Gates Industrial : Carbon Drive Launches New MudPort Sprocket Line for Off-Road Electric Two-Wheelers

Gates Carbon Drive Launches New MudPort Sprocket Line for Off-Road Electric Two-Wheelers

DENVER, Nov. 19, 2020 - Gates (NYSE: GTES), a leading global provider of fluid power and power transmission solutions, has launched a new line of sprockets specifically designed for on and off- road electric motorcycles and scooters. The new sprockets, featuring patent pending MudPort™ technology, offer advanced debris shedding for belt drivetrains compared to traditional sprockets.

MudPort builds on Gates Carbon Drive's fourteen-year legacy of designing sprockets that are perfectly paired to its carbon-fiber belts. An early version of MudPort technology was first used on bicycles starting in 2007. Since then, the technology has been improved and scaled up in power rating by optimizing port design, tooth shape, and materials, and by eliminating flanges where possible. The end-result is a belt-drive system that is expected to increase lifetime in high-debris riding conditions while also reducing weight vs. standard sprocket designs.

The new debris-shedding sprockets, combined with existing range of Gates carbon-fiber belts, will bring the benefits of belt drives to the growing space of electrified powersports vehicles. Traditionally, dual-sport, adventure touring and vehicles used on unpaved roads have used chain. MudPort delivers the debris-shedding performance to better tolerate dirt, mud, sand, and snow, enabling increased conversion from chain to belt drives. Gates technology offers additional advantages to electric vehicles as well, providing virtually silent operation and significantly decreased maintenance compared to chains.

"As electrification momentum builds, our new MudPort sprockets advance technology for vehicle manufacturers who appreciate the silent, smooth, low-maintenance features of belt drives, and need this now for both dirt and pavement," says Joe Menzel, general manager of Gates Carbon Drive & Global Mobility. "We expect this innovation to result in increased use of belt drives for both gas & electric powersports around the world."

MudPort sprockets are currently available as an upgrade on the Cake Kalk, a trend-setting electric dirt-bike that debuted in 2019, and will become a standard feature on the Kalk starting in model year 2021. They also come standard on the Cake Ösa, a utilitarian electric scooter for a wide range of riding terrains. MudPort is also featured on the newly upgraded Sur-Ron Light Bee electric dirt-bike that debuted at the 2020 China International Motorcycle Show.

MudPort is compatible with the entire line of Gates Carbon Drive 11mm polyurethane belts and comes in a range of widths and diameters to fit most two-wheel applications. To learn more about products from Gates, visit www.gates.com/mobility.

About Gates

Gates is a global manufacturer of innovative, highly engineered power transmission and fluid power solutions. Gates offers a broad portfolio of products to diverse replacement channel customers and to original equipment ("first-fit") manufacturers as specified components. Gates participates in many sectors of the industrial and consumer markets. Gates products play essential roles in a diverse range of applications across a wide variety of end markets ranging from harsh and hazardous industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and energy, to everyday consumer applications such as printers, power washers, automatic doors and vacuum cleaners, and virtually every form of transportation. Gates products are sold in 128 countries across four commercial regions: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Greater China; and East Asia and India. More about Gates can be found at www.gates.com.

Photo 1: MudPort on Sur-Ron Light Bee

Photo 2: MudPort Rear Sprocket on Cake Osa

Photo 3: MudPort Front Sprocket

Gates Carbon Drive Media Contact:

Jonathan Weinert, Director of Marketing, [e-mail], 248-308-4393