric motorbike development. Back in 2020, one of E&E's designers even moved over to MV Agusta, which is a pretty big deal if you're a motorcycle designer.
E&E says this partnership is meant to "[accelerate] the validation of [Damon's] advanced HyperSport electric mobility technology," according to its CEO and VP, Manfredi Fenici.
Elsewhere in the announcement, Damon states that this partnership is one prong of a business plan it's calling "Damon 2.0," which involves diversification into four potential business streams: Data Intelligence, Personal Mobility (that's presumably the motorcycles, if and when they appear), Licensing and Engineering Services, and the very nebulous-sounding Special Projects.
And here's the interesting part, at least, if you're a detail-oriented nerd like me. In making this announcement, Damon, like most companies issuing a press release, includes an "About [Company]" paragraph at the end. If you read enough press releases, your eyes might just gloss right over it and not even read what it has to say. But I did actually read it, and I need to tell you that it doesn't mention the word "motorcycles" even once.
To be totally clear, the rest of the release this "About Damon" is attached to does specifically talk about its plans for the development of a tech demonstrator for the HyperSport Race Electric Motorcycle. There, the word "motorcycle" does come up a total of three times (once in the title; twice in the text).
Back to the "About Damon" paragraph, though, and it's all about "personal mobility products" and "technology solutions that integrate AI-driven safety systems." It then goes on to talk about the four different "potential revenue verticals" discussed above, as well as its "advanced data analytics, engineering expertise, and strategic partnerships with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers."
The stress in the rest of this graf is on software, rather than hardware. And "accessible mobility solutions." While it's not always the case, strong reliance on the word "mobility" is usually indicative of vehicles that are in no way considered to be anywhere close to being sportbikes. (Words mean things, guys!)
Particularly in the electric space, that's a descriptor usually used to talk about both stand-up and straddle-type electric scooters, balancing stand-up ride-on units like the ones that first made the Segway name infamous, and so on. As if to reinforce that interpretation, a footnote cites a 2022 McKinsey Report on Micromobility as the source for one of the statistics included in its "About Damon" paragraph.
Motorcycles, in case you weren't aware, are not and have not typically ever been described as "micromobility."
This appears to be a pivot on Damon's part, away from being solely focused on the fantastic dream of a hyper-aware EV motorcycle that may or may not come to fruition, and instead into a data, tech, and electric mobility company that aids other startups.
And, I mean, that actually seems to be a pretty common strategy across existing (or formerly existing) EV motorcycle manufacturers. Both Zero and Energica (RIP) have gone down the route of offering electric powertrain development services to other OEMs in the past. It's a strategy that makes sense, particularly if you have a proven product, design, and expertise.
But here in April 2025, Damon doesn't have any of those things.
At least, if we're being very generous, it doesn't have any of those things yet. And will it ever? That's unclear.
