Bigger Batteries, Real Bikes, New Rules

Arctic Leopard's XD Pro claims the biggest battery in the middleweight class, the Light Bee 2 and Bonnell 805 are finally in riders' hands, and California just ruled that e-motos aren't e-bikes.

Last week we covered the bikes that were on the way. This week, some of them actually arrived. The Sur-Ron Light Bee 2 is in riders' hands, production Bonnell 805s are out on the trail, Arctic Leopard announced a bike with the biggest battery in the middleweight class, and California passed a law every e-moto rider should know about.

As always, specs below are manufacturer claims unless we say otherwise.

Arctic Leopard XD Pro: the battery is the story

Arctic Leopard just announced the XD Pro, and a couple of its numbers will sound familiar if you read our last post.

Power: 35 kW peak, about 47 hp (claimed)
Torque: 800 Nm at the rear wheel (claimed)
Top speed: 120 km/h, about 75 mph (claimed)
Battery: 74V 76Ah, about 5.6 kWh (claimed; dealers say semi-solid-state)
Weight: 89 kg curb, about 196 lb (claimed)
Chassis: 21/18 wheels, adjustable RFLOXA suspension with 250 mm of travel at both ends, 240 mm hydraulic disc brakes, 35-inch seat
Price: $6,599 on Arctic Leopard's global site and €6,999 from a European dealer. No official U.S. MSRP yet.

Power-wise, that's Rerode RX territory. The battery is what stands out. At about 5.6 kWh, it's bigger than the Rerode RX (about 4.4 kWh) and the standard Bonnell 805 battery (3.9 kWh). On paper, that makes it the biggest battery in this class, on a bike that may weigh less than either of them.

If you've seen 93 kg (205 lb) quoted elsewhere, that's the "gross configuration" figure on Arctic Leopard's spec sheet. The 89 kg figure is curb weight. Arctic Leopard's EU store also says the specs are preliminary and "may change before serial production begins."

Arctic Leopard · Pre-order

Arctic Leopard XD Pro

Peak motor power: 35 kW (47 hp) CLAIMED
Battery: 74V 76Ah lithium-ion CLAIMED
Top speed: 75 mph (120 km/h) CLAIMED
Weight: 196 lb (89 kg curb; 205 lb / 93 kg gross) CLAIMED
Price (Arctic Leopard global site): $6,599 REPORTED

In Europe, pre-orders are open, with deliveries listed for January 2027. In the U.S., Arctic Leopard USA posted its first walkaround video of the XD Pro on October 13 and said more content and specs are "coming soon." There's no U.S. price yet. Arctic Leopard's U.S. distributor is Pinned Electric, the same company bringing in the Rerode RX, so the two could end up on the same showroom floor.

We'll know more in a few weeks, because Arctic Leopard is bringing the XD to EICMA in Milan, November 3–8.

The Light Bee 2 is here, and it isn't the cheap option anymore

The Light Bee 2 isn't just a spec sheet anymore. The first owner videos are out.

Sur-Ron · Pre-order

Sur-Ron Light Bee 2

Peak motor power: 24 kW REPORTED
Battery capacity: 3.53 kWh REPORTED
Weight: 143 lb REPORTED

Quick refresher: 24 kW peak, a 3.53 kWh battery, around 143–146 lb, a claimed top speed of about 56 mph, and traction and wheelie control. The original Light Bee X is rated at 6 kW, so the new bike has 4 times the peak power for roughly 13 extra pounds.

surron-web.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com

The price is the interesting part. U.S. dealers are listing the Light Bee 2 at around $6,100–$6,400, and stock looks tight. At least one dealer shows it on backorder, with more bikes expected in October and November.

Here's what else sells for that money:

SRPNT Z27: $5,699, 27 kW (claimed)
Rerode RX: $6,200, 35 kW (claimed)
Light Bee 2: about $6,100–$6,400, 24 kW (reported)

Both of the others claim more power. So the Light Bee 2 now costs about as much as the middleweights, even though it's a lightweight. That's really the whole argument for it. You're not paying for horsepower, you're paying for a 145-pound bike. If you ride tight single track, that may be worth it. If you mostly want top speed, there are bikes that give you more of it for the same money.

Bonnell 805: does the production bike match the hype?

Production Bonnell 805s are now reaching riders, and that matters more for this bike than most.

Bonnell · Available

Bonnell 805 RX

Peak power: 56 hp CLAIMED
Weight: 218 lb CLAIMED
Battery (standard): 3.9 kWh CLAIMED
MSRP (US): $8,250 REPORTED

The specs haven't changed: 218 lb, 56 hp claimed, a swappable 3.9 kWh battery, and a starting price of $8,250. What's changed is that the bikes are real.

That's important because many of this year's early reviews were done on pre-production bikes. When Electric Cycle Rider rode the 805 in March, they said plainly that "these were not final production bikes." The test bikes ran a chain instead of the planned belt drive, regen and the clutch feature were turned off, and Bonnell was still trying different motors and controller settings.

At $8,250, the 805 costs about $2,000 more than the Rerode RX, and the XD Pro is coming with a bigger battery, at least on paper. So Bonnell has to win on quality: the chassis, the suspension, the engineering, and a U.S. company behind a bike that's actually shipping. The first owners will decide whether that's worth the premium.

Quick hits

Stark Varg SM Sköll: Stark's limited-edition blacked-out supermoto is due to start delivering this month. It claims 80 hp and 272 lb, only 500 will be built, and it costs $14,990.
Rerode RX: First U.S. deliveries are still expected toward the end of October. We may have owner videos for this one next time.
KTM SX-E 2.12: KTM updated its electric kids' bike for 2027, with bigger wheels and longer suspension for taller riders.
EICMA, Nov 3–8: Arctic Leopard is bringing the XD and debuting a new model called the XC. KTM is promising off-road reveals but hasn't said what they are, so we don't know yet whether any are electric.

Rerode · Pre-order

Rerode RX

Peak motor power: 35 kW (≈47 hp) CLAIMED
Top speed: 78 mph CLAIMED
Weight: 225 lb CLAIMED
Battery: 97V 45Ah (Samsung 50S), swappable CLAIMED
MSRP (US): $6,200 REPORTED

California draws the line

Now the law, and this one is big.

On September 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1167. Like Utah's HB 381 in May, it draws a legal line between e-bikes and e-motos.

Not an e-bike: Any electric device that goes faster than the e-bike limits (20 mph on the throttle or 28 mph with pedal assist).
What it is instead: Depending on its speed and power, California treats it as a moped or a motor-driven cycle.
On public roads: That means registration, a license plate and a motorcycle license.
New rules for sellers: Companies can't market these bikes as e-bikes, and every ad, including online, must disclose that the bike is a motor vehicle in California.
Effective date: January 1, 2027.

Newsom signed two related bills at the same time. AB 2346 lets local governments set 10–20 mph speed limits on bike paths and multiuse trails and sets a default 10 mph sidewalk limit. AB 2595 lets San Mateo County run a pilot program banning kids under 12 from certain e-bikes.

Why it matters outside California: It's the biggest market in the country. When California makes sellers change how they describe these bikes, that changes the product pages and ads everyone sees. And now two major western states are saying the same thing: if it goes 50 mph, it isn't a bicycle, whether or not it has pedals.

What's next

Rerode RX deliveries should start soon, and EICMA is three weeks away. We'll cover both.

Sources