We have a new long termer on test, something very different. Joining our family two-stroke mini and MX bikes is a Torrot Motocross Two electric kids bike. Here are our first impressions...
We’ve got a new member of the BikeReview family, a ripper Torrot Motocross Two electric kids bike. The BikeReview Torrot MX2 will be used by the Ware kids for fun riding at home and on holidays, and will also be ridden by Anthony on his club days…
The BikeReview Torrot MX2 will be used in place of our KTM50SX Mini for a while competitively, as well as a fun bike for the kids to ride… It is the perfect size for the transition from 50cc auto to 65cc for our youngest son Anthony.
Torrot motorcycles are imported by Urban Moto Imports, the Company that import and distribute Royal Enfield, Benelli, MV Agusta, Rieju, Peugeot, Segway and Super SOCO. They started bringing these Torrot motorcycles in about a year ago, and we noticed some social media posts by some of the staff there showing their young ones ripping around on these electric bikes… I thought they looked fantastic and at the time I was moving my youngest son up from his PW50 to a KTM50SX Mini…
That transition to the KTM went well, but the KTM is a lot of work. It took me a good few months to set it up properly and stop it overheating on the Enduro and Gymkhana days, or slow trail riding or fun riding. On the MX days it is fine. I ended up having to fit oversized radiators, a billet impellor, larger volume coolant hoses and modified the clutch all to keep it cool.
“I thought they looked fantastic and at the time I was moving my youngest son up from his PW50 to a KTM50SX Mini…”
It was a pain but a fast bike, but I really didn’t want to go through it all again. Anthony had outgrown the Mini after 6 months, and I purchased a wrecked KTM50SX Senior, the bigger frame version with larger wheels… Here we go again! I sold the Mini with all of the parts so was going to have to start all over with the new bike. Then the Torrot call came from Mal at UMI… “Would you like to try one as a long termer”… I could not say yes fast enough. This was going to be exactly what we needed!
My youngest son started out on a PW50, from age four until he turned six. The PW50 was reliable and a good thing.
The KTM50SX Senior was stripped and boxed up for later and the MX2 arrived in no time. Still in the box, un-crating and assembling it was a family affair. There was a bunch of Torrot shirts thrown in and the kids went nuts over these and had them on immediately. They have hardly stopped wearing them since. Some days at home all four are wearing Torrot shirts. I feel like I’m living at the Torrot factory!
The bike went together easily, there wasn’t much to do, and we quickly got the batteries charging on the 54.6V 2A battery charger (4 hours). We were supplied with two of the 48V LiNiCoMn 8,8Ah batteries. I went right over the bike checking the fasteners, brakes, chain etc and found no surprises. What impressed me the most as I moved the bike around was the light weight, it’s only 32kg!
Assembly was quick and easy. Of course, this would normally be done at the dealership. The Torrot is brand new here, never turned a wheel!
Anthony will be the primary rider so I set the bar and lever positions up for him and then it was time for a few BikeReview stickers to complete the job. The kids were desperate to have a spin, so I set it to the slowest mode (more on this later) and let them take turns in the back lane just to have a little try. The next day we took them for a better ride…
I took the boys up to a local clearing just to get a feel for the bike before we take it to the club. There is a power switch at the front of the motor, under a plastic cover, so at first I set that to slow but it is really, really, slow so we soon flicked it over to full power. I downloaded the Torrot KIDS app on my iPhone and Blutooth connected it to the bike.
“This great app allows full parental control of top speed, throttle sensitivity, regen braking and you can even stop the bike…”
This great app allows full parental control of top speed, throttle sensitivity, regen braking and you can even stop the bike. I set it to 90 per cent power, 50 per cent throttle sensitivity and regen for their first ride. Both are experienced but only one races and has ridden the KTM50SX, the eldest son has only ever ridden PW50 and our Sherco EB16…
The boys out on their first ride on the BikeReview Torrot MX2. They loved it from the first twist of the throttle, particularly the fun factor of the electric acceleration. Overall, they just said it is so easy to ride and so light…
The first outing went really well, and the boys loved the bike. We ran just under 40mins from the first battery, then fitted the second. About 20mins into that, the bike developed a misfire type thing. It turned out to be a faulty throttle control unit, apparently it should have been swapped out already but hadn’t been. UMI had one to us within 24-hours, and I swapped it in 15-minutes. Problem solved…
A quick spin around the yard proved that the issue was solved, so then we packed the bike up a few days later to head off on a family holiday, where the BikeReview Torrot MX2 will go through lots and lots of battery cycles and be ridden for hours by the boys. I’m sure we will learn a lot more about it, but so far I could not be more impressed. It’s just so, so easy. No stinky petrol smell so I can put it inside the car, easy to wash, charge and it’s lightweight. We also keep it in the house as there are no fumes.
We will have another update for you in a few months when we have taken the Torrot on our holiday and then done even more riding with it. But so far so good…
2022 TORROT MOTOCROSS TWO SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $4,990 Ride Away (August 2022)
Engine: 1500W electric, 48V LiNiCoMn 8,8Ah with BMS integrated (Battery Management System) portable, 48V programmable top speed, power, throttle sensitivity and regeneration, 54.6V 2A battery charger (4 hours). Top speed approx 40km/h+
Chassis: Tubular CrMo steel frame, hydraulic forks non adjustable 95mm travel, DNM gas shock, preload adjustable, 125mm travel, steel swingarm, front and rear hydraulic disc brakes (hand operated both ends), 14 x 1.60in x 12 x 1.85in alloy rims, Michelin Starcross 60/100 – 14(f) and 80/100 – 12(r) tyres, 640mm seat height, 32kg weight, 40kg max rider weight, ABS plastic bodywork.
Performance: 1500w, 48V, 40+km/h
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