A TORQUAY motorcycle firm is racing against the clock to build an electric bike for this year's Isle of Man TT Festival — with the lure of commercial sales at the finish line.

Zip Motorcycles, in Temperance Street, has eight weeks to finish the battery-powered bike, which has been developed in partnership with London-based company Ecolve.

The bike is lined up to take part in a new electric class, called TT Zero, in the annual motorcycle race, which has covered the same 37-mile course on the island since 1907.

A road version of the bike is also being developed as part of the project, which will be on sale at the festival and could even be manufactured in Torbay.

The racing schedule starts on June 5 this year, with the TT Zero race, a time trial covering a single lap, taking place on June 9.

Chris Chick, owner of Zip Motorcycles, said he and his engineers need to complete the racing bike by May to be ready for the festival.

He said: "Most of the technical side has already been worked out, it's just a case of fitting it together.

"We're hoping to have the bike fitted together for the start of May, which gives us about eight weeks."

The finished product will be based on an existing sports bike, with carbon fibre wheels and ceramic brakes.

Lithium-ion battery technology will replace the engine in a custom-built frame.

"It's the same technology as you get in a mobile phone, just a lot heavier," added Chris.

The bike has a top speed of 150mph, with a range of 50 miles at top speed.

"It means we will be able to complete the course as fast as we can," said Chris.

"There was an electric bike in last year's TT races, but it didn't complete the course."

Chris said his firm was approached at a motorcycle trade show at the Birmingham NEC to carry out the build.

He said Ecolve developed the battery technology but needed the expertise of a motorcycle engineer.

"The guys in London who have been toying with the idea for a while, but they have no motorbike experience, so they approached us to do it," he said.

"I like to think we're old-fashioned engineers rather than bolt-on engineers."

Chris is building the bike with Zip technical manager Mike Pallett who has extensive experience in building frames for various vehicles.

If the electric bike is successful at the festival, Chris said there is also a chance he could be rolling out the £20,000 road version in Torquay.

"There could be jobs and everything, provided it all goes well," Chris said.

"If we come away with orders for 50 bikes at the TT race then we would probably get another 100 or so over the course of the year.

"With that kind of numbers, we would be looking to employ a dozen people."