Arc, the British company behind the Vector electric superbike, says it is working on a machine that will be capable of off-road riding. Given the hype behind the company’s first announcement, we expect a lot, but most of all, we’re wondering: Is this a second opportunity for us all to become beta testers, at our own expense?

Background

We told you about the Arc Vectorback in August. As we told you then:

On paper, the Vector is quite a bike, with a lot of carbon fiber bits, center-hub steering, 125mph top speed and a claimed 270 miles of range from a 16.8kWh battery pack. The Vector tips the scales at just over 500 pounds and will hit 60mph in about 3 seconds. Brembo bits, Öhlins suspension and swank materials abound. The style and shape of the bike is… artfully imaginative …

Very cool. But as we also told you:

On anArc website page devoted to the “Vector AE Program,”Arc says the lucky ten buyers will have a “once in a life – time opportunity” and receive specially tweaked and labeled versions of the Vector, although it does not appear they will be different in terms of primary systems equipment or performance from the eventual production bikes.

Now, not all of the Vectors are in this program, but we wonder: Do buyers get a discount off their £110,000 (roughly $135,000 USD) sticker price, for being beta testers?

The off-road plan

Not much is known about the plan to build an Arc off-road bike—or even if it’s a real off-road bike at all. Arc told MCN (read morehere) that it’s working on a monocoque chassis that will be the basis of two bikes that are off-road capable. Hmmmm. Maybe it’s a scrambler, then. Or an adventure bike? Or a trail bike, and a street-legal duallie? Arc didn’t say, but if it it does apply the same wild engineering that it put into its first superbike, we look forward to the result, even if we are unlikely able to afford it.