Sine Cycles’ Bruno Forcella loves old school choppers and always dreamed of building his own custom bike. Wishing to differentiate from the archetypal V-twin internal combustion engine that dominates the custom world, he turned to his professional roots. An electrical engineer by trade, his prior experience in developing hardware and software for electric motors steered him naturally towards a chopper with a modern electric powerplant.

In search of the appropriate kit for his project he settled on Zero Motorcycles’ power unit; a modern, commercially proven electric motor. Soon a full electric powertrain arrived at the Sine Cycles’ headquarters in Steffisburg, Switzerland, complete with customizable performance profiles and a smartphone app with heaps of information such as battery status, charging time, average watts per mile and total charge cycles.

The hardtail frame along with the fork, wheels and brakes were outsourced from Cleveland Cyclewerks and in particular from the Heist, one of its most popular models. The modifications required in order to fit the new motor into the frame were done in house by Forcella.

A lot of work went into the heatsink design. Made out of five parts of extruded aluminum, its cooling fins were shaped by hand with electric grinders, before being sandblasted and black anodized. A second grinding of the fins’ outer surfaces provided the visual two-tone effect.

The electric chopper is equipped with a Motogadget digital instrument and switches, LSL Dragbar handlebars, Cole Foster fuel tank and Rich Phillips seat. Several parts were specifically made by Forcella, most notably the instruments’ housing which was 3D-printed via a selective laser sintering process.

The end result is a beautiful old school chopper with clear lines and a lot of attention to detail. Fed by a 102 V / 2.8 kWh power source, the single speed motor produces 27 hp (20 kW) and 57 Nm (42 lb-ft), enough for a top speed of 120 km/h (74.5 mph). With the current battery pack, the maximum range is 55 km (34 miles).