Sur Ron Ultra Bee

Looks supremely excellent ukAdventurer! Keep us posted on how it goes.

Care to give a bit of a ride report? What's you opinion so far?

Sure. I've ridden only a short distant so far. About 5km (3miles) of road and about 10km off-road. Also my test ride last Monday was when I was convinced it would be a great 2nd bike for me. I already had a Surron Storm Bee for over a year so I was familiar with all the controls. Compared to the Storm Bee it's smaller/lower (about 65mm/3" lower seat height, lighter (by 45kg / 100lbs) and a bit less fast.

On the road it felt assured and comfortable enough. The ergos are good enough for a tall guy (187cm 6'1.5") sitting. However, I'd like slightly taller handlebars for the standing position which should be helped with handlebar risers. Off-road the first part was a hard-packed dirt road with medium sized rocks. The narrow tires skitter around on those rocks but nothing dangerous. Next on hard-packed snow and ice it did very well. Lots of slides but manageable with throttle control and body English. The lower seat heat helps on technical climbs because I can get my feet down. If it's close to tipping, I can catch it because it's so light IF I get my foot down. Whereas I'd lose the Storm Bee due to its extra weight and higher seat. When I hit patches of deep snow a bit of foot paddling got me going again. If the tire lost traction completely and started to dig in, I just backed up a little and tried again which worked every time.

Suspension seems decent but I haven't pushed it with jumps and woops yet. There's too much snow and ice in my area. The suspension might benefit from some tweaking for my weight. I'm 86kg (190 lbs) at the moment but losing weight. Brakes are excellent. The throttle seems nice and progressive, the power does NOT come in a rush unless you want it with a big turn of the wrist. The throttle is more refined than my Storm Bee.

I'll probably use the stock tires for a while then consider much more aggressive knobbies and a 21" wheel upgrade in the Spring. I ride almost 100% off-road because I live off-road. I could probably ride to the city with it but it's a 70km (43 mile) round trip. So it's probably within range but the charger fits under the seat if I needed it. I've removed it for now because it's just extra weight when I'll charge at home.

Technically speaking, there's a compartment under the seat - not in the tail but quite central. You can put items there, including the charger unit. I don't have the charger there because I charge at home all the time but on a longer trip where you might need a recharge, the compartment is big enough for the charger.

I also removed the tail lights and number plate bracket. These make it street legal which I don't need. The indicator lights are very vulnerable in spills, so I removed the whole unit and save the lights and maybe 1kg of unneeded weight.

The Ultra Bee is a pretty good hill climber even on snow and nasty rocks.

On snow and ice, it's low enough to use my stabilizers (AKA my legs). I'm probably cursing myself but I haven't dropped my Ultra Bee once yet, whereas I drop my Storm Bee frequently on technical terrain.

Epic trail riding ukAdventurer. Nice start to ownership! Glad its serving you well so far.
Curious about the power to this point. You have enough power or are you barely grunting over the top here & there?
What has been your tire psi? Running traditional pressures? (10-15psi generally on dedicated dirtbikes) Good traction?
And what is your mileage on a ride like this, and percentage of battery left upon your return.
...Sorry for a lot of questions, but your usage is what many of us hope to do. Very epic and hopefully your Ultra Bee is representing well.

The power is amazing. Almost too much for those tires. That's why I'm now searching for serious motocross tires. I'd describe the standard tires as beefy mountain bike tires.

I haven't messed with the tire pressure yet. I don't think I can go down to typical motocross pressures due to the risk of pinch flats. The stock tires are very thin and would probably bottom out easily with low pressure. I haven't even checked the tire pressure but I can do that today - I'd guess it's about 30psi.

Traction is fine on roads - but that's not where I ride. It's hard to assess because we still have a lot of snow and ice. It's okay on snow and rocks but nothing grips on ice, without metal spikes. The problem is getting all that power without spinning the wheel excessively. Hence my search for new tires. But the snow will melt soon and I can see how the stock tires do on my terrain - grass and rocks (nasty, pointy embedded rocks).

Range is a tricky thing to assess. Surron claims 140km on a flat road doing 40km/h. I'll never ride like that. I get 3-4 rides out of a full battery but my use case is short rides near my home but climbing mountains. I don't tour or commute. My rides are fun jaunts of 30 - 60 minutes all off-road on grass with rocks. Mostly rocks.

it has been mentioned on FB several times that the tires are trash. There's just not a lot of tire choices for those tiny rims. And.. the bigger tires are heavier and you'll end up eating more battery to turn them. I'm thinking (since I won't have mine for several more weeks) that a tubeless (or tubeliss) system with slightly bigger tires may equal out. The other option would be mousses.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the tires are trash. They do the job. However, I'm sure there are better tires. 19" seem to be available online and even locally.

Battery capacity is not an issue for me. I could get by with a lot less due to my riding habits. Essentially, fun rides around my backyard and adjacent common land. I got 3 rides recently before recharging. I still had 40% remaining after those 3 rides. I don't go for distance, I go for technicality of terrain.

