Hyena's e-bike builds (now with HD video)

[Hyena]

I havent checked out stealths FB page in a while but yes, it that is one of my pics! Cool.
I actually prefer the sepia version I did of it, it's my current desktop wallpaper.

And yeah, the old girl goes pretty good. Well, it did until lunch time today...

I got the first opportunity to get out for a ride in over a month, have a new gopro chesty mount to play with and was going balls to the wall on some tight single track. A couple of times I just grazed the bark off trees with my shoulders when flicking it hard though tight twisties and narrowly missed some nasty stumps and rocks flying around tight bends. One that I managed to miss with teh tyres clipped the pedal and bend the crank. Badly. It doesn't look much visually but trying to pedal is almost impossible with my leg wobbling all over the place from top to bottom as it turns.
Given I hadnt done any slo-mo work with the fighter since getting the hero 3 I decided to do some jumps instead, which turned out to be a bad idea.
I launched off a small jump and landed badly, front wheel first. This is sketchy at the best of times but as I landed my foot slipped off pedal due to the wonky crank which now rotates in weird arcs. This was right as I hit a second jump which the bike and I went off together, but not in the intended fashion :lol:
The bike plowed up pretty hard and ripped off the lock on grip on the throttle side. I'm thankful I dont use full twist throttles any more, it would surely have been broken and I'd be pushing it home. All still working though, bar some nasty cosmetic damage, I dented the neck of the frame. It must have landed with all the weight of the bike pushing the forks on hard lock into the frame. It had those rubber stopper things on it but it dented it and took off the paint. It's still totally functional but the frame is starting to reflect that I ride it hard with alot of chips and a few rub marks so I think I'll pull it down shortly and have it resprayed.

As for me, high side hyena has returned. Aussie Jester WILL be pleased :lol:
First time I've hit my head in a bike crash, which is surprising considering how many times I've come off. My head and neck were sore initially but it quickly faded. The mud and scratches on my (new!) helmet show the impact. My shins got axed as usual, I really must start wearing shin pads. Even if I have little stacks I always smash them. Worst off though I think I broke my wrist, distal ulna I'd say given my medical background and vast experience in breaking wrists :lol:
I've strapped and splinted it myself, I'll get it xrayed on monday. Should be a full cast at worst but probably only a half/backslab. It's plenty sore but not nearly as bad as the times I needed surgery in the past.

Video uploading now but it missed most of the action. You see me start to come off but not the impact. Ah well, better than nothing

 

[pendragon8000]

WOOOOOOOOOOHH. looks crazy hektic! im glad to hear your wrist isn't compleatly minced. and yeah its worrying landing front first hey?
seems that road runner pic was quite timely hey?
just a thing to discuss and consder is limiting power to a desired amount so you CAN go full throttle over a length of track and not worry about spazzing out. i find 6kw is too crazzy and its mad twitchy, so if i limit to about 2.5 - 3kw i just hold it on and rip the jumps but at 6kw i cant possibly (with my skills) do the jumps, and even set at 6kw its very dificult to power wheelie the right amount of power over the jumps, ie speed 35kph and power at the right moment over the jump to hold the ike at the right angle to land nicely and be ready for the next jmp.
looking foward to video.
all the best with your injuries champ
peace

 

[Rodney64]

I'm just recovering from my fall Jay. So I feel your pain. A couple of years back I broke both the ulna and radius but never had it operated on. It's healed well but its still weak. I'm getting some elbow and knee pads from gloworm cycles which is on its way. Now I only have to use it.

 

[Hyena]

I'm just recovering from my fall Jay. So I feel your pain. A couple of years back I broke both the ulna and radius but never had it operated on. It's healed well but its still weak. I'm getting some elbow and knee pads from gloworm cycles which is on its way. Now I only have to use it.

