When it comes to dirt bikes I have to admit, I’m not a fan. When I was in my early teens we used to go out and jump a tiny 100cc bike off a giant pile of dirt in my friend’s backyard (both of his parents were state troopers). The bike was a two-stroke monster that was loud and obnoxious and you had to rebuild the carb on it every 50 hours or so of riding. What a royal pain in the ass. I’ve sworn off two strokes and decided there is absolutely no place for them in my life.
The Sur-Ron dirt bike is making me a fan of dirt bikes again
The Sur-Ron electric dirtbike is one of the few things I’ve seen come out of China that they actually have gotten right. No tranny, mostly silent, massive torque and a claimed 45 mph out of the box. The Sur-Ron dirt bike will never be ‘street legal’ in the US and the 32Ah 60v battery pack will only last for about 2 hours of normal singletrack trail riding or less than an hour of open track riding. As far as I know, there is no one else making a bike like this and selling it at this price point in the US. The Sur-Run eMotocross bike is a brand new product that will not disappoint. When I was slumming it at Luna I kept finding myself taking this bike out when I would get bored sitting around while everyone else was doing their thing.
Beefy front fork with lots of travel and room for a slightly bigger tire
Out in rural NY, there are motocross guys that respect ‘the rules’ many of them do whatever the hell they feel like and constantly trash our beautifully maintained singletrack mountain bike trails. For this reason alone every time I see a motocross tire track or a bunch of dirt ripped up I have to admit a little part of me gets really pissed off. It’s just a territorial thing, but dealing with this kind of energy for the last 20 years has left me pretty annoyed with dirt bikes in general. Am I being a little hypocritical? Probably. Do I care? Not really.
I like the clean way the bike is put together, everything is polished and well-built
The Sur-Ron has a very bouncy and responsive suspension with tons of travel in it. The power from a standstill is enough so that you can wheelie it if you want to, but it doesn’t unintentionally wheelie. The rear wheel is driven by a massive chain that looks unlikely to break even at the claimed 6000 Watts peak power that the motor puts out. There was a lot of noise from the motor and drive train on the bike I test drove, but I hear that the actual production motor is much quieter. I would say that the amount of noise is about equal to a 3000W Cyclone or a 6000W Tangent Ascent, although the tone of the noise is much lower than either of these two making it more agreeable to my ears. The newer production bike is about 1/2 as loud as the version that I rode. From what I understand on the ES forums this bike puts out about 3350W of power nominally which feels about right, check out the dyno graph from motomoto at the end of the article. Keep in mind that 3000W on a mid drive is going to feel a lot more torquey than a 3000W hub motor. This bike feels very similar to a 3000W Cyclone running at 72v like Curt’s early edition Rhino. Even when pegging the throttle the bike did not seem to suffer too much from voltage sag on the pack which was nice for a bike this powerful.
Although there is a rear license plate holder this bike is not street legal in any of the 50 states
Even though I am over 200lbs, I was able to clock this bike at 40mph on the street using an automated radar machine near the Lunacycle office but it still felt like it could go a bit faster. It’s great riding a bike that doesn’t have any shifting or transmission. The bike is no Zero DSR but it does put plenty of smiles on your face as you tool around town. I kept expecting to get pulled over and harassed by the cops, but it never happened. I’m not saying that you’ll get away with riding this thing on the street, but I was able to ride for several hours in LA traffic without issues.
Big footpegs without shifters or foot brakes make for a clean riding experience. The beefy chain is over the top.
For my 6’10” frame I was able to ride the bike pretty comfortably with my ass all the way to the back of the seat, but it was clearly way too small for me. This bike is the perfect size for just about any child over about 10 years old or any Chinese person. I spent a month in China and I swear that everything there is built for people who are 6′ tall maximum including doorways, phone booths and subway cars. Even with my ass all the way back on the seat I could still ride the bike like a good little urban motard and was able to easily jump it over dirt piles and ride it up and down stairs.