If batteries were cheap - they are hellishly expensive currently - I'd trade less range for less weight. Especially on my Storm Bee. 1/3 of the capacity for 1/3 the weight would be nice but it's not practical - yet.

I'd go for mousses before Tubliss. Minimal is better for me.

About tyres, Geomax MX33 and Shinko SR241 :

https://rickramsey.net/XBikemods.htm#tiresgeomax

Thanks! That's great info and something to ponder. The mousses intrigue me a lot. Takes all the air out of the equation.

What is it that draws you guys to this bike, or e-motorcycles in general?

For me, it's the lack of noise, the light weight, and not having to deal with oil or gas or engine maintenance.

BUT, I'm having a hard time squaring this thing up against the $1700 X-Pro 250cc Chinese bike. Apples and oranges to some extent, but similar use cases, and likely similar build quality and dealer/warranty service (both being made in China) with cost and range giving the clear advantage to the old tech.

https://xprousa.com/collections/dir...-zongshen-brand-engine?variant=41863234945184

Yes, I was comparing the Ultra to my ebike before, but I've decided that's the right bike for single-track riding, which leaves me looking at the Ultra for more traditional OHV trail use, and comparing it against more traditional off-road motor bikes.




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All of your positive points are the same for me. I'll add two more: amazing acceleration and torque in the useful range (right off the mark); simple controls, no gears, no foot controls which is good in MX boots.

I also own a cheap Chinese enduro (a Kenbo SX200) which I bought new but now regret it. It only cost a fraction of what my Sur Ron's cost me but the quality is a fraction too. The Kenbo lacks power, lacks good suspension and parts fell off just riding home. It's really night and day.

Although, the initial price of entry is higher with e-bikes, the running costs are
negligible. A decent dual-purpose bike like a Yamaha WR250 or Honda CRF250 would cost similar to buy and cost more to run and maintain without probably less fun factor.

Good points.

With the brake controls on the Surron, is it a left hand rear brake, right hand front? And if so, could the lines be swapped to reverse them, to make it like a mountain bike?


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I would hope the quality, components and after sales would be more in comparison with the GPX line of Chinese made bikes in the $4400-$6000 range vs a $1700 disposable amazon type china bike.

yes to both. Personally, I like my front on the right. I hate the bicycle brake arrangement, but am too lazy to swap.

My cumulative time on bicycles vs moto is easily 100:1 or more, so the right hand rear brake thing is just too deeply engrained to make a change now. I somehow figured out the foot brake and right hand front brake arrangement, but can't imagine keeping the difference straight when both use hand levers exclusively.

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Sorry, I have no experience swapping brakes to the other side but I'm guessing it's possible. There are a lot of Surron experts on Reddit who know those bikes inside out. They could probably help out with any conversions.

In my experience on my bicycles, the front brake was on the right and the rear brake on the left. In any case, I'm able to switch from 2-wheelers with different controls without too much adjustment time.

I rode a lot of scooters in Vietnam so I find the hand lever brakes very natural and much easier to control and modulate than a foot rear brake, especially with hefty boots, like MX boots.

Yes, of course. It stands to reason. My Kenbo SX6 (200cc) only cost me US$1200! That's new. It looks the part but it's vastly inferior compared to any Surron. I'm going to try to sell the Kenbo, it's such a disappointment. Incredibly, 2 people recommended it to me. I guess they don't know the difference between a shit bike and a great bike. Have a look:



Looks like a dual purpose bike with modern(ish) looking parts, but everything is inferior.

2 parts fell off just on the ride home. You might notice the missing exhaust pipe guard. Sure this could be fixed by using Loctite on every nut and bolt but I've never needed to do that on other bikes.

What's unforgivable for me are these:

Engine: It's gutless. Hardly any torque, hardly any horsepower. It won't start when a bit cold and there doesn't appear to be a choke (manual or automatic).
Suspension: it's a pogo stick. You bounce down any off-road - even nice unpaved roads - like a kangaroo.

I was hoping for an ICE bike that I could carry my wife and a bit of luggage YET very light and economical. This isn't it. However, I don't want a big adventure bike ever again. I want the smallest possible ICE bike that will do the trick. Maybe a used 250-300cc Japanese bike (Honda or Yamaha preferred).

CJ, so you have bicycle skills and not motorcycle skills? Seems you could get a pedal assist bike, or a Rad bike and meet your needs. Go Ubco. Or flip the levers.
Its such a silly argument the controls are in the wrong place. The Ultra Bee is not trying to be a bicycle.
More of a cutting edge motorcycle with also having light weight. Its for you to catch up.

My interest is like my recently purchased Light Bee. Lightweight, stealth and maneuverable. Fast (reasonably). Cost effective, a little helpful environmentally, and a bit more than your average noisy China air cooled pit bike. ...Got one of those... Ain't sneaking through any neighborhoods on it!
A whole lot of reasons to like it.

I immediately changed my mountain bike brakes to match my motorcycle when I was in college. I hated switching back and forth. Still works for me!