Unleashing the top speed on the Surron LBX is up there on most new owners’ priority lists. A quick Google search will show people cutting ‘that wire’ to make the Surron LBX extra speedy. What exactly are they doing? And, why do manufacturers sell the e-moto at a lower speed? You’d think getting max speed from the Surron LBX would be the selling point, so why do companies limit the top speed?
Simple. It’s to comply with laws. In many countries, by keeping the speed below a certain limit, the Surron LBX can be sold as an ‘e-bike’ (in the bicycle sense) and legally ridden in more places. But, when you start looking further into the rules, many states in the USA don’t allow e-motos on the road, unless you register them like a motorcycle. You’ve probably noticed Surron sellers advertise their e-moto as an off-road dirt bike, and it can certainly look the part when dressed up right.
Here’s the thing. When you purchase your Surron, it becomes yours. You can do whatever you like with it. Removing this limiter is entirely up to you. Just a word of warning, before you jump in with the wire cutters, if you cut this wire, you can potentially void the warranty. If you’re not sure, check with your local Surron dealer. If you have a second-hand Surron, you probably don’t have a warranty anyway so go for it!
How do you increase the speed of the Surron LBX?
On most Surron models, you can increase your top speed by around 15 mph by simply cutting the comms wire which limits the speed. Check out this video for a simple explanation:
If you’re more of a reader here is a rundown:
- Open the battery cover
- Look for the looped green wire in the wiring loom
- You may need to trim back some of the heat shrink to reveal the wire
- Carefully cut the green wire, without damaging any other wires
- Tape each end up, then neatly wrap the wiring loom back up. Be sure the two ends of the green wire can’t contact each other!
Here are a few tips when performing this surgery:
- Turn off your e-moto (duh… it’s an electric vehicle and you’re cutting wires…!)
- Disconnect the battery
- Cycle ignition to drain any residual power in the controller
Surron X Top Speed
The Surron X Top speed with the limiter is 16 mph. Once you’ve unlocked the top speed, you’ll get around 45-50mph. This is dependent on a few factors – what year Surron you have, the condition of your Surron, where you’re riding, and how you’re riding. But as you can see, there is a huge difference between limited and unlimited speed!
Other cheap ways to make your Surron LBX faster
Maybe cutting wires isn’t your thing, or maybe you’re looking for more… Here are a few other suggestions to increase the top speed of your Surron LBX without spending a heap.
Keep in mind, with these suggestions, increasing top speed is usually a trade off for acceleration. It depends on your riding style and preference as to what would work best. Think about this, the Supercross pros make many adjustments before each race track to take advantage of the need for top speed vs hole shot speed. Or speed out of a corner vs straight-line speed.
Let’s look at a few options:
Change sprocket size
By reducing the size of your rear sprocket, you can increase the top speed – at the expense of acceleration. Depending on what size you go, you can keep your stock chain.
Here’s where it can get a bit fancy. Due to the magic of physics, you can also elect to change the jackshaft sprocket to a larger 15-tooth sprocket giving even more top speed. You may need to get a longer chain on some sprocket combos. Check the descriptions before purchasing.
Change tire size
Like changing the sprocket size, if you change the diameter of your rear tire, you will change the top speed. Keeping stock sprockets, an increase in wheel size means a slight increase in top speed – again at the expense of acceleration. This only holds true for the drive wheel (ie. the rear wheel). It won’t be much of a difference, but you’ll notice the difference in handling.
Reducing weight
Simply put, if you don’t have as much weight to accelerate, you’ll go faster. You can swap parts for lighter components. For example, better quality brake disks are lighter, and also more efficient. And perhaps less chocolate and chips. lol!
Terrain
Riding in soft sugar sand will cause your Surron LBX to be much slower than on the road, so it won’t be a fair comparison if you’re looking at riding different surfaces. Keep that in mind when sharing top speeds with your riding mates.
Rider experience
Different experience levels will create different top speeds. There’s a reason why motorcycle racing is so addictive to watch! The pros in racing are much more likely to get a faster top speed, or at least better acceleration than a weekend warrior. The good news is: you better get out on your e-moto to keep practicing – you’ll get faster! Any excuse to go for a ride is a good excuse for me!
How to make your LBX seriously faster!
This is more than just cutting any wires, this is some serious game-changing power increase. I’m talking about upgrading the battery, motor, controller – all three or a combo, to increase that top speed. No need to cut wires when you swap the stock powertrain for some beefed-up power!
Here are a few tips if you want to start diving into the world of modding your power:
- You can mod the controller only and get something that has more options, but you’ll be limited by what the motor and battery can give you.
- You can mod the battery only, but again, you’ll need to be careful not to ask too much from the motor, you’ll also need to stick with 60v if nothing else is changed.
- If you want to upgrade to 72V, you’ll need to change the battery, controller, and motor at the same time so everything can ‘talk’ to each other.
Do a little research to find out the best value for money for your riding style. You may not need crazy fast top speed if you like the tight, technical tracks. To get you started, have a look at these articles:
And don’t forget to sign up for the GritShift newsletter which is always jam-packed full of info to help you get the best from your e-motos.
What about stopping?
If we’re talking about going fast, there is one thing I would like to touch on. That’s stopping. Sounds strange, I know, but hear me out… if you’re upping the go power, you’ll probably be going a heap faster than what Surron intended. The brakes, even at stock power settings, are pretty average, so it would be wise to consider upgrading your brakes to something that won’t fade or overheat at the time you’ll need them most!
It all comes down to what you would like to get from your LBX. If it’s a few miles faster top speed, then cutting that wire will probably be just what you need. If you want big differences, then have a look into modding.
The process is simple:
- Think about what you’d like to achieve on your e-moto.
- Put together a list of upgrades you’d like to do
- Then, work out the best order to achieve your upgrades.
If you’re not sure, give us a call or send a message and we can help you work out what you’ll need to do to achieve your dream ride. Remember, just to get out there and ride, that alone will make you faster 🙂
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