Tarform’s electric motorcycles blend Swedish style with American attitude

Taras Kravtchouk headed a visual design agency in his native Sweden before moving to New York, where he set up a maker’s space for all sorts of projects. That, he says, was also his opportunity to build some motorcycles, including reworked custom BSAs and Triumphs for Belstaff, among other clients. But his design training also got him thinking: why hadn’t any of the major motorcycle manufacturers built an electric motorcycle in the aesthetic spirit of a classic cafe racer – one perhaps super-streamlined, with a touch of Arne Jacobsen or Alvar Aalto to it?

‘At one point, motorcycles had come to be seen as cult objects – woven into fashion and art – but the industry then started to lean heavily into performance, so that motor motorcycles today tend to look like angular plastic bugs, as a lot of cars do too,’ says Kravtchouk. ‘I think that meant that most people interested in aesthetics had stopped looking at motorcycles as appealing objects. The industry speaks a lot about design but isn’t design-driven – and that’s one reason why it’s failing to get younger people into motorcycles.’

The result of Kravtchouk’s musings was the launch his motorcycle company Tarform, and its curvaceous Luna model, hand-built in Brooklyn at $48,000 a go. As he concedes, that was hardly a price that was going to get younger people into motorcycles either.

So now, launching in August 2026, comes the Vera – a stripped-back version, with a starting price of $18,000. It comes with a smaller, lighter battery – relative to the Luna – which means there is 30 per cent less torque. But this also makes the Vera more accessible for new riders put off by conventional motorcycles.

The look is, he says, ‘more futuristic’, with organic lines all sweeping to the rear to give a sense of forward movement. ‘Likewise, the Vera has to have a strong look against what else is available on the market to get non-motorcycle riding customers to pay attention,’ he argues.

The superstructure of the bike is made from forged carbon fibre – essentially a waste material – while, to retain structural integrity but also be sustainable, a flaxseed fibre-based resin (sometimes used to make surfboards) is employed for the body panels. The upholstery is made from a tea leaf-derived synthetic leather.

‘Swedes are just very conscious of sustainability,’ Kravtchouk laughs. ‘It’s something you learn about in school so, even if the mindset is different here in the US, it seemed like the obvious approach to take. The motorcycle industry works with a lot of toxic materials but it’s the responsibility of design to find better ways.’

The Vera will also come with Luna’s distinctive sound – indeed, it was the first electric motorcycle with what Tarform calls ‘living sound’, not synthesised or digital but with an instrument built in that amplifies the electromagnetic pulse of the motor.

‘A synthesised sound would feel fake to use, but we do think the sound the Vera generates not only means riders can feel confident that people can hear them but that it gives them a greater connection to the machine,’ says Kravtchouk. ‘People tell us sound was, for them, what was missing from electric motorcycles.’

Maybe that’s as true on the water as on two wheels. Tarform – which regards itself less as a motorcycle company so much as one specialising in electric mobility – is now hoping to develop an electric jet ski.

Vera, from $18,000, more information at Tarform.com, @Tarform