Yeah Rod if we must insist on riding like invincible, flexible teenagers we need to atleast pad ourselves up :lol:
I'm glad I had my full face helmet on, given where the mud is on it I probably would have been right in a normal bicycle helmet on this occasion but you never know what's ahead.
I've I've had a rough run with my wrists. Broke one badly years back coming off a bloody postie bike of all things. It was a slow speed, trivial looking fall but I landed badly and split the radius up the bone. 2 lots of surgery later and I've lost the flexibility and strength I used to have - no more ju jitsu, or opening stubborn jars! Then I had a stack on my first test ride of a R&D 5kw ebike I had just built (on a wet road) where I broke it again + the other wrist. Full cast on the badly broken one but only a half on the other. So now I'm up to 2 badly broken lefts and 2 minor fractures of the right :lol:
What injuries are you nursing ?

at 6kw i cant possibly (with my skills) do the jumps, and even set at 6kw its very dificult to power wheelie the right amount of power over the jumps

Yeah mine's really set up for belting through single track, not jumps. I like the surge of acceleration on the tight stuff. When going hard most of the time I'm bursting power then hard on the brakes, and skidding/drifting into tight corners and then powering out with slight wheelspin. You can't do that with the current turned down. But yeah it's very difficult to hold a wheelie, atleast I struggle. I normally give a little more tug on the bars over jumps to favour landing bum first but as you said if you dont get it exactly right the power will flick you off the back when you land. I actually did this just prior and it nearly went from under me, which is why I didnt yank the bars this time, and promptly stacked

And with the 6 vs 9kw thing, there's really not that much more in it. The motors are pretty inefficient when they're pulling that sort of current so a heap of that extra power is just being cooked off as wasted heat. Yeah you notice the extra pull but it's no like it's 50% more power like it sounds on paper.

Here's the vid. Take note kids, this is how NOT to land even a pissy little jump :lol:

[youtube]WJ-tDAsrSTU[/youtube]

 

[pendragon8000]

I'm just recovering from my fall Jay. So I feel your pain. A couple of years back I broke both the ulna and radius but never had it operated on. It's healed well but its still weak. I'm getting some elbow and knee pads from gloworm cycles which is on its way. Now I only have to use it.

yeah kids dont be cool not wearing safety gear. you will be much cooler continuing to ride and not need surgery :/

 

[Rix]

Bummer Jay, but at least you walked away from it. Looking at your video, did you see how your ass end kicked up on the lip of the face on the jump? That's tells me you need to slow that rebound down on the rear. Go at least two more clicks clockwise and start from there. The clicker should be at the bottom of the shock. Ideally if you have a series of woops, you can dial your suspension perfectly. You want to slow down the rear enough so the stroke returns (extends after compression) before your hit the next woop. You will know if you are too slow and it doesn't extend because your suspension will feel like a hard tail Mountain Bike. Experiment with your settings you will notice an improvement over stuff like this if you slow that rear down. BTW, front looks fine. It should return a little faster than the rear.

Rick

 

[Alastor]

Rix is right but most important is your body position.To avoid writing a lot take a look at this video. [youtube]WdTSuq8s-eA[/youtube]

 

[Hyena]

Thanks Rix, I'll have a play with it. To be honest I've not done any proper suspension tuning on it since I first put it together. It rode nice and plush and I thought "yep, good, now to the nearest trail"
Thanks for the vid Alastor, a tutorial on how not to fall off is just what I need! I probably should look at more instructional stuff like that, any (questionable!) riding skills I have are from trial and error and when I come off I think "well, I won't do that again" :lol:

That said, here's a clip from from yesterday to show that I don't land badly and fall off most of the time

[youtube]zUKqONKNLvo[/youtube]

 

[Rodney64]

I'm just recovering from my fall Jay. So I feel your pain. A couple of years back I broke both the ulna and radius but never had it operated on. It's healed well but its still weak. I'm getting some elbow and knee pads from gloworm cycles which is on its way. Now I only have to use it.

Yeah Rod if we must insist on riding like invincible, flexible teenagers we need to atleast pad ourselves up :lol:
I'm glad I had my full face helmet on, given where the mud is on it I probably would have been right in a normal bicycle helmet on this occasion but you never know what's ahead.
I've I've had a rough run with my wrists. Broke one badly years back coming off a bloody postie bike of all things. It was a slow speed, trivial looking fall but I landed badly and split the radius up the bone. 2 lots of surgery later and I've lost the flexibility and strength I used to have - no more ju jitsu, or opening stubborn jars! Then I had a stack on my first test ride of a R&D 5kw ebike I had just built (on a wet road) where I broke it again + the other wrist. Full cast on the badly broken one but only a half on the other. So now I'm up to 2 badly broken lefts and 2 minor fractures of the right :lol:
What injuries are you nursing ?

