Don Canet has always loved the loud rumbling of the engine under his seat, every push and pull of the pistons vibrating enough so he can feel the sheer power of the bike beneath him.

He likes working the gear box and feeling the engine pulse and thrust him forward after departing a tight turn. A year ago, less than two miles from the summit, his bike – the Victory Project 156 – rumbled beneath him, his combustion engine propelling the longtime motorcycle racer into the clouds and toward the finish line of The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

But a few tight turns away from the course’s Upper Gravel Pit, the bike hesitated. A crash earlier in the week forced the engineering team to make repairs, some of which would cause the engine to fail near the peak of America’s Mountain.

The rumbling slowed down. The pistons eased. The old-school, traditional motorcycle Canet loved so much had failed.

“Mother Nature got the best of us,” he said.

Mother Nature is harsh on traditional engines on Pikes Peak. As drivers climb the mountain, fewer oxygen molecules populate the air. Oxygen is necessary for burning gas, so the engines work harder to do half the work.

Canet won’t have to worry about the impact of high elevation on his bike’s fuel system this time around. He’ll be riding this year’s Hill Climb on Victory Motorcycle’s Empulse RR, a modified version of Brammo Power’s all-electric bike – one the company hopes can be a model for the future of the racebike industry.

Victory’s Project 156 will also race in this year’s Hill Climb, and the company has pitted the electric Empulse RR against the traditional Project 156 in what’s been dubbed, “Thunder vs. Lightning.”

Jeremy Toye, the rookie who placed atop all motorcyclists in the 2014 Hill Climb, will man the Project 156 – a bike that Canet said is running “100 percent better than last year.”

A lithium-ion battery powers the gas-free Empulse RR, and a light, carbon-fiber subframe supports an upgraded motor with repackaged battery cells that offer more capacity than the street-legal TT bike.

In layman’s terms?

“It’s a torque beast,” said Gary Gray, Victory’s product manager. “With an electric motor you get 100 percent of your torque with 0 RPM. You’re accelerating hard out of the corner. It’s just bursts of acceleration after acceleration.”

In terms of speed, this is a huge advantage. In terms of control, this takes some getting used to.

“I grew up on gas-powered bikes and you feel the engine vibration through the machine,” Canet said. “That’s the sensory input that is instilled in me. I don’t get that from the electric bike.”

This is where Canet and Gray differ in their motorcycle romanticism. Canet prefers the combustion engine and aesthetic of a loud, traditional bike. He’s a proponent of the innovation and potential of electric bikes, but there’s something natural about changing gears and feeling those transitions when he rounds corners.

Gray loves the gliding feel of newer electric motorcycles, and while he said he doesn’t have a preference of traditional vs. electric, the renewal of a quieter engine is appealing.

“It’s freeing,” Gray said of the electric bike. “Motorcycling for me had always been the closest to flying without leaving the ground. When you take out the element of the noise of the engine, you feel like you’re floating in air and it’s more peaceful.”

The quiet engine of the Empulse RR will compete in the Electric Bike category of this year’s Hill Climb, one of just five bikes in the electric class. There are 35 total motorcycles racing this year.

An advantage, Gray said, is the Empulse RR’s proven results. Victory Motorcycles bought out Brammo, another motorcycle company, and repurposed its Isle of Man TT, a bike that finished on the podium of Europe’s Isle of Man 2015 competition.

That same bike, with modifications, will race next week.

“You hate to be overly optimistic,” Gray said. “We’re relatively optimistic.”

Conserving energy will be vital to the success of Canet’s bike. Because the Empulse RR is battery-powered, it can only hold so much energy. If the battery runs out early, it’ll be another disappointing “Did Not Finish” for the Victory team.

Next Sunday, there will be no rumbling, no engine pulsing beneath Canet.

The bike’s power is there, silently hidden within the electric motor. He’ll turn a key, flip a switch, hold down the start button and suddenly the yellow “On” light will illuminate.

And he’ll glide quietly into the clouds.

Pikes Peak Challenge – UTV/Exhibition racer Don Canet rounds a corner while making a practice run up the middle section of Pikes Peak Wednesday, June 24, 2015 in preparation for the 93rd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on Sunday. Canet crashed last week and destroyed his bike, but had it rebuilt in time for the race this week. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette

Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette