Bike Review | CFMOTO CX-2E & CX-5E Youth Electric Minibikes

The range of youth motorcycles available is huge. If you’re a parent or someone purchasing a bike for a kid, it can be a daunting experience choosing a ride, particularly if you are not a motorcyclist. An entry level EV option is the CFMOTO CX-2E, or CX-5E. We test both.

To fully test the CX-5E and the CX-2E, we had the two Ware lads aged 9 and 12 ride them. Both are experienced, the 9-year-old has five years racing experience, while the 12-year-old has 7-years riding experience. We then put a brand new rider on the 2E, 7-year-old Emily.

About the CFMOTO CX-2E and CX-5E
As we published, the CX-2E was retailing for $2,190 and the CX-5E for $2,490, just a few hundred dollars under the price of a new PW50 ($2,690) and the same price as a Yamaha TT-R50E ($2,490). Comparing it to EV minibikes, it is a grand less than, for example, our Torrot MX2 (Currently at publication time $3,490, MX1 $3,390) that our son races, and around a third of the price of an electric KTM motocrosser (closer to $7,000). It’s the least expensive of the known brands, but how does it rate?

The CFMOTO CX-5E (L) is $2,490 RRP and the CX-2E is $2,190 RRP. Both come with one battery and a charger.

CFMOTO CX-2E

Let’s take a quick look at the specifications of the two bikes, bearing in mind these are fun bikes, not competition bikes, so we can’t expect big performance numbers or top spec running gear. These bikes are designed to be reliable, easy to maintain and run, affordable and fun. The CX-2E is the starter bike, slightly bigger than a PW50, smaller than a KTM50SX Mini, it runs on 10in wheels, has a seat height of 550mm and weighs just 49kg. The CX-2E is 1330mm long, and has a top speed of 36km/h.

The CX-2E is designed for 4 to 7 year-old new riders and runs on 10in wheels. Top speed is 36km/h.

CFMOTO CX-5E

The bigger sibling is the CFMOTO CX-5E, which runs on a 14in front wheel and a 12in rear wheel. It is taller than the CX-2E, with a seat height of 678mm and it is longer at 1555mm. Weight is 56kg, while top speed is 46km/h. The CX-5E has quite a lot more suspension travel than the CX-2E, but both bikes share the same disc brakes. Closer in size to a 65cc MX bike, a bit bigger than a KTM50 SX Senior, the CX-5E is built for 10 to 13 year-old riders. Like the CX-2E, it has Ride Modes, explained below.

10in steel rear rim.

10in steel front rim.

14in steel front rim.

12in stee rear rim.

1200W motor.

1500W motor.

Both bikes have a steel-tube double cradle frame and 31mm conventional forks and a centre-mounted single shock with preload adjustment, the CX-2E has 72mm/65mm travel and the CX-5E has 105mm/100mm of travel. The rear brake on both bikes is a pedal, the front a bar mounted lever. Both bikes run a safety lanyard attached to the rider’s wrist, which will cut the power in the event of a crash.

The CX-5E is the bigger model, designed for 10 to 13-year-old riders. It has more suspension travel and bigger wheels.

Power, Speed, Range and Charging

Both bikes run a 48V, 24Ah lithium-ion battery with a 1152Wh capacity and a claimed charge time of 0 to 100 per cent in 5 hours at home. The battery is swappable for a fully charged spare, but only comes with one battery. A spare battery is available for $1099 RRP. Both bikes come in one colour, Baltic Blue, and look great in the flesh. They also come with a 12-month warranty and CFMOTO claim a 60km range for both bikes, as opposed to running time. We did not measure distance, only time, and the average for the CX-5E was 45-minutes, while the CX-2E was 120-minutes!

Charge time is four to five hours. We got incredible range out of the CX-2E, with four rides before having to recharge. The CX-5E ran low sooner, under 45-minutes of riding on average.

The maximum power and torque output of the CX-5E motor is 1.5kW and 7.0Nm, while the CX-2E motor makes 1.2kW and 6.4Nm. Both bikes are chain driven straight from the motor, with no gears, just a single speed. The starting procedure is really well thought out, there is a sequence of powering up the bike to prevent kids from accidentally grabbing the throttle and taking off! Neither bike have a side-stand safety switch, so it is very important to check this is up each time your child rides away…

You can see the size difference in the bikes here. The side-stands are handy but with no safety switch, we would remove them. Also, the CX-5E stand is short, so the bike falls over very easily, even in heavy wind it will blow over!

The CX-5E has four Ride Modes and the CX-2E has three Ride Modes. These modes cap speed and throttle response and can be switched while stopped with a button on top of what would usually be a fuel tank. This area also has a battery life/range display. There is also a power button and the front brake lever has to be held in until the bike indicates it is ready to rock and roll.

The rider needs to power the bike up, select the appropriate Ride Mode, then hold the front brake lever in until the bike displays the green light, the system is the same on both models

The CX-2E Ride Modes are Mode 1 16km/h max, Mode 2 26km/h max, Mode 3 36km/h max. The CX-5E Ride Modes are Beginner Mode 16km/h, Mode 1 24km/h, Mode 2 36km/h, Mode 3 46km/h. The modes also alter throttle response, with Mode 3 on both bikes very snappy off initial throttle opening, while Mode 1 and Beginner are extremely conservative on the throttle response.

Expert Test

We first put our youngest son Anthony on the two bikes. Anthony stared out on our Sherco EB16 electric balance bike then moved to PW50, KTM50 SX Junior (small frame and wheels), KTM50 SX Senior (large frame) and currently rides a Torrot MX2, about the size of the CFMOTO CX-5E. Anthony is expert level and has raced for 4.5 years at demo and club level. He rode both bikes, but enjoyed the CX-2E the most… “I like the riding position and handling of the CX-2E, it is really easy to ride and feels balanced and comfortable. It has a smoother throttle than the CX-5E, especially in the fastest mode”.

Anthony is a smaller 9-year-old, he is quite short and light, so riding the CX-2E was not an issue. Being used to more race orientated bikes, it took Ant a while to adapt to the 2E and just ride it for what it is, a fun bike, but once he found the limitations of the brakes, suspension and grip, he had a ball on it and he rode the bike many times over a few months.

“I wish it had a little more power, just a bit more, it is slow up hills. The throttle is snappy in Mode 3 but the bike is slow in Mode 2, so I have to ride it with the snappy throttle. The brakes are good, the shock is really good too, better than the shock on my Torrot. and the forks don’t bottom out. The tyres slip around a lot on the loose surfaces. It’s more comfortable than the PW50 or KTM50 SX Junior was, and soaks up the bumps well and is fun riding in the single track trails and around the house and yard!”

We played with tyre pressures on both bikes but the boys both had a few crashes losing the front, when opening the snappy throttle, on loose surfaces. Perhaps a brand name tyre would improve the grip. The lads both wanted more acceleration, more torque and a higher top speed, of course! In the end, we concluded that Anthony is just a bit old/experienced for the CX-2E and 5E but that the two bikes should be great for our youngest, Emily, and her older brother that doesn’t race.

All about easy fun

That conclusion turned out to be spot on. James had loads of fun on the CX-5E and didn’t pick up some of the handling things that Anthony did. Ant mentioned that the bike “Feels heavy to steer and is hard to balance on, and the front tyre keeps slipping out from under the bike. It also feels slower than the little one, even on the fastest mode”… He liked the size and fit of the 5E though, and the extra suspension travel as well.