Any conversation about electric motorcycles will eventually turn to gripes about range and charging times. But if you just want to hoon around on trails with your friends on weekends, without alerting the locals, a small electric enduro makes sense. Which is why Tom Gilroy at Purpose Built Moto picked the KTM Freeride EX C for his latest project.
This KTM Freeride model packs 42 Nm of torque into a package weighing just 108 kilos [238 pounds], with a top speed of 80 km/h and a city range of 100 km. So it’s the perfect weekend weapon.

?I was excited to have a ride on this thing,? says Tom, ?but I wasn?t excited about the way it looked. Like most E-motorcycles, it had a sharp appearance devoid of any shred of nostalgia. I think that?s a sticking point for converting a lot of riders to electric bikes.? ?My bet was if I could inject a touch of class, a little nostalgia and jam in a bit of PBM styling, I might get a few people off the fence and onto electric bikes.?

Tom hasn’t technically customized the KTM under the Purpose Built Moto banner though. Instead, PBM has teamed up with another e-bike enthusiast to form a new company, Grid Cycles. This scrambler their first official release, and there’s a Zero-based street tracker breaking cover soon too.
The Freeride EX C is made for pure off-roading?so it has no turn signals, no license plate mount, and minimal bodywork. ?The teardown was simple,? says Tom. ?Being a motocrosser, it’s built to be pulled...