Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1468524
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 21 MAY 24, 2022 P107 mode but with significantly more power. It can get a little scary too at first, but, again, you get used to it. Red mode is down- right frightening, way too aggres- sive for my rusty trials skills. I never did get used to it. All four models have traction control (TC), which can be turned on or off via a switch on the handlebar—flicked on while on the fly, it limits torque and power to improve traction on slick, wet surfaces, something not found on this day. I never tried TC since it was dry and sunny, and trac- tion was abundant on the large boulders I was riding on, so TC was far off my radar. Sounds like a good thing, though. The ePure has no clutch, so there is, of course, no clutch lever on the handlebar. In its place, however, is what looks like a clutch lever, but it controls the Progressive Regenerative Brake (PRB) system, which does two things: act as a rear brake and charges the battery when engaged. I like to think of it more as an engine brake than a regu- lar brake. If you intend to use it as a traditional brake, where you can lock up the rear wheel, you'll be seriously disappointed. As you pull in the lever, it gradually slows the rear wheel more and more but never completely stops it. What it's really doing is charg- ing the battery while slowing you down a bit simultaneously. It's a pretty cool system that works well for both helping you keep the battery charged and control- ing downhill speeds by eliminat- ing freewheeling. Again, think of it as controllable engine braking, and you'll be happy. Did I miss not having a clutch on the ePure? Surprisingly, no. Not at all. The transition off idle is so smooth and predictable that you really don't need it; plus, you never have to worry about stalling the motor, which is impossible to do on these bikes. And since I'm no trials expert, I never attempted an obstacle so challenging that I needed to pre- rev the engine before launching. I'll leave that to the pros. On to the ePure Race. For me, the most significant difference between ePure Race and the ePure was, yes, the clutch. On the ePure Race, the left handlebar lever is indeed a clutch lever, and you use it like you do on a "normal" motor- cycle—or not. You can also ignore it and just ride the ePure Race like you do the clutch-less ePure. No problem. I did play with the Race's clutch lever but found I couldn't modulate the power any better, or smoother, than without the lever, so I elected not to use it most of the time. I can, however, see how higher-skilled trials riders could really use the clutch lever to their advantage, but, for me, not yet. After riding the ePure, I missed not having the PRB lever, but it is offered as an option for the Race and the eScape R. The ePure Race and eScape R also have something called Tick Over (TKO). When turned on, the motor goes into "idle" mode, turning a constant, sus- tained "RPM" without turning the throttle. This is designed to give you better control of the power at low revs. I never tried it, but it You can entertain yourself for hours in your back yard with the ePure trials bike and your neighbors wouldn't even know.