The Journey Continues: Unveiling the RH

Unveiling the new RH version of our Lightfighter V3 track bike was a special moment amongst many special moments in a journey that began over 5 years ago. Photo: Brian J. Nelson

It’s not every day you find yourself pulling back the covers of something you dreamed up in your garage, but there we were, at the Austin Proper Hotel during the final round of the MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Championship at the Circuit of the Americas. Sometimes, I have to pause and remind myself how far we’ve come.

Lightfighter Racing started out of pure engineering curiosity and without the goal of starting a company. Fast forward a few years, and we’re about to roll onto the MotoAmerica grid and pit our project against some of the fastest bikes and most talented riders in the country. That’s surreal.

I love these raw pen sketches from designer Fabien Rougemont as they capture the original design intent as we wrestled with turning our V3 bike into a true Hooligan.

The design effort on the RH was incredibly short at just over 90 days. However, I had spent years thinking about how we'd transform the bike into a naked/hooligan bike if the opportunity presented, so we weren't exactly starting from scratch either. We set an ambitious goal to be ready to show the bike at the end of season race for our racing partner, OrangeCat Racing. It would take heavily leveraging Fabien Rougemont and Nick Gravely at Sculpt3D to complete the bodywork development entirely in the Virtual Reality Studio. Then we'd need to leverage the latest 3D printing technology to fabricate parts that represented the final product. With only passion (and a lot of caffeine) as fuel, we managed to pull it off.

Yes - everyone looks at you funny when you're wearing a VR headset in public, but there was no doubt that the tool allowed us to rapidly visualize the changes required to the V3-RS. It was also helpful to collaborate with the design team in the UK.

Our Version 1 (V1) and Version 2 (V2) prototypes were impressive in the club racing scene but also provided plenty of failures to learn from. We kept at it, learning something new every time we went back to the track, with many of those lessons explained here. The goal was always simple: to improve every time we went out. That improvement could be measured by lap times, top speed, efficiency, charge rate, or race results. But we always tried to be better than we were before.

The all-new V3-RH in OrangeCat Racing launch livery. Whose number will end up on the numberplates?

Along the way, we caught the attention of the team owner of OrangeCat Racing - and that’s when it got real. Suddenly, it wasn’t just a side project—it was a commitment. We scrambled to get organized, set up a business, and make Lightfighter Racing more than just a cool garage build. That process has been scary and exhilarating in equal parts.

Pointing Towards MotoAmerica

With the company in place, and the support of a pro-team, we set our sights on MotoAmerica. To say it’s been challenging is an understatement. There have been late nights, endless troubleshooting, and plenty of “what ifs.” But here’s the headline: Lightfighter Racing is officially entering MotoAmerica.

If you know the series, you know what it means. MotoAmerica isn’t just racing—it’s innovation, resilience, and a proving ground for everything we’ve worked toward. I can’t wait to get our bike out there, measure up against the best, and see just how far we’ve come.

Gratitude for Our Team

None of this would have happened without the people who believed in us—family, friends, racers, engineers, and everyone who’s offered advice or got their hands dirty. You’ve been part of this story from day one. Every late night and every breakthrough is a shared victory.

What’s Next?

This MotoAmerica entry is a new chapter, not the finish line. There are bikes to refine, problems to solve, and a team to grow. If you’re reading this, expect updates from the trenches—raw, honest, and unfiltered—because that’s how we do things in the Race Journal.

For everyone still wrenching in their own garages, here’s my two cents: making the leap from hobby to company is tough, but if you’re passionate enough, it’s worth every minute. We’ll see you at the races!