October 24 2019
Like myself, Tucker is a freelancer so trying to schedule a time when we both had availability was like herding cats! But we did it! I asked him several questions about the race, why he entered, his feeling about the Sur Ron’s primary advantage over the ICE bikes and how his bike was modified. (Spoiler alert, it was a bone stock X Rockshox version!) I know that many folks would love to think that the primary reason Tucker did so well in the Sportsman class race was due to the Little Sur Ron That Could, but in reality Tucker’s racing skills were the primary reason for his success. Regardless though it’s amazing to see how this little bike with a skillful rider can do so very very well.
Here is the podcast we did on Thursday October 24th:
You can sort of tell during the FPV video he made during the race that he seems like a nice fella. But I can personally attest that HE IS a nice person. He plans on supporting the emerging EV community by continuing to test and post YouTube videos about the Sur Ron…and perhaps others as well!
Tucker’s site can be found here.
Update: September 12 2019
As luck would have it Tucker contacted me and we got a chance to chat by phone. During my ride today I came up with the idea of doing a PodCast with him to ask some questions about his experience racing against ICE bikes. So as we figure out a date that works with both of our insane schedules I thought it would allow some time for you to post some questions you’d like me to ask Tucker during the Podcast.
Please list your questions in the comment section below this post. Be sure to scan the questions to see if someone else has asked the same question you’re posing. If you don’t check and yours is a redundant question I’ll just delete it.
Watch this Sur Ron electric motorcycle win 1st place racing against gas motorcycles
electrek posted a video showing how the Sur Ron held up against ICE bikes in an actual race. The Sur Ron racer, Tucker Neary stated:
“I placed 1st in my class and I’m pretty stoked about that! I think the bike did really well. I almost finished with the battery, but on that third lap I went into EP [economy] mode and about three or four corners from the finish it finally gave out but that’s about the best place possible to have the bike die on me. Each lap was just slightly over 5 miles so I basically got 15 miles of hard riding and my total time elapsed was 58 minutes.”
I’m sure his riding skill contributed greatly to his first place finish. But it’s also nice to know how this little bike can hold its own against ICE bikes in what appeared to be a more wide open track. Congrats Tucker!
4 Comments
That is just awesome, he crashes once, has to stop and re-straighten the forks, bent his bars, then goes into limp mode, and finally has to push it the last few turns and still wins his open (all engine size displacements allowed) sportmans class, all the time battling blinding dust and lots of rocks while passing people blind, and he still wins !, just awesome
This bike is the Little Engine that Could.
I had seen some of that video before, pretty awesome. He definitely wailed on that puppy.
Eric noted to me in a post about switching to the 60 tooth sprocket will increase my range in the ugly stuff. I tested mine on a section of ugly trail for about 12 miles round trip, and at the pass summit, I did have 10% more battery than I did running the same route on a 48 tooth sprocket. I was using the sport/eco mode button like a transmission. I did about 95% of my route in eco mode, as the added rear torque with the 60 tooth made a huge difference in climbing ability in EP mode. Depending on the course, I would say that if you can give up 25% more top speed for being able to climb in EP, one might be able to increase the distance enough to finish in “style”, if one were racing.
In watching a lot of Tesla race videos, it would seem that running the battery in full out mode is the limiter on EV’s racing/speed and range. Off of a flat speed track, we have options, for sure. Craig
Well ..lets get not ahead of ourselves. The bike is ok but it is no comparison to a real enduro. It has to evolve but sadly I dont see that happening with the guys who build it.