The Cake Kalk Is a Piece of Artwork You Can Ride - Popular Mechanics

Motor: electric, 15 hp and 32 lb-ft of torque / Weight: 152 pounds / Ride time: About 1 to 3 hours / Battery capacity: 2.5 kWh / Ground clearance: 11.8 inches / Top Speed: 50-plus mph / Price: $13,000

With dirt bikes, as with cars, there's a strong temptation to translate electric stats to an internal combustion frame of reference, something we already understand. Cake, the Swedish company behind the Kalk OR (for "off-road"), knows this, and so the Kalk's energy regeneration settings are set up to mimic traditional dirt bikes. There's freewheeling, two-stroke, or four-stroke.

Even though, of course, there are no strokes—no gas tank, no pistons, no exhaust pipe snaking up along the rear fender. But given the Kalk's futuristic/alien looks and unconventional riding experience, I guess they wanted to provide at least a slim tether to the world of conventional bikes.

The Kalk's electric motor makes 15 horsepower, which sounds pretty modest. But the bike only weighs 152 pounds, and that little motor also makes 32 lb-ft of torque at zero rpm. Out in the woods, the bike feels a lot punchier than 15 horsepower would suggest, with point-and-shoot acceleration that can easily break loose the Trail Savers rear tire. The Cake is geared for power rather than top speed, with an enormous 80-tooth rear sprocket that results in 207 lb-ft of torque on the wheel.

Strangely, the Kalk is loud. Not from the motor, of course, but the gearing, which issues a high-pitched mechanical whine at speed. I like it, because a) it's a real sound that the bike's components are making, as opposed to a synth electric tone, and b) it warns woodland creatures and unaware humans that you're about to bomb up on them astride a blocky Lego dirt bike.

The Kalk's dashboard, minimalist as the rest of it, consists of two knobs and five LEDs. One knob selects the energy regeneration setting, while the other dials up one of three ride modes: Explore, Excite, and Excel. Explore gives you three to four hours of ride time, but limits top speed to 28 mph. Excite unlocks full top speed (around 50 mph) and provides one to two hours of ride time.

And Excel is your "track and race mode," with the most aggressive power delivery and shortest battery life. Excel is, of course, the most fun, but the other two modes are probably more useful if you're riding tight trails, where you don't want lightning-quick throttle response. It's like being able to toggle between a two-stroke motocross bike and a mellow trail machine with the flick of a switch.

So what's the catch? There are a couple. First, price: At $13,000 (or $14,000 for the Kalk & street-legal model), the Cake is far more expensive than its natural competitors, the street-legal Zero FX 7.2 ($10,995) and upcoming Segway Dirt eBike X260 ($4,499). And its 2.6 kWh battery is far smaller than the Zero's 7.2 kWh pack, and not much more robust than the Segway's 1.9 kWh battery.

Finally, the Cake definitely sacrifices some dirt-bike ruggedness for the sake of industrial-art aesthetics—there's a skid plate on the bottom of the chassis, but immediately forward and above that is an exposed piece of electronic hardware bearing an icon that warns against pressure washing. Which is exactly what the front tire would do to that area if you ripped through a puddle at speed. Dirt bikes have bodywork for a reason.

Still, if you can afford it, the Kalk is unlike anything else on the trail. Every component is carefully considered and super high quality, from the Öhlins suspension to the gorgeous 6061 aluminum frame.

It's a piece of artwork that you can ride.

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