Motorcycles

Graft EO.12 electric dirtbike: A featherweight weapon for the trails

Graft EO.12 electric dirtbike: A featherweight weapon for the trails
The 50 kg, 25 kW Factory Team edition rocks carbon rims
The 50 kg, 25 kW Factory Team edition rocks carbon rims
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The 50 kg, 25 kW Factory Team edition rocks carbon rims
1/10
The 50 kg, 25 kW Factory Team edition rocks carbon rims
A crazy little trail blaster with excessive power available at all times
2/10
A crazy little trail blaster with excessive power available at all times
Oh you bet it'll fling a leaf or two
3/10
Oh you bet it'll fling a leaf or two
Quick-swap Monolith battery packs work across the Graft range
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Quick-swap Monolith battery packs work across the Graft range
Electrics open up an exciting niche in between ebikes and dirt bikes
5/10
Electrics open up an exciting niche in between ebikes and dirt bikes
Tasty machined aluminum swingarm and frame
6/10
Tasty machined aluminum swingarm and frame
Getting through water is no issue; the electronics are fully sealed, so the bike is nigh-on waterproof
7/10
Getting through water is no issue; the electronics are fully sealed, so the bike is nigh-on waterproof
Can go down hills too
8/10
Can go down hills too
At 50 kg, the EO.12 is barely there
9/10
At 50 kg, the EO.12 is barely there
A handsome enough design, with a clean, trialsy sort of look to it
10/10
A handsome enough design, with a clean, trialsy sort of look to it
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Taiwan's Graft EV has announced a tough-looking electric dirt squirter that weighs little more than an ebike but makes 20 times as much power. The EO.12 looks like a Sur-Ron on steroids, and should be an absolute barrel of monkeys on a tight trail.

There's a tasty little niche developing in between ebikes and electric motorcycles, populated with ultra-lightweight electrics way too overpowered to pass unmolested down a bicycle lane. Sur-Ron had a terrific hit with its 110-lb (49-kg), 6-kW (8-hp) Light Bee back around 2018 – less than half the weight of a 250cc two-stroke – and a ludicrous US$3,450 price point, it was an incredibly easy little machine to love.

The EO.12, in its Factory Team edition, weighs the same as the Sur-Ron, but offers a nudge over four times the power, at 25 kW, or 33.5 hp. It's a much sturdier-looking build, with a CNC-machined billet aluminum frame and swingarm, and large, slim 21 x 1.6 inch spoked carbon rims.

Suspension front and rear comes from French company BOS, which makes quality gear, by reputation, provided your area has good access to parts. The 42-mm inverted fork and rear monoshock are both three-way adjustable, with hydraulic bump stops, and offer 220 mm (8.6 in) and 230 mm (9 in) of travel, respectively. TRP calipers on Galfer 246-mm discs take care of braking.

At 50 kg, the EO.12 is barely there
At 50 kg, the EO.12 is barely there

The quick-change batteries are split into Endurance and Race types, depending on your priorities. The Endurance packs in 2.7 kWh, while the Race manages just 1.3 kWh and drops a little weight in return. Both batteries also fit in Graft's ATV and UTV vehicles as well, in case you've got a shedful of this brand.

Where Graft diverges most palpably from Sur-Ron is at the price tag. The Factory Team EO.12 costs a pretty penny at $9,000 – and you'll need an extra $2,600 for an endurance battery, or $1,200 for a race battery. Put those together and you're getting up into rarified air; you might want to take a look at what $12,900 can get you in the barnstorming 60-kW (80-hp), 110-kg (242-lb), 6-kWh Stark Varg, also known as the world's fastest electric dirtbike. Although we don't advise you make direct eye contact with that thing, it looks hungry.

Tasty machined aluminum swingarm and frame
Tasty machined aluminum swingarm and frame

There's a cheaper base model Graft bike starting at $6,500, which weighs a little more at 58 kg (127 lb), and makes a tad less power at 18 kW (24 hp). It uses a cheaper RST Killah fork and RPM GII rebound-adjustable shock, and has aluminum rims instead of the carbon jobbies.

So light you can lift them in and out of the truck bed, the Graft bikes look like a stack of low-maintenance, near-silent and relatively environment-friendly fun, if flinging soil skyward can be considered environmentally-friendly. Check out a video below.

EO.12 in Action

Source: Graft EV

View gallery - 10 images
6 comments
6 comments
usugo
$1k/kWh of battery is ridiculous. 21700 cells cost $200-250/kWh by buying them from a retailer
guzmanchinky
I'm in the market for an e motorcycle, but at that price I'll probably pick the Zero FX, which is street legal...
Nelson Hyde Chick
I wish there had been electric dirt bikes whgen I was a teenager, I could have gone to all those places that the noise of my two stroke prevented me from going.
guzmanchinky
Nelson Hyde Chick EXACTLY! One of the MAIN things groups protesting any new motorcycle trails mention is "noise and pollution". I can only imagine a day when electric motorcycles are the norm...
ljaques
Would someone please put a SurRon and a Zero FX in a garage, plugged-in, overnight and give me the result? I really want a mid-performing, mid-size, dual sport electric with 150 mile range for under seven grand.
Hobocat
low-weight + tons of torque instantly available, that's the ticket.