Lawless bike will compete in American Chopper Live

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

One year after breaking the quarter-mile time world record for electric-vehicle speed, Poland-based Lawless Industries is back at it again.

Lawless, which last fall teamed up with celebrity bike shop Orange County Choppers, will appear once again on the Discovery Channel show Monday and Tuesday evenings.

The latest machine was designed and built to be one of three that will compete in the first American Chopper Live.

The bike combines aspects of motorcycles, electric vehicles, military machines, parade floats, and snowmobiles.

Monday’s show, at 9 p.m., will show how Lawless and OCC built the latest bike.

After the show, viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite bike build. The winner will be announced at 9 p.m Tuesday during a live taping from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Shawn Lawless, president of Lawless Industries, said he couldn’t discuss the details of the bike but said it is one of the “most unique vehicles we have ever been a part of building.”

It’s the third project with OCC.

Last year, the two teamed up to build the Lawless electric drag bike.

Legendary top- fuel motorcycle racer Larry McBride rode that bike at 177 mph for a 7.469-second quarter-mile at the Virginia Motorsports Park near Petersburg, Va.

This spring, the bike broke its own record, posting a 7.13-second quarter-mile at 187 mph, also in Virginia.

Lawless said this year, he hopes to top that record by the end of the year, surpassing 200 miles per hour and completing the quarter-mile course in under 6.99 seconds, which would make it the first electric vehicle to run a sub-7-second quarter-mile.

The land-speed record for an electric motorcycle is 215 miles per hour, but that speed was set over a multiple-mile run.