Caofen F80L Electric Enduro Bike / F80 Electric Moped

EICMA 2021. was the place to be for the new electric motorcycles and electric mopeds coming to the scene even in these pandemic times. One of the manufacturers we were looking forward to seeing was Caofen with its F80 electric enduro motorcycle. 

Caofen F80 Homologated version for EU Roads

Caofen explains that the main reason for visiting EICMA 2021. was to get EU dealers and distributors, as well as exposure from internet media. The team behind F80 quickly realized that to get F80 L to the market, they will need a street-legal version, not only the “off-road” version. In their words, this electric mopeds homologation is done. This is one step closer to Europan sales! 

Caofen frame feels strong and light built without welds to ensure the rigidity of the F80 electric moped. We can argue about this as much as you guys want, but welds are a normal way of making things in the motorcycle production world. Sure, it is nice to see a frame made out of one metal piece, but that’s not the selling point for this motorcycle. This only makes the motorcycle body more attractive, and high five for that Caofen! 

Caofen F80L Electric Enduro Bike Specifications

Technical specs on Caofen website

Vehicle size 1950×785× 1070mm

Wheelbase 1300mm

Front wheel (rear wheel) 2.25/2.5-19(2.75-18)

Battery capacity 3456Wh (*2304Wh/*1728Wh)

Rated power / maximum power 4000W/8000W (*2500W/*5000W)

Maximum battery life 150KM(*80KM)

Maximum speed 45-85KM/h(45KM/h)

Rear wheel torque 260N.m

Gradeability 40% slope

Front shock absorption stroke 200mm

Vehicle weight 75KG-88KG

Maximum load (single person) 100KG

0-100% charging time 3.2h(*2.2h*)

Technical specs are a mess, and to this day we are not sure how exactly to write them in this article so we get all the things correct ( Take all we write about this product “with a grain of salt” ). It seems there are two versions of this bike:

1. Caofen moped ( F80 ) with continuous power of 2 kW and 4 kW peak power.

2. Electric enduro version ( F80 L )with continuous power of 5 kW and peak power of 8 kW.

Caofen motorcycle feels sturdy, and the battery box does not feel uncomfortable when you put your legs on the bike. Certainly, there is enough comfort and space for sitting. The thing feels a bit larger than Sur-Ron light bee, and it is supposed to be more powerful with a larger battery.

To be perfectly honest, the progressive shock and the frame from Sur-Ron still feel more mature in terms of engineering and design. Caofen does not feature progressive shock, only a simple rear suspension shock that will dump what it needs to.

We asked Caofen: Your main competitor is Sur-Ron, why is F80 a better product?

The answer was: Bigger battery, more powerful motor, motorcycle graded front and rear suspension and brakes – unlike Sur-Ron that uses bicycle parts.

*Sur-ron had hard time in pandemic and had to find alternative manufactures to DNM, so the shipped bikes came with 3 different front forks and rear shocks. So, actually half of the mopeds shipped back then came with moto graded suspension if that even makes any difference.

The motor and battery were mounted lowest possible to get the right center of gravity. The battery is nicely enclosed into a massive piece of aluminum ( probably, but not 100% sure we understood our Caofen sales guy ).

The motor is wider than the Sur-Rons motor and the peak power is 8 kW. We are sure that the combination of a larger battery and larger motors can compete and maybe even dominate Sur-Ron light bee X in terms of acceleration, not agility ( F80 L weights more than 80 Kg ), but there is this one thing Caofen fails to understand.

Sur-Ron light bee X has a competitive price of 4,500 Euros in Europe, and with the lowest possible income for the dealer the F80 L will RETAIL for 7,500 – 8000 Euros in Europe. We are sorry to say that this will block the sales for a new manufacturer like Caofen. For a little bit more than 8000 Euros, people will rather buy STORM BEE fully featured electric enduro bike with homologation for the city driving, so we hope at least for a cheaper moped version.

Caofen does have a battery almost twice the capacity of Light bee X, but the price needs to be much lower. The riders weight on the bike needs to increase to standard of 120 Kg for European market. We hope Caofen lowers the China production price by 30 percent and realizes that they are new on the market and that a premium price at this stage is a no-go. However, we were wrong before, so maybe we are wrong trying to predict the markets answer to Caofen pricing.

We do like the product, but it still needs to be polished a bit, and many more details need to be communicated with potential distributors and customers.