NEWS: Battery Blaster Enduros

Electric Motion is making the transition from Trials to Enduro – and we’re here for it

The French firm has carved out an enviable reputation for its properly-sorted competition-ready trials bikes – and now it’s decided to put its years of know-how into creating a pair of seriously capable road-legal enduro machines, which have already proved themselves in the e-explorer FIM World Cup.

There’re two to choose from: the base-model £9499 Escape X and the more sophisticated £10,999 Escape XR.

The learner legal machines are both based around the same motor, battery and chassis platform; although the XR does kick out a fraction more peak power and torque (offering 12kw to the X’s 11kw, and 700Nm to the X’s 600Nm. But both bikes are actually powered by the same 3.5kWh battery that’s claimed to be good for close to 50 miles of riding.

There’s also the same 35mm USD front suspension; the same 260mm front and 220mm rear Nissin brakes; the same 21-inch front and 18-inch rear Michelin Enduro-shod tyres; and the same three rider maps as standard.

There are some key differences between the two though, and for the XR’s additional £1500 you’ll get a hydraulically-operated diaphragm clutch, and more capable R16V Racing rear shock (the X gets the standard R16V), and a more powerful charger.

Both bikes have a huge amount of adjustment using the EM app, through which you can tweak the power available and the throttle response to get the bike set up just so depending on the terrain and conditions you’re going to be tackling, and it’ll also allow you to access all the key information about your bike, diagnose any faults in real time, and lock and unlock it with the tap of a button. Clever stuff.

As far as we can tell, the compact little machines look to be on to a winner, and if you’re an enduro or trail rider who doesn’t want to do big, long days in the saddle, it could be the perfect option.

If you want to see what they’re made of out in the wild, the good folks at Inch Perfect Trials have a whopping great site up near Clitheroe, Lancashire, where you can have a proper play (opting for a quick test ride or a full-on experience day).