At 119 lbs this bike is light for a moto but heavy for an ebike
I felt like the turning radius on the bike was too limited although I was assured by Luke that it was the standard turning radius of a motorcycle. The version I tested had the RST fork, although the production version has a Fast Ace fork that apparently has a much tighter turning radius. Luke ‘Live for Physics’ and I took out this bike several times while I was at Luna and he was downright enthusiastic about it. His first impression when riding this bike was “China … doing it right”. High praise for someone who worked for many years to bring Zero to where it stands today as the absolute leader in electric motorcycles in the USA. They ripped apart the 32Ah PF cell pack and claimed that it was “The best ebike pack they have ever seen come out of China.” Wow, just wow.
The Golden Motor has a serious bash guard on it, the frame has clean welds and looks solid
I was impressed at the craftsmanship in the frame and all the rest of the bike. Things seemed solid and built out of real quality components, not the usual hot glue and cheap ass crap you usually see come out of China. I honestly have no idea how they are able to build something at this level of quality and sell it for the price that they sell it for, but that’s China for you. A comparably sized new gas bike will run you about the same price and if you want a Zero you will end up paying at least twice the price. For someone looking for an inexpensive dirt bike that is fun to ride and will require almost no maintenance then the Sur-Ron is an excellent choice. The other nice thing about electric dirt bikes is that you can let them sit over the winter and there is no gas to gel up in the carb. The battery is easily removable (with a key) so you can bring it inside to charge or store for the winter.
A custom controller runs at 48-60v and is built specifically for this bike
Pros
- Cheap
- Decent battery size with good PF cells
- Quality construction and components
- Tons of power
- Goes 40mph+ out of the box if you disable the speed limiter even if you weigh 200+lbs
- Feels totally safe at 40mph
- Good brakes
- No clutch or shifting/brake foot pedals
- Battery keyed for removal
- Bike has a key for starting and battery removal and a voltage display
- You can jump it and it doesn’t feel sketchy to land
- Nice throttle
- Solid kickstand
- Built-in headlight and brake lights are decent
- It’s got a horn
- 10 Amp charger that charges the pack from dead to full in 3 hours
- Chain is tucked up into the frame so that you don’t have to worry about it eating your clothes or fingers
Cons
- Not street legal anywhere
- It’s a dirt bike not an ebike, you won’t be welcomed on most singletrack trails
- Noisy motor and chain compared to ebikes, damn near silent when compared with normal 2 stroke dirt bikes
- Limited riding time, probably 90-120 minutes on the trail if ridden at slow speeds
- At 119 lbs so it feels like a motorcycle not an ebike
- Frame is pretty small for a big 6’9″ guy like me (think clown bike)
This picture has gotta be staged because their build areas are way too clean
Would I ever buy one of these? I really want to, but the problem is that my wife has promised to stop making love to me if I gain any more weight. We’re already doing the Brazilian butt lift twice a day and I had to join a gym. When I get this bike I would totally stop riding all my other ebikes and end up getting pretty fat. Do I want this bike? More than I’ve ever desired any other electric motorcycle before. The combination of build quality and price makes this Emoto sit squarely in a place where there is currently absolutely no competition in the US market. You can order this bike right now for $3475 right here + $160 shipping right now from Lunacycle who has an exclusive agreement for the North American market. If you’re waiting for the price to go down, don’t wait because more than likely the price will increase in the future as the demand for this bike sets in and people realize there is a real alternative to noisy, smelly, high maintenance 2-stroke 50 & 100cc dirtbikes.
The battery cover flips up and you just remove two connectors and then can remove the pack by pulling the webbing
I can’t imagine anyone buying this eMoto and being disappointed with it as long as they are willing to put up with the range limitations. If you get on the bike and peg it at 40mph you are not going to be able to get that much range. I would estimate that you can get about 20 miles in the city (under 30 mph) and 13 miles of range on the highway at 40mph, maybe less. With a 1920Wh pack this bike has about 1/2 the capacity of the Zero FX ZF3.6 modular bike. This bike is really designed more for low-speed singletrack riding and jumping than riding for long distances on the highway. If that is what you want to use it for, then this eMoto might be a perfect match.
