What Makes A Great Electric Dirt Bike?

In this episode of The eMoto Show, we break down what actually makes a great electric dirt bike—and where a lot of current bikes are missing the mark.

After spending time testing the Bonnell 805 and 902, it sparked a bigger conversation around why some bikes feel right immediately, while others never quite come together. It’s not just about power. In fact, we think the industry might be focusing on the wrong things entirely.

We get into chassis design, rider triangle, weight distribution, suspension quality, and power delivery—and why those factors matter far more than peak kW numbers on a spec sheet. We also talk about the ongoing “power war” in the eMoto space, and why more power doesn’t always translate to a better riding experience.

Other topics include:

•  Why some bikes feel like real dirt bikes—and others don’t 
•  The importance of usable power vs peak power 
•  Swappable vs fixed battery design 
•  Common platform flaws we keep seeing across brands 
•  How brands like Bonnell, Dust Moto, and Stark are approaching development differently 

If you’re trying to understand what actually makes a good electric dirt bike platform—or deciding what bike to invest in—this could be a good listen!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Emoto Show. Today Brian and I sit down to talk about what makes a great electric dirt bike. All right, we are fresh off the tail end of a test with Benell, and the bikes were great. Sum things up real quick. Bikes were great, but it raised a bigger question. What makes a bike great? And we've tested a lot of bikes. We get a lot of bikes in and out of here. We go to a bunch of tests, and sometimes they hit and sometimes they miss. But sometimes it's hard to relay why they hit or why they miss. So I want to dig into that a little bit. I want to tell you about the bikes because unfortunately, Brian, you weren't there. And I know you're interested about the Benell bikes, but yeah, what makes an e-moto a great e-moto and one that's just maybe meh.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

And you know, who is what uh person are you like designing that bike for? Is it you know general public? Are you you know testing for that, or are you going for uh the racer or the elite rider?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, and I that part I think really lies on the manufacturer. They should be relaying who they're making the bike for and why they're making it. And I think Bennell and Matt have been really clear that they're making their bikes for dirt bike riders, and that is what we like to hear. That's what we want to see more of. And when we're talking about what makes a great electric dirt bike, that's the angle that I'm trying to come from. Like we ride in the dirt here. If you're not gearing up to go ride a motocross track or in the mountains or woods, like that's not who we're going after right now. Like I am solely focused on finding out bikes that perform well in those environments. And there's you know, quite a few things where I feel like when we hop on a bike for the first time, you really decide pretty quickly, does this hit the mark or is this something that you're gonna be chasing?

SPEAKER_00 2:12

All right, so right away, what what when you look at a bike? What are you looking for?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Well, like on the banell, you know, it's it's like how does it feel when you swing a leg over it? Like, what is the rider triangle like? How does the balance of the bike feel? Like when you start riding the bike, the balance really rears its head, but you can tell a lot even just by by sitting on a bike how it stanced. Is it high in the rear and low in the front, or vice versa? Uh, are the pegs too high? Are your knees up in your elbows? You know, the the reach, how does all of it feel? And you you can tell a lot from that. Clearly, there's options to to change some of those things with with bars and pegs and that type of thing, but there's like an inherent part of the motorcycle that probably can't be changed, and that's frame, but with frame comes from balance, and how do they spec the bike? I think that is like probably one of the most overlooked things we get really overshadowed by other numbers on electric dirt bikes, but I I can't overstate how important a chassis is and how hard a chassis can be to make correct if it's kind of off the mark. But Bennell, since we're talking fresh about Bennell, I mean, those are right in the window, but like what made it in the window, to me, it feels like a dirt bike. Like it's like these these don't feel like some weird different thing. Like it, those bikes, when you swing a leg over it, they they feel like you're swinging a leg over a dirt bike, and that's really what I want to see.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

I mean, I've got a hot take here. Sometimes it feels like some of the other manufacturers didn't really even ride the bike, they rushed so much to put put the bike out there, and then they just start selling it and see what happens and evolve from there. And I don't think we're seeing that with Benel. I agree, and I have a theory on that. What's your theory?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

My theory is that these bikes started coming out, they got popular, and everyone imitated them without doing their own work to find out what type of flavor they're gonna put in the bike. They just said, option A is doing this, so we're gonna follow, so we're going to copy option A. But option A had some flaws. And so, like, you get this trickle-down effect where all of these bikes have the same flaw or the same weird thing going on, and that you're right. I don't think some of them are putting the due diligence with a test rider to figure out what's working and what's not working, how do we improve it? Instead of taking somebody's idea and making it better, it's taking somebody's idea and just carbon copying it. So I don't think that's the case with Benell. I don't think that's the case with Dust. I don't think that's the case with Stark. Some of these brands, they clearly develop their own machine and they figured out weak points and address them. But there, I think some of these other brands that we've seen, it's just they're they're carbon copying something that's already out there, maybe making their own little tweaks here and there, but they're still leaving that that big flaw that we've seen in some of the early bikes.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

