Having built one of the most eye-catching high-performance motorbikes of the electric age, Savic Motorcycles is taking the 2nd generation C-Series one step further – hiring one of Australia’s most accomplished motorcycle design engineers to steer the bike through its final production modifications.

UK-based Richard James celebrated his 50th year as a motorcycle rider by joining the company he’s been watching with mounting interest from the other side of the world. His role will be to go through every component of the C-Series – from the battery panels and fenders to coatings and tiny connectors – using a clever combination of software and testing to optimise performance and aesthetics, trim waste, and make the bike’s assembly as efficient as possible.

“My job is to look at engineering issues with a designer’s eye, in order to make the casting, tooling, manufacturing and assembly processes leaner, simpler and smarter,” Rich explains. “My job is basically to make sure everything fits the first time.”

Sydney-born Rich has been involved in motorcycle design for more than 30 years, since he helped the pioneering Australian company Hunwick Hallam produce prototypes of its V-twin power cruiser and X1R race bike in the mid-90s. He went on to work with the renowned Melbourne designer, Ian Drysdale, designing engines for Chinese and US clients, before developing a chassis for the Vento 400 Café GT – which like the C-Series was designed in Melbourne to be built in China.

Since moving to the UK with his Welsh-born wife in 2010, Rich has worked for Norton, where he fine-tuned the legendary Commando and commissioned several Taiwanese suppliers, run engineering teams at JCB, and spent several years at Deeo, overseeing the design of their Fooza urban e-motos. So the move to Savic – with its combination of electric performance, smart tech, and Australasian production – ties his career in a neat circle. Plus it reunites him with Chris Gaspardis, who Rich has known and designed motorbike suspensions with for nearly 20 years.

“My experience designing and assembling bikes in Australia and the UK with components and tooling produced in China and Taiwan makes me a bit different from other designers,” says Rich. “I understand the environment of building and assembly in Australia; but I’m also a globalist who knows that manufacturing components in the West is not always cost effective.

“I’ve been riding since I was 11, and I’ve never owned a bike I didn’t modify,” adds Rich. “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than improving the way a bike is built, and creating something that someone will genuinely love to ride and own. When Dennis asked me if I’d like to help take the C-series into production, I think I said yes in about 0.3 seconds!”