Here’s a great video from evnerds of them messing up my nice factory floor with burnouts
This vehicle is the FIRST pre-built electric vehicle that I have bought from Luna (instead of building myself something out of a kit) in all the years they have been in business. The bike really is that good, now I just need to do is get my hands on the wifey’s credit card. Merry Xmas to me! That’s what the holiday is all about, right? Giving?
Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie. Good luck shaking that 120lb box to see what’s inside. I bet it’s not Lego.
Ride On.
Motomoto from ES put the Sur-Ron on a dyno and got these results, left column is HP
BIKE DESIGN TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- LENGTH: 1870mm
- WIDTH: 780mm
- HEIGHT: 1040mm
- MINIMUM GROUND DISTANCE: 270mm
- WHEELBASE: 1260mm
- FRONT AXLE MASS DISTRIBUTION: 24kg
- REAR AXLE MASS DISTRIBUTION: 26kg
- MAXIMUM LOAD WEIGHT: 100kg
TIRES AND BRAKES
- TIRE SPECIFICATIONS (FRONT): 70 / 100-19
- TIRE SPECIFICATIONS (AFTER): 70 / 100-19
- RIM TYPE (FRONT): 19×1.4
- RIM TYPE (AFTER): 19×1.4
- BRAKE TYPE (FRONT): to the four-piston hydraulic disc brake
- BRAKE TYPE (REAR): to the four-piston hydraulic disc brake
ElectricBike-Blog.com 
VEHICLE QUALITY: 50kg do you mean weight?
if not, what is the weight?
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119lbs. I have no idea what VEHICLE QUALITY means, sounds like Chenglish to me. I took it out.
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kilograms measure mass, not weight.
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On Earth, mass=weight.
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Great write-up, Karl. In what part of rural NY do you live? I’m in in the hills outside of Ithaca. There are some dirt bikers around, but not many meth heads as far as I know… 😉
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Just south of Ithaca, come ride with me!
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I just ordered a silver one. Your review and the pedal kit made me do it. 😉
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Im near Ithaca as well.
Has anyone tried registering or making them street legal?
If I could use this to bomb around town and hit the trails it would be a killer deal.
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Totally off the subject, how about that “Karl’s Special Sauce “ setting on the new Luna Programmer??
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Yup, feel the love.
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Hi Karl, this is Kim Reeg. I think the bike is great. I ride the crap out of mine but of course I want it faster so I can tear up the trails !!!
I mean, motocross track
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I’m building a few miles of singletrack trails on 450 acres of private land. Come ride with me if you’re ever in upstate NY near Syracuse.
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Wow, super nice bike. Things have come a long long way from the little Drift e dirt bikes back in the day. One question Karl, when you back off on the throttle I am guessing the motor and drive train totally free wheel? There is no braking effect when you back off on the throttle right, it simply coasts?
At 119 lbs this bike sounds like it could be a great little electric trials bike. One speed with this power level also sounds like the sweet spot for this unit. The price is unbelievable. Great news………wayne
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Yes, it freewheels. I’m not sure it would make a great trials bike, I think it’s too heavy for that.
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You are ASKING for it riding around LA traffic on that thing. A ticket like that would ruin your whole day. I love it, but still think riding on something that looks like a bicycle is better camouflage. Clown peddling is not possible on that bad boy.
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I could not agree more.
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I love breaking the law, Im in SoCal so I will guinne pig for you guys and tell you what happens and costs of said tickets are…. Madman Racing has to live up to its name…
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That’s a great looking and from your review very capable bike. It’ll be good to have a road legal version. I wonder if there are plans.
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That is extremely unlikely. Someone on ES was talking about making a kit to make it street legal, all it needs is DOT lights, brakelights and turning signals and then it could be registered as a moped.
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….VIN#, title, horn, rearview mirror, DOT rims and tires. You’d think with all the Scooter/small moto crap they export that do meet DOT requirements that it wouldn’t take much to get something like these street legal.
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You can make it road legal yourself. Add lights/turn signals then go get a lamp inspection at CHP. Register it as a moped.
