At the moment, not too many companies can deliver a Street-legal dual-sport motorcycle at entry-level prices. So when Solar Scooter, a UK-based company, asked us to review their 60 mph fully street-legal electric motorcycle, I had to see what this bike was about.
If you live far away from any OHOV trails or lenient municipalities and still want that flickable handling of a super lightweight electric trail bike, then a dual sport is the way to go. I imagine many riders out there would choose something like the 80 HP motocross Stark Varg if it had a street-legal supermoto version. Unfortunately, even if that bike became street legal it would likely still come with a hefty 10k+ price tag that instantly prices out a lot of riders just getting into the game. So while it’s still a bit early to be expecting something like a street-legal zero dual sport at a 5-6k dollar price point for this review I was curious to see just how well the handling and quality of the Eclipse 2.0 feels for a price of $5,995
Before we dive in here are some of the specs
- Price: $5,995
- Motor: 6kw rated with 10 kw of peak power
- Battery: 72v 45Ah LG Battery
- Controller: 400Amp sinewave Controller
- Charger: 10a charger
- Frame: Full Hand Woven Carbon Fibre Frame and Swing Arm
- Range: 50-70 Miles
- Suspension: Taiwan inverted front works with 203mm travel with Adjustable Preload, Rebound, Air Pressure and 7050 aluminum rear shock.
- Curb weight: 138 lbs
Power
With 6kw of rated power and 10kw of peak power, I was able to get up to speed quickly, at least as quickly as I’d need for the purpose of commuting on avenues, service roads, or winding backroads. For those interested in taking this bike to an appropriate place to safely practice maneuvers like wheelies, 10kw of peak power combined with its 138-pound curb weight is a sweet balance of power and weight.
As for what class of bike the Eclipse 2.0 falls under, the weight alone would make for some sketchy prolonged highway riding despite riding fully street-legal. Now even if the bike had a higher top speed like their upcoming race edition with a top speed of 70mph, I still think it wouldn’t be appropriate on typical U.S highways and that’s okay. At 138 pounds eclipse 2.0 can be a lot of fun to maneuver at lower speeds the same way a typical Supermoto or any other lower-powered yet well-handling motorcycle can be. It could also make the learning process a lot easier for new riders.
Street-legal options changing the game for electric trail bikes
Let’s face it a lot of the younger riders that are starting with Surrons or Talaria as their first bike are not riding only in off-road areas like the bikes were intended for. Most likely they don’t have a motorcycle endorsement or proper driver education training to know the rules of the road. While that’s likely not the biggest concern for those living in rural towns, being street-legal is a great direction to go in for urban areas with traffic. This way new riders coming in can get some of those same characteristics of a Surron in terms of handling yet still be riding in a way that won’t risk a ticket and more importantly be mindful of the rules of the road opening up more possibilities for use as a commuter.
For obtaining plates, the process involves emailing Solar Scooters, and they’ll send over a Manufacturer’s certificate of origin or MCO as well as a title then, depending on the state you live in you can either register it as a moped or a motorcycle, just like any other ICE motorcycle. Also for recording, we chose not to install plate holder and tail lights, although they did supply it along with other compliant necessary parts like side reflectors. In addition, we were glad to see that Solar Motors is properly registered with the NHTSA.
Battery and range:
Aside from going street legal one of the pros of this bike as opposed to something like an ultra light bee is the 72v 45 ah battery that comes stock rather than having to spend thousands on a quality battery upgrade. Combined with the 6kw of rated power from the motor this bike gives a range of 50-70 miles.
Handling and riding:
For comfort, I think Solar Scooter could have added a slightly more padded seat. The design looks great with its sleek carbon patterned fabric that matches the full carbon frame. Although functionality-wise wise it would have been great to get some more comfort but then again with the dual sport-like design it’s not exactly expected to get as much but-to-seat time as a cruiser so let’s look into how it stacks up as a dual sport.
Fully carbon fiber frame and swing arm
With that fully carbon frame you do get a pretty light curb weight that comes in at about 49 pounds lighter than an ultra bee all while also having a slightly higher top speed. Of course, having a fully carbon frame does raise some questions. For example, the clearance to the bottom of the frame is notably short so if there’s any strong impact to the bottom for example a large rock or curb hitting it then that’s going to mean some bad news for the way carbon reacts compared to the more favorable way a metal frame or better yet a reinforced skid plate would react. But then again for urban riding, this might not be at all a concern the way it would be for someone looking to hit Colorado mountain passes on the weekend.
19-inch wheels
On a similar note, the bike comes with large 19-inch wheels for both the front and back which gives you a decent seat height of 32 inches. Now to be clear those 19-inch wheels are for those who opt for off-road wheels rather than the 16-inch Supermoto wheels they offer. For offroading, the off-road tires that come with the bike have street-oriented knobs rather than the more off-road aggressive knobbies that typically come from offroad geared dual sport but if you’re mostly looking to use this on streets it’s not the worst as aggressive knobbies will typically wear out faster anyways.
Suspension
For suspension, the front inverted forks give 203mm of travel which is a ton of fun for riding through conditions like moderately rutted fire roads but I wouldn’t necessarily want to do any big jumps with it as it’s not in the ballpark of the higher end suspension setups like what you would expect to find on a Stark Varg or Zero but then again those charge a hefty premium for those parts.
As for the quality, the components are on par with what you would expect for this category. While there’s no Ohlins level suspension there are also no parts that feel like they cheaped out on. The one area I would have liked to see some improvement on is the throttle input which seems to have a very slight delay, something that’s likely not noticeable at all but definitely would help with wheelies if it didn’t have the delay.
Electrek’s take:
For a price tag of $6000, having a 72v 45 ah battery, with that same kind of lightweight trail bike handling as an ultra-light bee all while having plates makes the Eclipse 2.0 a decent value. While it’s still a big chunk of money, having to upgrade to a comparable battery for a light Bee might end up setting you back a few more dollars than the Eclipse when it’s all said and done.
On the other hand, while the Eclipse has plenty of speed to offer for city and nonhighway use if you’re looking to mod your bike I would keep in mind that unlike brands like the Surron Solar Scooter doesn’t have the same after-market support.
For fun supermoto style city riding I think this is a lot of fun and comes right out of the gate with the basics I would want but if I was looking for a more off-road aggressive electric motorcycle the combination of low clearance and carbon frame just might hold me back from going full send on certain types of trails or jumps but then again as the saying goes any bike can be an offroad bike if you’re brave enough.
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