A Super-Approachable and Affordable Off-Road Moto Gets Even More Compelling

Last fall I was stoked to join Zero Motorcycles at TouraTexas, the off-road expo at which the brand rolled out its ambitious first electric dirt bikes, the XB and XE.

As an e-moto skeptic, I was delighted to discover how much fun and welcoming to off-road noobs they are, with the smaller and more affordable XB really earning the latter accolade.

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That aspect was enough to help the X Line crack last year’s GP100, and the bikes only get more compelling with the news that they’ve teamed up with Sirris on a custom-built suspension you can buy.

Having actually ridden that exact suspension out in Texas, I can tell you that it only makes these bikes more of a delight.

Sirrus improvement

In retrospect, I can see Zero used that event to beta test the suspension set-ups, which the brands have collaboratively crafted into pitch-perfect plug-and-play upgrades to the stock shocks.

Let’s start with the one I am referring to in the title, the XB, for which the brands designed a brand-new front setup, the F43 CMX Fork. 

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Highlights include a symmetrical closed cartridge design and dual independent sealed dampers, optimized for this exact bike for improved performance on mixed surfaces.

The $2,250 bolt-on comes with all you need to make the swap, including a spacer, caliper bracket and brake line routing components.

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The larger and more powerful XE, meanwhile, is eligible for a total suspension overhaul.

It involves the same F43 CMX Fork, retuned to accommodate the bigger, heavier bike, plus an R46 rear shock.

The fork and shock were tuned in tandem for balanced geometry and off-road predictability, but there’s also a race tune if that’s how you roll.

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Adding to the appeal, both the forks and rear shock are fully adjustable for compression, rebound, preload, and spring rates, enabling you to modify them to your liking.   

To be clear, I knew absolutely none of this last fall when I was ripping around on these bikes, grinning and whooping in spite of myself. 

That said, I could definitely sense the difference between the stock shocks and the Sirris upgrades, which felt both livelier and more forgiving. 

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Interestingly, thanks to the XE’s recent price drop (it’s now $5,995, while the XB holds steady at $4,395), both upgrades are basically half the cost of the bikes themselves, though that says at least as much about the tempting affordability of the X Line.

Plus, if you ride the bikes a ton and they make things at least 50 percent more fun, you might just leave your memory of the price tag in the dust.

Availability and pricing

The Sirris F43 XB CMX Tune Fork and F43 XE Trail Tune Fork are available now for $2,250. (The R46 XE Trail Tune Shock costs $895.)

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Sirris F43 XB CMX Tune Fork / Sirris F43 XE Trail Tune Fork

• $2,250 at Zero Motorcycles