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I am waiting for some entrepreneur to realize its a huge business opportunity to set up tracks for electric Karts and electric dirt motocross in the suburbs. Of course the riders would have to sign a waiver, but..they do that now on the 2-strokes out at the edge of town. It’s not just the quiet motor, the instant full torque at 1-RPM is a real winner.
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What is the purpose of the pedal kit? No one would actually try to ride this anywhere that was a legal ebicycle trail, would they?
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Good question. Would the addition of pedals change its classification to an e-bicycle, for riding on standard bicycle paths?
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I do. I bought one and I ride it to work and back or anywhere in range really. At all hours of the day and night to. Never pulled over. Couple cops complemented me on it after they asked if it was a motorcycle. I just tell them no, this is a 750 watt class 2 e-bike. “I learned that answer from a guys review on a different site.” The cop was like damn. There really making some cool ass bike these days. Lol
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And that video of some kook doing burnouts is exactly what a bike like this does not need. Nobody who really rides does things like that. First off, tires are expensive, and what’s the point, it shows nothing of what the bike is capable of doing.
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Yeah, I noticed that too. Except I just thought I was too old to do that and I was just not with it. But these guys need some serious marketing video people to do it right. I am a pro video person, so I know a thing or two about it. That demo was wrong, baby.
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While I love my BBSHD on my fatbike, I also have a dirtbike. A four stroke motocross bike is about double the weight of this bike and using fuel injection, no carburetor to rebuild, has a much smaller carbon footprint than a 2 stroke. With the right exhaust four strokes can be made much quieter. Also with a 2 gallon tank, the bike will do a 65 mile loop with a little left in the tank and about 6 hours riding time depending on how fast you ride, no charge time (most riders ditch the 2 gallon motocross tank for a 3-4.5 gallon tank for longer distances. Luna sells the bike for $3370. A KX or YZ 250 are double that at $7500 and double the weight. Durability? A friend of mine is still riding my old 1999 Yz400 around. Where as electric cars are beginning to catch up, dirt bikes have a long way to go. But it is good someone is trying to compete, What happens if you run out of battery on a ride and you are in the middle of the forest? With a dirtbike, you carry a small container or siphone some gas out of your buddies tank.
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r1chardm – I think this bike from Sur-Ron will fit a niche market that isn’t necessarily for those looking for an electric dirtbike. This bike seem to be more like a hybrid between a dedicated downhill mountain bike and an electric pit bike. As someone who also rides dirtbikes, I’ve looked seriously at the KTM “Freeride-e”, which recently upped the power of their battery to give it a 1-2 hour run time at double its original power, which they’re claiming is equivalent to a 250 4-stroke. Then there’s Alta Motors’ “Redshift”, which has 450 weight with 250-like power. Some riders are winning races with this bike, and this is giving the Alta Redshift a fair amount of attention these days. Yamaha and Honda have already invested in concept e-bikes for dirt, so this is IMO, an eventuality. For me, I really like the idea of having MX tracks and/or trails in urban settings. So I’m in favor of the electric dirtbike. I already know there’s a market for them. My local KTM dealer sells the Freeride -e XC model in limited quantities now, and he’s been approached by Alta Motors to sell their bikes as well. If these bikes provide more opportunities for riding, they’re a good thing IMO. – Cheers.
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I have waited a little while before my response to see where these would go I also looked up at the latest Ulta Motors redshift. I still think they have long way to go via redshift and this bike. The problem being longevity the amount of mileage. I can take a small bottle of gasoline with me if I run the bike out of gas or I can take gas from another Rider who has the larger tank. My dirt bike escapades are 60 miles longer if I have a big tank these bikes won’t do that they’re not welcome on any Trails other than motorized vehicle trails they’re not street legal. Longevity of the battery is based on cooling if you ride in hot weather another problem. I think but the technology is just not there yet and electric still cannot compete with gas which is probably the biggest problem they will have to overcome. The ultimate Motors bike is almost $12,000 a yz450 is just over $8,000 this bike is a lot less expensive but has less distance durability Etc also how much is the battery $1,000 minimally I think yep I still think they’re not there. I thought electric bike being quiet might open up new areas but the tree huggers are not going to give up any ground even if it’s quiet and only makes the bikes more dangerous for head-on collisions pedestrian to bike collisions because they make no noise also bear and cougar confrontations. There are still too many problems maybe someday they’ll get there but probably not in the next 10 years
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Since the battery is removable- Buy a spare battery to charge while you ride. Carry the spare if you feel your ride will take you long and far and go farther and longer if desired.
