The E Ride Pro SS electric dirt bike doesn’t need any upgrades. Despite what most influencers on YouTube and TikTok tell you, this e-moto is actually really good from stock. However, if you like sending it big or wheelie-ing for miles, you may want to consider upgrading some components that take a beating.
The thing is, not everyone needs to upgrade. And, not everyone needs to make the same upgrades. Before you press the ‘add to cart’ button, have a think about whether you’re spending your money in the best spot on your bike. Do you really need beefed-up forks if you’re commuting? Maybe not. However, a comfy seat and better tires suited for the street might be money better spent in this scenario.
If your weekends are spent at the MX track, more robust suspension and rear linkage might be more worthwhile than bling-y looking sparkly features – unless that’s your thing 😉
This article will dive into which upgrades are really best for your E Ride Pro SS, tailored for your riding style.
It’s a collection of knowledge from us here at GritShift. Rusty from GritShift R&D, who competes in some of the hardest of races, and designs awesome parts; Bullet, GritShift boss, who practically lives on a dirtbike; and myself – someone who finds the trails or MX track every chance I can get.
Read through the full article, or jump to the section that’s specifically written for you.
What’s your riding style?
Before we get into the serious stuff, spend 30 seconds to see if this quiz gives you an accurate result on your riding style:
Forward this page to a mate who also needs to find some answers! 🙂
Prior to anything else, the first thing everyone needs to do is get out and ride their bike. As is. From stock. See what it feels like, see what you might want to improve. It’s hard to work out if a change is positive if you don’t know what it was like before.
When making any mods, it is also a good idea to change one thing at a time, ride your bike, and then move on to the next mod. This way, you can quickly work out what is working and what isn’t.
Let’s start by looking at different riding styles to see which suits you best, as this will help hone which upgrades will be the most useful.
Trail riding
Think of single-line tracks through the woods. Some technical tight sections, maybe a small log or two to navigate, but nothing too difficult. You might find some fire trails in the back country to explore, or wide open areas in nature.
Enduro
Enduro riding can be thought of as an extension of trail riding. Except in enduros, especially those named ‘hard enduros’, you’ll likely find long rocky sections to navigate, steep muddy slopes that require technical riding, and everything seems more of a challenge.
MX tracks
Unleash your inner Jett Lawrence at some gnarly tracks. Send it around berms, scrub some jumps, and attack those whoops. This is the type of riding that really tests your limits, and your bike’s limits as you try to get faster, smoother, and find the good lines.
Stunt riding
Are you someone who attempts to hold the longest wheelie? Perhaps you’ve perfected a wicked stoppie, or at least have been practising… Maybe you find the perfect urban jungle to try some new tricks, and ride your bike in any way, but ‘normal’!
Commuting (street)
Commuting is just that, commuting on your e-moto. Maybe your bike is your daily drive, allowing you to have a bit of fun before work starts, or you enjoy the simplicity of getting on your bike and exploring the streets. If dirt bike riding doesn’t interest you, your e-moto is perfect in the category of commuting.
Check out this article for some ideas and how the GritShift R&D team creates their parts. :
Best upgrades for each riding style:
Now you’ve worked out which style of riding you typically find yourself in, you can work out the best upgrades to get the best from your e-moto.
If you’ve found yourself between riding styles, I suggest leaning towards the style that puts the most strain on your e-moto.
For example, I do mostly trail riding, but also enjoy a good track day. I’ll be looking into what I need to upgrade for trail riding, but I also need to see if there is anything else that needs to be added so I get the best performance from my bike at the track.
I’ve narrowed each style of riding down into 3 sections:
- Essential upgrades – These are upgrades we know are pretty much essential for safety, as the part is known to have bent, become broken, or not perform to a satisfactory standard. Basically, what you’re asking the bike to do is way beyond the limits of what E Ride Pro designed the bike to do.
- Highly recommended upgrades – These are the upgrades that we know are getting close to the limits of what the part is capable of, or the upgrade helps your riding style, so you can perform better.
- Nice to upgrade – These are the upgrades that are just awesome to do, but not as important as the upgrades above. The type of upgrades that add a bit of personality to your e-moto, or some creature comforts.
