Surron Ultra Bee in the AHEC April 2023
After a 15 hour journey I made it to the Australian Hard Enduro Championship In Towong Upper Victoria. I had the pleasure of meeting many of the riders and their families during the 3 days I was there, and let me just say, the people are amazing. So many stories, and so much passion in an event like this is contagious, I loved every second. The young riders are certainly a different breed, I was in amazement with the skill and talent that was on display from both young and old alike. Unfortunately the under 16’s were unable to ride at this event due to insurance issues, and it may well be that way the rest of the year. However in despite of that the show went on, and what a show it was. Very quick bronze and silver riders littered the track, each proving their worth. Although this is a competition there was no shortage of help between riders out on the track, from pointers, to helping hands and words of encouragement it was a sight to see. The Gold class riders truly are something else, the speed and skill demonstrated on this particularly hard track was only something most could dream of. Congratulations to the gold class winners of the first event.
But why was Race E-Moto there. We had decided to get the Surron Ultra Bee in the event to test its metal. We were given the Ultra Bee by Panmi to test, review and provide valuable feedback to Panmi about the E moto. We also have started a race team call Team Race E-Moto were we are signing up all level of riders to get more EVs in the upcoming events, although this is a topic for another time.
The Ultra Bee performed much better than anticipated, for a few reasons. First off, John, our rider on the Ultra Bee had never seen the bike in person before the event, let alone practiced on it. Second, the bike was completely stock as we didn’t have time to set it up, 19 inch front and rear rims made sure this was going to be an uphill battle for John. We were able to put a larger tyre on the rear for traction but this made the back higher than the front, for obvious reasons this wasn’t ideal. We also only had the one battery and for a 4 hour hard enduro track, this would also be a problem.
Race day 1, we were off to a flying start. Although having the issues previously described, John persevered and was able to make the most of the Ultra Bee, until, disaster. John fell off the bike, and it seemed fine but he wasn’t able to get it running again so our day was cut short. After looking it over in the pits we realised it was just the ready switch. It just had a loose connection that was easily worked around.
Race day 2, the 4 hour event that everyone was excited for. John was hot off the line, leaving multiple 300cc 2 stroke dirt bikes in the dust and he kept up that momentum for quite a while. There was hold ups and traffic jams along the hard enduro course slowing down many competitors including John on our Ultra Bee. With plenty of falls and tumbles the E-moto just kept pushing along showing the true capability of the machine. Almost 4 hours of racing had passed and the battery hit 20%, this engaged limp mode which slows the bike to a crawl. It was unexpected and was unable to climb hills. John finished the lap and came into the pits tired and worn out after 4 hours of hard racing. The Ultra bee survived the grueling track.
Was the Ultra Bee competitive against the gas bikes at this event overall? Not really, well, not with it completely stock anyway. After a debrief and a few days thought, it could absolutely be competitive, we would change the rims to 18x21, with a mousse, we would set up the suspension differently and have spare batteries. That’s all. You could buy an Ultra Bee for under $10,000, put better rims and tyres on it with a spare battery and be competitive, no real maintenance required. A very cheap and effective way to get into racing in the hardest motorbike sport in the country.
What an event, we had plenty of great feedback for the Surron Ultra Bee from the riders that test -rode it Friday and Saturday, we are so excited to have a properly set up bike for the next race in May 2023 and see familiar faces and friends again.
