The flick of a switch
When the FIM introduced the new TrialE class in 2017 Electric Motion, or EM as we will abbreviate to, joined the ranks to promote the new electric generation in the adult trials world. It was a significant step forward in the two-wheeled world by putting the machines out and on view to the buying public and, most importantly, to show just how much they had developed.
Electric Motion
It’s quite a ‘niche’ name, as it actually does what it says on the can, but where have Electric Motion come from? We believe that they came to light at the end of 2012 with a three-model range using the brushless electric motor technology, with the claim that they were the first full-sized production electric trials machines.
We first tested one in 2014, and it was quite obvious back then that the machines at some point would start to become very much a part of the modern day trials scene, which they now have. The 2019 model range includes four different machines aimed at the trials, trail and road market, but in this feature, we focus on the EMsport model.
More modern
All the EM models are aimed at competition and leisure use, but the 2019 EMsport is the one that we believe can become more mainstream in trials as the buying public takes the opportunity to test the electric machine’s capabilities against the marketleading petrol aspirated models that dominate the trials market. There’s nothing really that is new in the frame technology, in the fact that it’s lightweight and fabricated from steel tubing, using the sump guard for extra support and protection. The front and rear suspension come from the Tech brand, the front fork is the 39mm Ø aluminium slider type, and at the rear, it’s once again the use of aluminium with the Olle R16V shock absorber.
Quality components from S3 hold the front forks in place with the very nice CNC machined aluminium top and bottom yokes, which in turn hold the S3 ‘World’ Team replica handlebars firmly in position. The wheels very much mirror the ones used on the majority of machines on the market and carry Michelin tyres, tubed at the front and tubeless at the rear. It’s the same with the stopping power, which at the front comes from a four-piston calliper and 182mm Ø disc rotor, and at the rear a two-piston 150mm Ø disc rotor. The overall weight is claimed to be 71kg.
The aesthetics are very modern and also, in our opinion, give the machine a much more modern look, removing that ‘It’s an electric bike’, which in turn leaves it standing proud against its petrolpowered competitors.
After speaking at length with the go-ahead French electric motorcycle manufacturer Electric Motion at the FIM TrialE World Championship rounds in 2018, they agreed that the way forward to promote their 2019 range of models would be to offer Trial Magazine the opportunity to test one of their machines. The relationship went a step forward in December 2018 when we asked them to provide a machine for us to put through its paces. The only dealership with the latest model in stock in the UK was Inch Perfect Trials. After a phone call to confirm that yes, they had a machine in stock, and yes, we could test it, it was found that it was the top-end model the EMsport 2019. We then found ourselves just outside Clitheroe, in Lancashire, under some threatening dark clouds to put the machine through its paces. Read on to find out how the flick of a switch gives you a motorcycle to suit a very wide range of riders and abilities.