All right. So yeah, um we talk about good chassis, and honestly, this has all been gone over with uh motorized dirt bikes, with uh you know uh IEC internal combustion engine. They look that way for a reason. That's why they're that way. And so the platform is there, and it's it's good to see it coming back around to yeah, and you can like tell a lot.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

You look at the profile shot of any of the gas bikes, and yeah, they all look you know pretty close in terms of the way that they're balanced, and all those manufacturers have figured it out. Like those bikes aren't doing anything that's too weird. Um, same can't really be said for electric, you know. Some of them are just you can even see in photos, you're like, ooh, that something just looks off. And when you get on the bike, you know, oftentimes I feel like I've been right when I look at something and on paper and I'm like, eh, that looks like something's a little weird, but then you get on it and you're like, yep, verified. But you look at some of the bikes that are coming out that we're excited about, and those bikes, when you look at them, profile, like there's nothing weird that's jumping out to me. Like it's like, okay, that looks balanced, it looks uh proportional, proportionate, proportional? It has nice proportions. It's a nice Porsche, it's it's got a nice Porsche to it. But yeah, you know, you you look at some of those bikes, and you know, Benell was like that too. You you get on those things and immediately there's nothing weird going on. And that's what I'm looking for. Like, first thing. I mean, it's the first thing you do, right? You swing a leg over the bike. How does it feel? Like, what how does the rider triangle feel? How do your feet to the bars to the seat? How does all of that feel when you're just sitting there? And granted, you know, with the frame, you can do a lot to manipulate it in terms of how you like the bike to feel. Some people like a little bit higher rear, and some people like the front end a little bit higher, you know, bar position, lever position, foot peg height, like some of that stuff can be changed. But if you're not within that window and there's something glaringly wrong, you you might not be able to bring it back with those suspension settings. But uh for Benell and some of these other brands that we've recently ridden, those bikes are in that window. And when you're in that window, it makes it a lot easier to just fine-tune it to make it feel correct for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

So you also rode the 905, which is the big bike, and that has 902. 902, excuse me. The 9002, 805, 902. I get it confused too, yeah. And you guys were able to test uh a few different settings on that bike as well?

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Yeah, it was mostly suspension on that, which hey, that's another thing I guess we should talk about what we're looking for on electric dirt bikes. But uh both of the bikes are coming with Sirius suspension, really high quality stuff, and we know from having dealt with it on the ultra biaton is like highly tunable. Uh, there's like, I mean, those in-house engineers they have so many options, they they bring some other people in, and it's just like pretty common equipment that most suspension tuners can uh tune themselves. And so that having that adjustability is huge, and that was a super obvious thing. Riding the 902 and the 805 and all the different variations was like we tried some like wood setups, and we tried some. Uh Brett was trying to test some stuff for um what he was calling like a GNC C setting, but like maybe more of like a uh a desert, you know, bigger hit type setting. And it is crazy how different those two bikes felt. The woods tune and that like faster, harder charge tune, like how different it made the bike feel. And uh, you know, that stiffer tune made the 902 feel racier, more stable, like more nimble. Whereas that that softer tune, I mean it felt great in the woods, like it just was like kind of couch-like, you know, like it was just swallowing up roots and things like that. But the the flip side of that is like when you get going faster and maybe have some bigger moments on some like bigger high speed hits, like that setting just generally, not just for the 902, but in general, it could like make a bike feel you know heavy and wallowy when you hit it because it's it's moving a lot underneath you. But uh yeah, I mean, like that just goes to show you how big of a difference suspension can make and how important it is to have suspension that you can dial in for what type of riding you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah, and what's cool about Sirius is they're motivated and they're gonna be there to help riders dial it in. You know, this is what they're focusing on, which is unique from any other suspension platform, like for a large motorcycle and uh based here in the United States. They're so hands-on.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah, you know, and it's like it's cool to see them at these events, like not to say that other brands don't have their you know, suspension techs out to help tune suspension uh for production settings and whatnot, but like yeah, the guys at Sirius, like they're they're so passionate about it and they're they're just like they work so hard to make these bikes feel good and feel correct for the rider that um you know, not not to say like I don't want to just like make this a Sirius commercial because there's other great suspension companies out there too, but but just like suspension in general to have that adjustability and not just be like, here's what comes on the bike. There's blue Loctite all over it, so good luck taking it apart and good luck finding replacement parts, like different spring rates. You know, the reality is like you have all of these different sized riders, different weights, and then different skill levels that are gonna require different spring rates and different valving. And if you like don't really have an option for that, then man, it makes it really tough to dial that in for these specific riders.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

