As some are aware, my green Sur-Ron has recently arrived, here is a break down about my bike.
Packaging: The Sur-Ron arrived safely in a heavy duty cardboard crate. The bike was packed very well and didn't even sustain a scratch. Props to Sur-Ron and Luna for product delivery.
Assembly: The bike arrived mostly assembled. Even the battery was already installed. I only had to mount the front wheel, headlight, and handle bar. Anyone who has the ability to repair a flat tire on a bicycle can assemble a Sur-Ron from the crate.
Battery and charging: My battery arrived at an indicated 55% SOC. Utilizing the included charger was straight forward.
Chassis and suspension set up: When I ordered my Sur-Ron I had the option of choosing between the the RST and Fast Ace. I chose the Fast Ace based on Jay's observations with the fork. I initially set static sag of the fork at about 30mm. The rear is set at 35mm. The rear shock came with a 450# spring. In all reality, I should have a 500# spring with my body weight of 245. However turning the preload spanner on the shock tower down to about 33% of the threads is actually working, and working quite well. With my body weight, I am landing 4 foot drops without bottoming hard. I am bottoming though. The Sur-Ron shock linkage is unlike anything I have ever seen or ridden before, and it works great. I am impressed.
Quality. The quality of the frame, battery, and motor are off the hook. The welds on the frame are really really sweet. My neighbor has a 2002 Honda CRF 450. I know his 450 is old, but the welds on the Sur-Ron frame look better than his. The frame finish is immaculate. Based on the frame, battery and motor, I am having a challenging time understanding how Sur-Ron can offer this bike for $3400.
The Ride: With the front fork set at 30mm sag, I am having a difficult time dialing this fork. If I soften compression, it bottoms easily, if I increase compression, the bottoming isn't bad, but small bump/choppy terrain performance suffers. I will admit that I am a suspension snob and those that know me, know I am a very judgmental when it comes to suspension. Back when I was riding and racing gassers, I would pay 10K for a bike, then put another 2k into suspension. I am that guy. That being said, the suspension works for what ever I tell it to do. The caveat is their is there is a compromise and a price to be paid on the opposite side. The rear is easier to dial and I have found a happy medium between small bump compliance and anti bottoming.
Performance: WOW!. This bike, at this price point, shouldn't be this good. Period. Again, I am blown away. I so far have 2 rides totaling about 65KM all off road and am impressed. I don't truly don't know what the peak KV is as there is no CA/DC1 on board, but the information says its 3KW to 6KW. Well this bike definitely climbs better than my 3KW direct drive hub motor powered machine I have previously ridden. In fact, its climbing ability is on par with my old Alpha running a MXUS 4504, 18 MC wheel, with the Addaptto max E turned down to 8KW. I based this claim on a specific hill climb I had done on both bikes. Of course the Sur-Ron has a mid drive with gear reduction and primary and secondary chain drive so it probably picks up some mechanical advantage. That said, its no where near as fast top speed as the bike I am comparing it to on the flat.
Over all impression: The bar has been raised with the Sur-Ron. Its fun, it performs, and its cheap relatively speaking. An issue I had was the head set was loose. I had a weird clunk feeling when flogging the machine off road. When I got back home and searched the issue, I found my head set/fork had too much play. Easy fix though, I just loosened the upper triple clamps and fork tube clamp, and the handle bar stem, and tighten the center stem nut and the play was removed. I then re-tightened everything and the problem was solved. The only other issue was I felt that the secondary chain drive came tensioned a little tight. It was banjo string tight. Again the issue was correceted easily by loosening the axle nuts and turning the axle block screws in 1/4 turn. Problems solved. Over all bang for the buck, the Sur-Ron is very impressive.
