24 Month Roadmap
R&D/ Product Development
The First 12 Months
Our first year of operation will mostly be activities around development of the prototype. We anticipate approximately 12 months of R&D activies associated mainly with battery and charging system design and placement within the chassis. Many of the systems of motorcycles in general are fairly well regulated and will be outsourced to vendors with specific expertise.
The Darwin will be a middle-weight bike designed to compete with the 400cc class twin piston models from Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and the like. After the completion of the R&D phase on Darwin, we will begin planning for the second model. Market forces will determine what direction we will take but it is anticipated that we will begin development of the superbike model
The Second 12 Months
After approximately 12 months of R&D, we should be in a position to begin prototype construction and internal testing. The schedule calls for 3 months of construction followed by 4 months of testing. Coinciding with the successful conclusion of prototype testing, we wrap up documentation and release drawings to production. We have 1 month to produce and ship as many homologation units as will be needed.
Homologation testing is done by a 3rd party and several have been approached about budget and timing. If things go well, the total time to test should be under 3 months. If we've done it all correctly, and we shouldn't be doing it at all if we aren't going to, homologation testing will rubber stamp the paperwork. Midway through the testing we will begin construction of initial production units.
First production units will be ready to ship 24 months after the close of funding. This model is internally designated "Darwin" due to lack of any cool marketing suggestions just now. One of the marketing plan tasks is to begin PR and advertising work at the start of prototype testing and cool names for the unit are to be part of that task.
Manufacturing
The First 12 Months
Manufacturing efforts in the first 12 month will focus mainly on vendor relationships. Much of the first model will consist of off-the-shelf (OTS) parts.
This timeframe will also see the development and implementation of best practices for Manufacturing Systems, QC Systems and Inventory Control systems. All of these systems should be in place before the initiation of any manufacturing of production units (prototype manufacturing is a different animal).
The Second 12 Months
Vendor relationship will continue in the early parts of the year. At the end of prototype design, production tooling design/construction will formally commence and is estimated to last approximately 4 monts.
At the end of tooling construction will be a period of process test runs and QC evaluation. Within this timeframe we will also begin building a dozen non-homologated production units that will be not-for-sale units. These units will be used to support sales and marketing activies.
Marketing
The First 12 Months
In the first year, marketing efforts will be light, focusing on press and PR as there will be little or nothing to show-and-tell except the technology demonstrator and interviews with the team.
As press articles sometimes take months between when they are conducted and when they are released, it is anticipated that setting them up will be well in advance of when they are expected to be released.
The Second 12 Months
The second year we plan to have a presence at the biggest (and only impactful) trade show for motorcycles, and most probably CES. A paid advertising campaign in trade articles is planned, as well as a digital campaign
In addition, we will be taking working prototypes to several nationally significant bike gatherings. Sturgiss, Daytona and Austin all host events that gather PR and attention on a national scale.
Sales
The First 12 Months
Sales efforts will focus on developing a dealer network and product awareness within that network.