All right. So, one thing I want to know how did the power feel on those bikes, and what kind of power are you looking for in general when you're going out and you're you're choosing a bike or a bike you want to ride?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Man, it's like the the power war that we've been in. I don't want to be in that war anymore. Like it is just it has gotten out of hand, and the the big thing that seems to be missing for a lot of these brands is amount of power versus power delivery. And I do not care how much power it has if it does not deliver it in a manner that you can actually use it, and so now I mean that's like their background, right? Like they are EBMX in a way, and EBMX, in my opinion, puts out the best feeling aftermarket controller for the lightweight, hyperlight, mid-size category. And yeah, I mean, it was like clear getting on that bike. Power delivery on it feels amazing, and it feels usable, you can get traction to the ground, and the same can't be said for some other bikes, a lot of other bikes that we've ridden. Like you have this like disconnected feeling, it can feel abrupt, and that really just translates into a pretty poor riding experience. And so a lot of that stuff, yeah, it can be tuned, but I feel like manufacturers should be just be hitting that right out of the gates, like they should be putting effort into making that wrist and rear wheel feel super connected. But on yeah, cheaper brands, like I I really don't feel that way.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yeah, I mean, once the rear tire lights up, it's not really making much traction. Literally, you're not going forward, it's just going sideways and all over the place. So, yeah, having that you know, throttle to rear tire connection, as you've talked about in the past, super important. And uh yeah, too much power breaks that connection a lot of times.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yeah, it's just at some point, it's just it's not doing anything for you, other than it actually kind of just like hurts the experience when it's got too much power. And if you can't really like tune it in a manner where you'd want it to be something that's refined and usable, then like what's the point, man? Everybody seems to have gotten into this like power war, which I hope is behind us. I'd like to see these brands get into a chassis war. Yeah, you know, like the chassis battle. Yeah, it's like, but it's like that's not a spec that you can put on paper. So I feel like it's not getting chased as much. People love to like just sink their teeth into like how many kilowatts does this bike have? But like, man, we should be fighting each other on what bike turns the best, what bike is the most stable, what bike can handle the power the best, instead of just being like, here's this high power number on this terrifying bike. Good luck, and don't die.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

All right, so battery size, weight, and swappability. So we've seen there's a few different platforms people go in. It's a battery that you can remove or something that's you know hot swappable for say racing, other to be able to have two batteries and bring those to the track or riding area, and then there's like a battery that's bolted in, it is what you have. So uh you want to explain the difference, go through what you yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I mean, like let's get the best battery range possible, but uh at what cost, right? Like you have swappable batteries. Clearly, you can put a much bigger battery in a bike if it's not swappable, but man, I uh like after having the option a bunch, like I'm more in the camp of I would like to see a swappable battery, and I would prefer to invest in at least a second battery and swap those out so I can extend my ride time or potentially race the bike. And clearly there is a sacrifice that's made when you make a bike that has a swappable battery because you're kind of focusing around the option of removing the battery versus building the chassis around the battery. But Matt brought up a great point and he kind of explained when we did our long form interview with him as to why they would go that direction for heat-related reasons and race-related reasons. But I'm I think I'm in that camp too, where you know, I I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, but my personal preference, I like a swappable battery at this point in the evolution of power and battery technology, it just seems like it's the best move to get the best bang for your buck if you're swapping batteries.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

I mean, last year when you did a race, you swapped the battery four times.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

So that gave you the ability to do a large all-day race, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

And it would be impossible if it wasn't swappable. So I don't know. I I I think that carries a lot of weight these days.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

No pun intended. So let's talk about engineering, if you want to talk about that. And like, so we've got what makes a nice balance, but then after you start riding the bike for a bit, you want it to last and not say maybe throw the chain or crack something here, or you know, how how does a bike evolve from that? And like what when you look at something, right what right away are red flags, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

One of the things that I noticed right away with Benell, it's like the the weirdest thing to probably look at for some people, swing arm on the 805 specifically. I I just have like PTSD, I guess, on some of these bikes that we've ridden in the past where uh you know we're bending swing arms, twisting swing arms, and ultimately throwing chains in inopportune times on those bikes. And it it all seems like it comes down to a weight savings uh issue, but man, not a place to save weight, come to find out.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Absolutely. I mean, when you add high horsepower torque numbers, especially with modded bikes or just fast bikes, and then jumping or choppy terrain, that's a bad recipe.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Yeah, and like, you know, it's it's not like a super attractive thing, I guess, to like market or talk about, but man, from our like previous experience with some of these issues, swing arm to me is super important. It's what I look for on some of these new bikes. Like, is that going to be strong enough where you're not gonna have this idea in the back of your head where like, is that chain about to come off of the back of this bike because the rear end is twisting so much? And am I gonna have to invest in multiple swing arms to keep this bike running? Not a not a problem with Benell. Like, that is something where like my eye used to never gravitate towards that, but like now that we're getting into more and more power on these bikes, I'm I'm looking more and more to that rear end design and how strong that's going to be.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Absolutely. I mean, that adds extra cost to box out and build a swing arm like that, and it adds some extra weight, but I think it's a great place to put it. It's weight in the right place. So that's a visual red flag that you'll see like when you're looking at a smaller bike and you're like, wait, the swing arm's not boxed, or it looks like other brands that you've seen and had problems with. Once you do throw a chain, and I've been thankful to throw a chain at slow speeds, but you throw something at high speeds, or in general, it's in the back of your mind all the time with that bike, and it's something you think about, it's not great.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah, I mean, like when it happens once on a bike, you're right. Like it's like that sticks with you. It's like, uh, is that gonna happen right now? I really don't want it to. And that's a terrible feeling, man. Shouldn't have to feel that on a dirt bike.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

