electric dirtbike pain points

“Rode a friend's Zero once. I liked it, but barely got back to town on the charge. Electric dirt bikes look like a lot of fun. But for adventure touring, no. I don't care what Ewan says.”

“My biggest issue is refuelling speed. I like to do races that need refuelling on a modern 300 two stroke. (3-7hour races). At a refueling station in a race you stop for less than a minute with Fuel, Food and water. There is just not enough time to recharge a Battery.”

“My Energica can charge in about 30 minutes at a DCFC, and goes about 100 miles. So it’s a little better, at least.”

“I live nearly three hours from the capital and frequently travel between 45 and 90 mins for work - I wouldn’t be able to do any of that with an e-bike at current. Mind you, I don’t think I could even do a return trip to the capital and back in an electric car, either. I would love an ebike for cost and environment considerations but it just isn’t remotely viable unless you live within such a short distance of your destination that I would wonder whether walking or public transport would still be the more economical option.”

“My Energica can charge in about 30 minutes at a DCFC, and goes about 100 miles. So it’s a little better, at least.”

“I’d buy a Stark but they were about double the price from a CRF when I bought one.”

“But way way way too expensive. And I’m in the demographic that should want, and can afford to buy that bike. In my humble opinion, a toy shouldn’t be 1/2 the down payment on a house.”

“Electric motorcycles just aren't there yet. They're extremely heavy, very expensive, and their range sucks.”

“I owned an SR/F for a couple years. In no world did it feel better / faster than my 660... and it should have based on reported specs. It felt heavy. Not nimble and fun. I also don't buy the quoted ridiculous 150ft pounds of torque either. Definitely not at the wheel... lol. And riding it the way I wanted to meant like 70 miles of range. For a bike that cost me over 20k... For that price, I should have gotten a Pani v2. I'd have been much happier. To be fair, my 660 that costs almost 10k less feels like a) a much better manufactured machine, and b) a better performer all around. And it sounds amazing. The SR/F has just a whine from the belt.”

“It felt too heavy compared to a bike, and turning was tricky.”

“My scooter weighs 500lbs which is also my first bike. Learning low speed maneuvers is daunting with that much weight and trying to catch the bike before it falls is hell if you catch it at a bad angle.”

“Honestly half the reason I ride is to hear my bike, clunk through the gears and be one with it. I won't ever get an electric one”

“It has a motor. It doesn't belong on non-motorized trails. It doesn't matter if it's pedal assist, or whatever.”

“The extra weight is low down and central, keeping the centre of gravity nice and low. The extra weight it also neatly offset by the whole pedal assist thing. But none of that is really the point :)”

“Well fuck engines. It's counter to the spirit of the sport. It's a challenge between you and the mountain and the fatbodies who don't work for that are an insult to those who do. The biggest issue is that ebikes are what is going to keep these bans in place. Land management groups are going to use ebikes as an excuse to continually keep bikes off trails as surely as the Pope shits in the woods.”

“The ebike is a SurRon (aka Segway X260). Basically an electric dirtbike, but uses MTB suspension/brakes/etc. They'll do about 45-50mph, and weigh ~110lbs. I have one, and they're absolutely wicked fun, but I would never ride it on MTB trails.”

“Well yeah it’s an electric dirt bike. There is no mountain biking going on with this. How is this confused with an e-MTB?”

“I’m not interested in my kid getting an e-bike or anything that seems like a pre-motorcycle. The streets in my town are busy and have no bike lanes. The teens in this town ride in the roads alongside cars—with no road safety training!!”

“I told him to take an e-bike safety course. He said ok. I told him I don’t want to get him anything that can be modified to go faster. He said they can max out at 20mph. I worry about his safety.”

“Surrons and Talarias have motors with about 7-10 HP, so they are within spitting distance of a 125cc. Modified versions can go as high as 17 HP. That's also instant power delivery with no throttle up time, if you twist all the way at a standstill that torque is instantly in the wheels.”

“The maturity level is just not there yet. That’s why I’m struggling with this. But I understand that I can’t be a protective mom forever.”

“The best part is I can take it out of my garage and just ride it up the street into some dirt Fields across the block and not have to worry about noise complaints. If you have any questions from a real varg owner let me know I'll try to answer them. By the way this is not to replace my yz250 but since I've ridden it maybe it will. I don't know I'll have to test it on the track and many other places. Btw I got full insurance for 5 years for 750$”

“I love the low maintenance aspect of it not having to change the oil all that stuff. It really is the best bike ever. In my humble opinion.”

“It’s an amazing first bike and can even be an amazing lifetime bike too, has enough power to do anything but is also super lightweight and fairly low to the ground, there’s also like nearly zero maintenance, only reason I’m selling is because I think a dual sport would make more sense for the place I’m living at right now.”

“I know it's not an original motorized dirt bike but if you put your bias aside and look at this with an open mind it honestly is not that much money compared to a brand new yz450f I got it out the door for 12 750 and that's with the Freight and everything including putting the bike together.”

“I know people love the clutch and I do as well but the clutch is a good way to modulate power however this bikes power delivery supersedes any need for modulation at least for my skill level maybe not an expert.”

“I don’t think any actual logical people who ride dirt bikes have an issue with electric bikes. Who wouldn’t want a bike that has less maintenance, is faster, runs on nothing, and can be ridden practically anywhere? The only people with issue are the people who always fear change and will hold onto their current ways like no end. It’s the same type of people who think 2 stroke bikes are objectively better than 4 stroke… they’re great fun, but objectively worse bikes in terms of ridability and speed. Otherwise they would win.”

“Honestly half the reason I ride is to hear my bike, clunk through the gears and be one with it. I won't ever get an electric one”

“I have a Honda crf230f, I don’t live very close to anywhere to ride so it just kinda sits there most of the year. I am thinking about selling it for a street legal dual sport, I’m thinking of some kind of 250, 90% of the riding will be off road doing trails I just want the ability to be able to take it to town but that’s not really what I’m going to use it for. So need suggestions on dual sports that are the best for off-road, I’d also like it to be light which is why I want a 250, 300 and 400 bikes are a little too heavy and a little too fast for me. I’d like to stick with Honda if possible just because Honda shops are most common around my area, but I’m not dead set on Honda, and the cheaper the better but I’m willing to spend more if it’s worth the money.”