June 13 2020 I’ve owned my bike for two wonderful years. No issues whatsoever other than the brake sensors that I removed. BMS, Battery Pack, motor have all been sweet.
Two Years with Jackson!
- Originally Published June 13, 2020
- Updated October 19, 2020
- 10 Comments
Table of Contents
Disclaimer: I am not a Luna or Sur Ron employee or agent. I am an owner like everyone else.
There is no contact information on this site and I will not respond to email requests for information.
I will answer questions left in the comment areas when time permits.
10 Comments
Good to hear Mark, partly or maybe mostly because of your account, I went ahead and ordered my Sur Ron in mid May and had it here in the Bay area 2 1/2 weeks later. In short order it was unboxed, assembled and racing around the back yard. Fast forward and after 3 weeks of riding in the Sierras, I will say that this little bike is a blast and ran flawlessly. I must add that there are some upfront mods that made the initial experience more enjoyable, mods from your site as well as confirmed by others. 3″ rise Protaper bars, unless you’re very short, were a must for me and at 5’8 1/2″ tall with 30″ inseam even the 3″ rise isn’t enough when standing. Removed the brake switches and side stand switch since I didn’t want any faulty switches stopping me out in the middle of nowhere. Cutting the green wire loop and adding a 58T. sprocket gave me wheelie- at- will power and scary fast enough top end for single track and rough logging roads. A wider seat would be nice and I think new wheels (21″x 1.6″ front and 19″x 1.6″ rear) and Tubliss inserts are next on my list, I really need to be able to run lower pressures, to help soften those Sierra rocks and run better tires. Thank you for your reviews and experiences Mark, I won’t be getting rid of my ICE bikes for now but neither will I get rid of my Light Bee, it’s just too much fun and I was riding it in the mountains at times (late night) when I would never had fired up the gas bikes. Oh before I go, I have to agree with you, the quality of the bike and components is comparable to my Japanese bikes…so far so good. Mark R.
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Hey Mark, nice first name. Congratulations on your new toy. You are 1/2 inch taller than me, but have the same inseam. I feel fine when standing but that could be due to two slight differences. I use pedals and although they are the same level as the pegs, because they are staggered it gives me more room to shift around. And I added a 1/2″ more spacer under the handlebar stem than the OEM setup. The dreaded pedal kit is NOT for everyone, but I’m so use to it now I don’t ever use pegs. But shit everyone is different.
The headset change was the most important for me and next the seat. I’m working with James on a seat thing I can’t talk about right now. The 21er and my Dorados transformed the bike. Yeah Tubliss is the way to go for running 5 pounds of pressure in the tires. Just keep in mind that running really low pressure will reduce your range. You never get something for nothing is my motto. But it makes a huge difference for deflection and bumpy as shit trails. I did run Tubliss with the 1.4″ but had to modify the block, ground it down. Much easier with the 1.6ers but still a tight fit. If you trail ride a lot at night I could not more highly recommend a FFH headlight. Crazy good light. Have fun and thank you for the compliments.
Hey Mark,
Well when you can talk about the seat, please do as I’m interested. The Black edition X bike’s new headset appears to have solved the earlier headsets problem, I pounded over a lot of rocks and tree limbs with zero issues. I checked the spokes on occasion and did give a tweek to a few but none were really loose. I did break the stock rear fender when messing up a wheelie but I’m learning and this thing wheelies so easy that it’s hard not to keep trying. I should mention that the small size and light weight of this bike gave me the confidence to go places and climb things that I wouldn’t attempt on my old 300+# Suzuki Drz 400 dual sport. I’m 69 yrs. old and find that picking up and even loading my other bikes is getting to be a real chore and I’m afraid that I’m already spoiled because of the X bike. Thanks again for your site, Mark R.
I have a new personal rule. I won’t buy any motorized two wheeled vehicle that weighs 20% more than my girlfriend.
Mahalo Mark for your reviews and input on the Sur-Ron. I have owned my SR for a 3 weeks now and I cant express my happiness and satisfaction with it! I am on Oahu and a lot of my SR owning friends have either met or know of you, and you have been very informative on your experiences with your bike. Most of my rides have been at the Kahuku MC park, and already I’ve been places I never imagined, and I hope I get to see more.
I am probably one of the bigger Sur Ron owners, weighing 285lbs and 6’1.5” (lost 10+ lbs since owning!) and while I realize I am over the suggested weight for the SR, I feel like the only difference when riding with my friends is the battery life (fully expected, I’d be burning more gas on a combustion engine too). I do want to go with a bigger bar, but I have yet to feel too uncomfortable on my bike. Also to note, I am closer to a beginner than whatever comes after that.
In your opinion, do you think switching to a bigger sprocket would help me up the bigger, longer grades? I tried my friend’s SR equipped with the 60 tooth up a few hills, but it was hard to tell the difference due to the different feel of suspension (his Killa vs my Volcano) and overall setup. I read in an earlier post that you went bigger, but switched back after changing controllers.
I hope we bump into each other at some point and I hope you continue helping the SR community, even after your Cake experience and eventual purchase. Thanks again for your input, you are definitely a legend in the SR community!
Hi Clint thank you for letting me know that this site has helped you. It’s always appreciated. Just because something does not work for me does not mean it won’t work for others. I believe the 60t sprocket would serve you well. I have no experience with the Volcano forks so I cannot speak to them. I don’t think the larger sprocket will affect the feeling of any fork.
Hi Mark,
I know you don’t use foot pegs but just thought I’d add to your site the following info and didn’t know any other way to do it…I hope this is ok with you.
I personally didn’t like the narrow alloy slippery stock foot pegs but I sharpened up the teeth and gave them a try in the mountains but still didn’t like the narrowness. I’m partial to pivot type pegs as I use on my Suzuki DRZ and after the first 5 minutes of use on that bike, would never go back so I went on ebay to find some for my Sur Ron X hoping to find a model that would fit and if they didn’t, then I could possibly modify. I’m happy to say that I found a set of Pivot Pegz off of a wrecked Yamaha 1200 Tenere that were an exact replacement, no mods, straight 5 minute replacement and once again I am happy with my foot feel on these stainless steel, wider, bullet proof pegs. I have a suspicion that probably most of the different models of these pegs would be a straight bolt on but couldn’t say for sure. Hope this info may help someone…Mark
Mark thanks for the consideration. In this one case if you can post the link to the pegs I will add them to the site. Thank you.
Thanks Mark,
My pegs were used from a cycle salvage yard, a bit pricey for me new, there are cheaper Chinese knock offs but I can’t attest to their quality but they look identical on various ebay sites. Mine came from http://www.pinwallcycle.com but were off a wrecked Yamaha Tenere so not something they stock as far as I know. I just thought others might like the option and I find the pivot aspect makes the pegs much easier on my feet whether sitting or standing, especially standing. They are spring loaded to center and pivot 10* fore and aft. That’s all I have…Mark
OK Mark, thank you. I hope the link helps others who may want to do what you have done.