I took my first ride on the Surron Light Bee X exactly one month ago today. After 1 month of ownership and 50+ miles of seat time, let’s talk about it!
First off, assembly was very straightforward. My Surron Light Bee X arrived on a small pallet and was packed neatly inside of a cardboard carton. All tools required for assembly were included, and the bike came mostly together. I had to install the front wheel, handlebars, and levers; then plug in the battery and flip the breaker - that's it!
First Impressions:
The graphics and colors are very vibrant, I was personally attracted to the purple and green color scheme over the other available options, but I can see how others may be more kin to the muted silver or black Surron Light Bee X models. Honestly it seems like every other surron on the internet is black. The attention to detail on the Surron LBX is impressive, from the anodized caliper caps, to the Surron insignias in the saddle and even down to the Surron signature grips! One odd trend I did notice is that most riders seem to remove the stock rear fender and front fender, but I believe it gives the bike a more aggressive look and opted to keep them!
Chassis:
The bike itself feels very robust. While its NOT a dirt bike, it is far more solid then a standard mountain bike. The frame is ridged and inspires confidence in the platform. The dual triple tree forks and rear linkage shock do feel quite high end for the price point. Both the front forks and the rear shock are rebound adjustable. The rear shock also has a collar to adjust spring pre-load.
One part of the chassis that was under whelming to me were the wheels. The 19” wheel looks slightly awkward on a chassis of this size, and the 70/100 tires are quite skinny. The rear is starting to show wear, but this is also after 70 miles of exclusive street riding with lots of burnouts and hooning :)
The Surron Light Bee features front and rear dual piston hydraulic disc brakes with slotted and scalloped rotors. Be sure to note that like most electric bikes, the Surron Light Bee X does NOT come standard with a foot brake, the rear brake is hand operated from the left side handlebar. The front brake is hand operated from the right side, like a standard motorcycle or dirt bike. I think the brakes have a great feel; you can really control how much pressure is being applied, it’s not an “on-off situation like cheaper hydraulic brakes. Considering I spend majority of my time on the rear wheel, rear brake control is of the essence and the stock brakes do not disappoint in this area. When hard braking from a full speed pull, the front brakes do feel slightly undersized, but this is also coming from a 320+lb rider, more average sized riders may not have this same complaint.
Controls:
I thought the seating position was a bit high coming from a smaller electric pit bike platform, but after riding it for some time - this seating position is likely more in tune with a modern motocross bike. The low slung handle bars are similar to what you would find on a performance mountain bike and make for a good agronomic riding position. The foot pegs actually have 3 different possible mounting positions for you to choose from. I have chosen to run mine in the most forward position to give myself more of a relaxed riding position. The rear most portion would give you more of a “crotch rocket” or street bike seating position.
The left side handlebar has a basic display that shows current speed and an odometer, nothing fancy - but everything you need. The left side handlebar also has a “sport mode” switch, which I always just leave in sport mode. I would imagine that you would only ever really want to take it out of sport mode to conserve battery life while commuting. There is also a horn button on the sport mode switch; its surprisingly loud and easily annoying to others around you :) There is no control switch for the headlight oddly enough, if the bike is on - the LED headlight and brake lights are on. The right side of the handlebars are strictly business with only the throttle. Delightfully, the throttle is very crisp and gives the feel of a cable pull throttle like a carbureted motorcycle, despite the fact that is a 3 wire electric throttle. The controls are finished of with a keyed ignition switch that sits directly behind the headset.
Powertrain:
Initially I was a little underwhelmed by the power from the 60V battery, but I realized that I was spoiled by the 72V high-powered e-bikes I had been riding everyday prior to getting the Surron LBX. And again, I am a 320+lb rider, this has a large impact on the performance of the bike. After spending more time on the Surron Light Bee X, I realized that it really does have good power in the stock trim (of course I still want to upgrade it :))). The Surron Light Bee X quickly whisked this large body boy up to 45MPH with no drama. It's also easy to get up on one wheel.
The controller is extremely smooth. Cheaper bikes and controllers have a tendency to have jumpy throttle engagement, but the Surron Light Bee is like silk. The bike came factory configured with the regen engaged, and it was not to my liking. Thinking about it now, the regen would likely help with my dislike of the high speed braking. Fortunately, turning regen off, or adjusting it to a different aggression level is done simply from the Speedometer screen by doing a series of brake pulls. (I can provide this routine in another post.)
The motor is very robust and from what I understand, it can certainly take on some additional power from a more powerful controller or battery upgrade, we will test the limits of this later as we do currently have some upgrade tests on deck for this bike! The stock motor has been dead reliable so far.
The stock battery has great range! I have only charged the bike a few times in the past 70 miles/1 month, and this has been voluntary as I don’t like to let the battery level get too low. The battery also has a display screen on is that shows percentage remaining. Removing the battery from the bike is also extremely simple and can be done in seconds. This is convenient in the event that you cannot get your bike to an area to be charged; you can simply remove the battery and bring it anywhere to charge. This also allows you to hot swap packs if you are doing a track event or long ride that requires more range. The Surron Light Bee X also does not require any special electrical requirements, it can be charged via a standard household electrical outlet.
Final Thoughts:
Should you buy a Surron Light Bee X? YES. Probably..
The Surron Light Bee is NOT an e-bicycle, and it's NOT a dirt bike. It's NOT really a pit bike either...
The Surron Light Bee X IS insanely fun. It's an amazing machine to mob the streets, it's confident up on one wheel and has enough power to maintain speed with secondary road traffic. You could easily use this bike to run down to the corner store, or even take it for a rip on your local dirt trails.
Many people will balk at the price and say "I can get a REAL bike for that price", but they are missing the point, and this bike isn't for them. First and foremost, you are NOT getting any brand new full sized traditional motocross bike for anywhere near the cost of a new Surron Light Bee X. Secondly, the Surron is in a class of its own; is appearance and lack of engine sounds allow the Surron rider to go to places that no traditional dirt bike has been able to exist before. Let's be honest, dirt bikes sound awesome to people who like dirt bike, but the noise is what gets riding areas closed and gets the cops called.
The Surron Light Bee X is unassuming enough to make its way down a residential sidewalk without many looks, but also is perfectly comfortably ripping down a trail or traveling at 40+ MPH.
The Surron Light Bee X is truly an out of the box fun machine, no upgrades required - it's ready to do pretty much anything you want to do with it.