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Thank you for your review. Your two stroke comment in the beginning cracked me up. I own bicycles, two stroke dirt bikes, and ebikes. My bikes and ebikes take far more maintenance than my two stroke dirt bikes. Good review
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Legend on the dyno chart is duped for horsepower.. Can somebody fix that?
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I bought my bike in their first shipment. … best machine I have ever owned. ( I also own a Ninja, a KTM 250, and a Cannondale lefty)
This bike climbs hills like a hill climber, hops over rocks like a trials bike, and runs for about three hours in the hills behind my house. Buy this bike!
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Love the sur-ron. Borrowed a Bultaco Brinco R for the weekend, with a group of cyclists on normal bikes. Total distance travelled 60 km. Hilly countryside, no pedalling, mostly eco/tour setting 30-45 kph max (eco/tour/sport). Full battery at 10 AM, half battery charge left on return at 4 PM. Is this good? How does the sur-ron compare?
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Very nice
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Awesome write up! Bike looks, an sounds amazing,needless to say I want it.
Although, I will say. I have been riding dirtbikes since I was 5 years old, and now ride and race a 250cc two stroke. I like the comparison to a 100cc but at the same time I’m sure it wouldn’t compare at all to a real dirt bike, but needless to say it sounds super fun to rip around in the woods on a bike that’s damn near silent. And most of my races I don’t go over 30mph unless in a field section. I think this would be super fun to rip around on. Personally wouldnt spend that much since I could get a full blown race bike for not much more, but if I could I’d buy it right now. Great write up. 👍
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I am an avid dirt bike rider and none are better than a 2 stroke. I live in Wellington new Zealand and our city is circled with fantastic dirt walking tracks and a multitude of mountain bike tracks. Seeing as we have been in lockdown for covid 19, I have been walking these tracks a lot. Riding my 2 stroke in there would be a big no no, but this bike would be awesome, the way I see it, it would be an alternative between dirt bike rides and a way to get your riding fix without any hassle. I’m very keen to try out one of these bikes.
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Dose anyone willing to sell there Luna e bike surron
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You guys advertised on Facebook, and I bought three, and NOW its like what, when where……@ promotional price and NOW NOTHING, ORDER WAS MADE SEPTEMBER 17TH, ITS NOW OCTOBER 10……🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
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I am friends with Eric but not affiliated with Lunacycle in any way. I’m just the only one that will review their products. I make no money off doing it. They get containers of bikes that they presell. Just have patience, it will come soon. The last time I talked to Eric he said that he had several containers on the water.
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I ordered (2) KHS500’s from Luna about 3 months ago. It took 3 weeks for back order and build-out, and about 1.5 weeks to ship to Hawaii. The bike industry, in general, is very slow these days, not just Luna. Luna is however, slow to inform customers of status, but they ultimately deliver. It’s just hard waiting. My bikes arrived without any problems whatsoever. I am 100% happy with my purchase. Have patience!!!
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So wait , r u 6’9” or 6’ 10? Sounds like ur not sure
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Used to be 6’10” but I’m shrinking. 6’9″ sounds cooler anyway.
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there will never be a replacement for the smell of of pre-mix fuel early in the morning at a 70 mile isde event deep in the coastal old growth forests of Oregon I’ll fly by you e-pussies on my 99 exc 250 , that’s if you ever get a chance to be out front ! happy muddy ice could trails , pussies !
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if my language is in question the you guys really are pussies! well I’m going to see how far I can ride a 50mph wheelie on the new 700 husky wheelie king yaaaaa!?
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