Bonnell’s 805 RX: Heavyweight Power Without the Heavyweight Bike?
- Paul Roberts
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
We’ve been watching and waiting for the Bonnell 805 RX to drop, and now it’s finally here with a simple idea: keep the bike midweight, but give it the punch of something much bigger.
At 99 kg (218 lb) and with 42 kW (56 hp) on tap, the new off-road e-moto looks seriously tasty and aims to find a sweet spot between lightweight agility and heavyweight performance.
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The Middleweight with Heavyweight Ambitions
The 805 RX hasn't appeared overnight. It's the result of two years of development that started with a 3D render and ended with a working motorcycle. Bonnell then spent months hammering the prototypes before committing to production.
The prototypes were put through their paces in Daytona, where experienced racers and riders pushed the bikes hard and fed their comments straight back into development. Josh Hill was among those involved in testing and has reportedly been able to run the 805 RX at full race pace for around 20 minutes.
The 805 RX was launched on 1st September as the first model in Bonnell's new e-Moto range, with US pricing starting at $8,250. The bike is available now through Bonnell's US dealer network and online.
Then there's the torque. Bonnell claims 805 Nm (594 lb-ft) of rear-wheel torque and a top speed of more than 80 mph (130 km/h), all wrapped up in a bike weighing 99 kg.
The standard bike gets a removable 3.9 kWh battery. A larger 4.7 kWh Race Battery is coming later. The battery swaps from under the seat using a key and can be charged on or off the bike. A 1,500 W charger comes as standard. An optional 2,500 W fast charger can charge the battery in under an hour on 220 V.
Bonnell says the 805 can run for up to six hours at trail pace. Hit it hard, and that figure will obviously come down.
The chassis uses a forged aluminium frame and hydroformed swingarm. The Sirris F43 fork and R46 shock provide 245 mm of travel at both ends. It runs a conventional off-road 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheel setup, plus Bonnell's dual-pot forged brakes. There's a 240 mm front rotor and 220 mm rear, with both brakes using 22 mm pistons. The 53-inch (1,346 mm) wheelbase also keeps the 805 RX compact for a bike with this level of performance.
The electronics offer five configurable modes, regen, traction control, boost, wheel-lift assist, reverse, e-clutch and an emergency throttle. There are three display layouts, including a Race view with lap timing. The Bonnell app lets riders tune power, torque, throttle response, regen and ride modes.
Belt drive is standard, although Bonnell offers a chain conversion kit. The 805 RX is strictly for off-road use. An optional Enduro kit with lights and handguards is also planned.
But...
The Cleverest Thing on the 805 RX Isn't the Throttle
One of the 805 RX's more interesting tricks is the Electronic Finger Lever mounted on the left grip, right where your fingers can get to it. Bonnell has made it programmable, meaning the same lever can take on different jobs depending on how the bike is set up.
It can control variable regen, the e-clutch, traction control, speed limiting and wheel-lift assist. It can even become an emergency throttle if the main throttle fails. The app lets you change those settings and decide what the lever does in each ride mode.
The e-clutch is where things get really interesting. On an electric dirt bike, there is no conventional gearbox or clutch to manage, but Bonnell has effectively created a clutch-like control that can be operated from the rider's finger.
It's a clever way of giving an electric dirt bike some of the control feel riders are used to from a petrol bike. Instead of simply removing controls riders are used to, Bonnell is using software to decide what those controls can do.
The BCB Take
Electric bikes have a nasty habit of gaining weight as manufacturers chase more battery capacity and bigger performance numbers. Bonnell is going the other way: keep the bike manageable, then give it enough power that you don't feel like you've bought a compromise.
At 99 kg, the 805 RX should be a lot easier to throw around in technical terrain than a full-size heavyweight motorcycle. It should also be easier to catch, manoeuvre and, inevitably, pick up when things go wrong.
But the weight and power aren't the only things that make this bike interesting. The Electronic Finger Lever is a defining part of the 805 RX, giving the rider a programmable control that can perform different jobs depending on how the bike is set up. That's a genuinely different approach to rider controls, rather than simply adding another switch to the handlebars. We like it.
The big question is what all of this delivers when you're actually riding hard. The 3.9 kWh battery will have to cope with that 56 hp, and the clever electronics need to prove they add something useful rather than simply giving riders more settings to fiddle with.
On paper, though, the formula makes sense: midweight mass, heavyweight punch and controls that can adapt to the rider.
Ride safe, folks.
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