Riding Style: Trail
Essential upgrades
- Skid Plate – This is to protect the underside of your E Ride from rocks, logs, and more. The stock SS skid plate is good, but if you find yourself hung up on a sharp rock as you’re trying to find the best line, you’ll be wanting something with a bit more strength. Check out this Skid Plate from Heavy Hitter – it now comes in a range of colors!
- Wheels – Swapping the rear to a 16’ wheel will give your SS better performance, more traction, faster acceleration, and change the ergos for the better.
Check out this article about E Ride Pro wheel sizes, which explains this strange phenomenon in more detail.
Highly recommended upgrades
- Swingarm – The stock swingarm on the SS has a slight flex, which means it can place unwanted side load on your jackshaft, sprockets, chain, etc. This can lead to premature wear. Trail riding will test this e-moto, but not as much as some other styles of riding. Have a look at the Heavy Hitter Rogue Swingarm – this has no flex!
- Footpegs – Although E Ride Pro generally has better footpegs than most e-moto brands, there is still room for improvement. If you have footpegs that grip, you get extra confidence, which helps you ride better.
- Handlebar riser – If you’re someone who is taller or prefers higher handlebars, look into a bar riser; it will make your SS better ergonomically and more comfortable.
- Display mount – When you upgrade the bar riser, you’ll need to get different mounting points for the display, as the stock SS display mounts likely won’t fit with the bar riser. Read the fine print in the riser listing to find out for sure.
Nice to upgrade
- Grips – There’s nothing like a new pair of grips! The grips that come on a stock E Ride are pretty good, so I would say this is more of a preference for what feels better for you.
- Handlebar – The stock SS handlebar is also good; this is more if you have a preference for a different style of handlebar with a different color or shape.
Riding Style: Enduro
Essential upgrades
Same as Trail riding.
Highly recommended upgrades
Depending on how extreme you’re riding in this enduro category, you might need to consider these highly recommended upgrades as essential. If you’re competing in hard enduro events, it would be very advantageous to make the upgrades below. This is in addition to the Trail upgrades listed above.
- Controller – For more control over the power, and more power in general.
- Bigger battery – If you need extra time on a course, the stock SS battery won’t last.
- Upgraded motor – Can withstand more heat, and supply more torque.
The stock SS powertrain is awesome, but when matched up with the performance needs of a hard enduro event, the extra power would come in very handy, a bigger battery for longer race time, and the upgraded motor that can handle more heat and keep you on the track.
- Suspension – Front and rear as you would usually do.
- Hardware – Don’t forget to upgrade your linkages and rear axle bolt.
Again, the E Ride Pro SS comes stock with some pretty sturdy suspension compared to other e-motos in the same category; however, the stresses you place your bike under on an enduro track are huge. It would be highly recommended to replace the front and rear suspension with upgraded parts, tuned specifically to your weight and riding style.
Something you could consider is our infamous MX Fork Upgrade, which is the most robust mod you can do on any small e-moto. Rusty designed and created this conversion kit when he found he needed something much stronger to make it through a full hard enduro event, and it can turn an E Ride Pro into a powerhouse almost by itself.
- Brakes – Bigger rotors, bigger calipers.
The brakes on the E Ride Pro SS are really good, again, especially when compared with other e-motos, but remember hard enduro is one of the toughest styles of riding you can subject your e-moto to, and bigger brakes will always come in handy. It’s all about heat dissipation, and if you’re hard on the brakes for long periods of time, you don’t want any chance of brake fade. Even the mighty SS will cook its stock brakes when pushed hard.
Check out this article for more info on the best brakes on an e-moto.
Riding Style: Motocross / MX
This category is all about jumping the triples and blitzing the whoops. If you like meandering around the MX track and prefer the chicken lines, you probably don’t need all these upgrades. These upgrades are all about making an E Ride PRO SS survive the hardest landings – even flat landings – and the jarring motion of endless whoops.
Essential upgrades
- Swingarm – The Heavy Hitter Rogue Swingarm has zero flex. How do we know that? Because we designed it that way. Did you know that the stock swingarm has slight flex, which means the jackshaft, bolt, chain, and brake rotor can all get uneven wear to the point of major damage?
- Suspension triangle and upgraded bolts – These parts take big hits when you’re landing jumps and attacking whoops. This suspension triangle from Heavy Hitter is even adjustable. With more customisation, you can perfect your ride.