No, and dirt bikes are designed and they look a certain way for a reason. There's been an evolution of dirt bikes over a long period of time, and they look the way they are because they have to. Uh, they need to be strong enough to survive that. I mean, these riders, obviously, there's all levels of riders, and if you put a good rider on a bike that's not designed for that, you're gonna have a problem. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

And it's like it might even be just a sized rider, too. Like maybe it's not the hard-charging MX rider or whatever, it's just like a bigger individual, and they're putting a ton of load on a bike and maybe grabbing a handful of throttle and you see the same result. And so the fact that, Benel, we're just gonna use them as the case since that was the bike that's freshest in our minds. Like, yeah, they they did not skimp on the swing arm, and it's like I I think that's uh a huge benefit to a bike like that. Everybody wants a reliable investment, right? Like when you're buying a bike, you don't want it to be constantly fixing it and constantly breaking it. You know, you want reliability, and that gets into a conversation of whether a bike is underbuilt or overbuilt. And I think as an industry, we've gotten into a habit of overbuilding underbuilt bikes. But now that we're in this era where it seems like manufacturers are really coming off the showroom floor with a capable bike, I want to see those bikes overbuilt. I want to see them strong, be able to withstand the power that is coming stock on the bike and rider weights and those types of things where you don't have that idea in the back of your head where is this thing gonna twist or break, or is you know something gonna go wrong with it? And same goes for for powertrain, especially. Like, is that gonna last? Like, is the battery gonna go bad? Like, how high quality are the parts on these bikes? And when it gets down to it, how reliable are they? And if they're if you unfortunately have an issue of reliability, how easy is it to get parts and to get service on that bike?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yeah, so location of the manufacturer or the headquarters is gonna be a big deal. Um, and you know, what kind of legacy knowledge do they have in producing those parts and have they, you know, put them out? Do they know that they're gonna stand the test of time?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Right. And then I guess time time will tell. It's like really a hard thing to figure out right when you look at a bike or right when you get on a bike. Is it reliable or is it going to be a lemon? But we all figure those things out like fairly quickly, it seems. But yeah. Yeah, there I've seen quite a few bikes get pretty hyped in the past and then come to find out a couple months later everybody's having issues with it.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Same thing with cars. Right away, people don't really know. Then after a few years of production, you start getting first hand experience and you start to really see like which bikes or which cars or what whatever vehicle is going to be like super bulletproof versus one that not so much. And you know, in contrast, also we have aftermarket companies come in and they'll find a niche and they'll fill that. So it seems like we're in a good spot though.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

I I don't if we had sat down and have this conversation a couple of years ago, I don't know if I'd be this enthusiastic. But I think with everything on the horizon in 2026 and some of these categories getting a little bit more defined with these brands that are really putting in RD, I think we're gonna see more and more bikes that are being produced the way that we want to see them produced. And I am very excited, Brian.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Hey, well, you know what I'm stoked.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

I ran out of steam there.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Yeah. I mean, what I'm stoked for is the fact that not only is there going to be healthy competition amongst manufacturers, but hopefully that will lead to healthy competition on some courses, tracks, GNCC, supercross, motocross, something fun like that.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

And if these bikes continue to get carbon copied, at least there's gonna be better platforms out there to carbon copy. So we don't keep seeing the same flaws over and over and over again on these bikes. But yeah, I think we've got some big players that are entering the market that are gonna do it right, and it'll be nice to ride some bikes that really are fun to ride.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Yeah, I mean that just ends up benefiting the riders, the consumers, and giving everybody a better overall experience. So we are stoked on that and ready for it in 2026. Yeah, we just gotta see these bikes in production now.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Yeah, now they gotta make them and they gotta get them over the finish line. The hard part. But yeah, cool. We'll see it then. All right. Goodbye. Check your flag. Yes. A peace. If you made it this far and you want more, and if this was useful, please like and subscribe.