- Upgraded rear axle bolt – This seemingly insignificant part is actually holding your rear wheel to the bike! The stock SS bolt is good, but this one is far stronger for the MX track.
For those with the E Ride Pro S 1.0 or SS 2.0:
- Upgraded Jackshaft bolt – The first iteration of E Ride Pro e-motos, the S 1.0 and the SS 2.0, have only a 10mm jackshaft bolt. This means there is a heap of pressure on an inherently weaker part. Heavy Hitter has designed a stronger, Chromoly jackshaft bolt, which will help, but it is still recommended to also upgrade the swingarm to something like the Heavy Hitter Rogue swingarm if you are really sending it.
Highly recommended upgrades
- MX fork upgrade with the Big Sender E Ride 85 MX kit – this is the strongest upgrade you can do to your forks that will withstand anything!
Nice to upgrade
- Direct mount bar riser – If you’re finding the ergos require you to have higher handlebars, this is a great way to sort out your riding position. Not to mention, it makes your handlebars stronger!
- Display mount – When you add the direct mount bar riser, you’ll need to grab a display mount to allow your SS display to fit onto your handlebars correctly.
Riding Style: Stunting
This category really depends on the style of stunts you enjoy doing. Stoppies vs wheelies, as you could imagine, require different strength in different parts. Upgrade the parts that you’re going to put the most amount of stress on first.
Essential upgrades
- Nothing essential to upgrade, the E Ride Pro SS is a solid build for typical stunts. If you’re doing crazy tricks, then you might want to look at the upgrades that would be needed on the MX track.
Highly recommended upgrades
- Forks – Strong forks if you’re tending to place more pressure than usual on the front end. Depends on your stunting style.
- Rear suspension/rear linkage – If you’re tending to place more pressure than usual on the rear end. Again, your call.
- Swingarm – To stop the flex. This is more to do with giving other parts, like the jackshaft, chain, sprockets more longevity. If you’re sliding and skidding, this might be worth doing.
Nice to upgrade
- Anything to do with comfort, grips, footpegs, and handlebars. These upgrades aren’t necessary for strength, but if you’re more comfortable, you’ll ride better.
Riding Style: Commuting (On-Road)
Essential upgrades
- Nothing essential to upgrade. The E Ride Pro SS is built strong, so unless you’ll be sending it on the MX tracks on the weekend, there is nothing from a safety point of view that you need to upgrade just to commute or fart around.
Highly recommended upgrades
- Skid Plate – Only if you’re taking your chance over curbs or jumping off footpaths. This will protect your motor. If you’re keeping to the flat, you probably don’t need to think about upgrading this part. You didn’t think “commuting” meant sitting patiently in traffic, did you? Who never takes a shortcut?
Nice to upgrade
- Anything for comfort – Perhaps adjustable footpeg brackets, direct mount riser, handlebar upgrades, grips. This is for better riding ergonomics to personalise your ride to you. E Ride Pro got it right with the SS in terms of comfort in our opinion, but you can always change things to suit you if you’re piling on a lot of miles.
Check out this article that goes into depth for ergo mods.
Spend smart to get the best result for you.
Upgrades are fully dependent on how you ride. You don’t need the same mods as your mates, or those on YouTube, if you ride different styles. Be smart with your money, and you’ll create the perfect E Ride for you.
The other trick to modding your bike is to work out what order you’re going to make the upgrades. After you’ve ridden your bike when you first get it from stock, take some time to work out the best order to mod.
With the E Ride Pro SS, I suggest: If you’re a big sender, start with the essentials for safety, beef up that suspension, and linkages. If you like riding that doesn’t take big hits, then start with the essentials and work down the list.
Lastly, once you’ve made the essential mods, consider the ergonomic mods and those that add a personalized touch, such as adding colorized parts for an awesome look.
However, all of us here at GritShift make mods to improve performance as we like to ride hard and need our bikes to keep up. The biggest thing to remember is (as long as you’ve factored in safety), mod your bike in the order you want to. This list is our suggestion to be smart with your money, but modding is a personal journey. It’s a way to express yourself.
When you’ve worked out what you really need, you know where to find us and grab the parts you need.
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