Had a fall 3 weeks ago. Bruised ribs and quite a bit of skin off my left knee and elbow. I never let go and rode the bike all the way to the ground.

I'm actually heading out for a ride now both Phasors. I haven't been able to get my ca3 working either not sure what the issue is the Cromotor is running but as soon as I plug it in it stops. Ill keep trying I know its an incorrect setting somewhere.

 

[remf]

Yeeouch, that sounds painful. I know a fractured scaphoid is painful for at least a day or 2. Hope you mend quick! I think jumping with a bent crank would be a factor, at least a distraction that could bring about a stack.

I'd like to upgrade my protection to full d3o under padding like Xion. It's pricey but not as pricey as the doctor's surgery.

http://www.xionpg.com/

 

[Glenn_M]

Taking bets on how long that Go Pro lasts........
What's that now Jay, the third??

Cheers,
Glenn

 

[Hyena]

I haven't been able to get my ca3 working either not sure what the issue is the Cromotor is running but as soon as I plug it in it stops.

If it's working with the CA unplugged then the CA is definately the fault. Sometimes they can give you some really funny faults too where they only play up under certain conditions so it's not immediately apparent that it's actually the CA Intervening.
Have you checked out the whole legacy throttle thing ? That brings alot of new players unstuck. The V3 has some brilliant features but it's not as plug as play user friendly as the V2 just yet.

I know a fractured scaphoid is painful for at least a day or 2. Hope you mend quick!

Thanks. Yeah scaphoids can suck badly and often require surgery. Sounds like you were lucky if yours only hurt a few days!

I think jumping with a bent crank would be a factor, at least a distraction that could bring about a stack.

Oh definately. Coming home I could hardly use the throttle and wasnt up for bush bashing with the busted wrist so came back along the highway. Even ghost pedalling my feet kept being driven off the pedals with a screw like rotation. I reckon if I strapped a pencil to it I could draw some neat spirographs :lol:

I'd like to upgrade my protection to full d3o under padding like Xion. It's pricey but not as pricey as the doctor's surgery.

Looks snazzy but would largely only stops the scrapes and bruises I'd think. Last time I broke both wrists I was wearing a full face helmet (head didnt hit) and body armour. The armour got a bit scraped up but I walked away without a mark on me. Externally anyway, internally I had 3 broken bones.
As I said above I think I'm going to add shin pads to my new essential minimum with gloves and helmet as they always get axed.

Taking bets on how long that Go Pro lasts........
What's that now Jay, the third??

Yep I have the whole hero HD back catalog.
Hero1 got a chipped lens (fitted a low quality replacement which converted it to IR, ok for projects but essentially now unused)
Hero2 got a smashed LCD but still functions perfectly with the LCD backpac - I just wanted the new hotness for the slomo and smaller size
Hero3 still in as new condition and hopefully stays that way until the H4 is released

Am I the only one that treats them as consumable ? I think I pretty much get a new one every set of tyres

Luckily I had it off the bike the other day when I crashed.

 

[Nanoha]

Sorry to hear about your fall Hyena, but which wrist was it? :lol:

 

[Hyena]

This one

 

[pendragon8000]

lol, how'd you go with macguivering a vehicle?

 

[Hyena]

Plan A didnt pan out, the commercial bolt still slips like my old factory one. I'll try fabricating a long banjo bolt tomorrow

 

[Nanoha]

This one

That's not good mate, the right hand is very important

 

[Hyena]

Indeed, thats my throttle hand! I had to use cruise control to get home after the stack.

And I nearly crushed a mouse at work today :lol:
(the computer kind, I wasnt out chasing rodents with my stone fist )

 

[The fingers]

Be careful when signaling turns while passing lycras. :wink:

 

[remf]

Yeah scaphoids can suck badly and often require surgery. Sounds like you were lucky if yours only hurt a few days!

No it was f'ing excruciating for at least 1 or 2 days, even with the meds. After that it was just moderately to mildly painful for a month or 2. Lucky I didn't need surgery.

Looks snazzy but would largely only stops the scrapes and bruises I'd think. Last time I broke both wrists I was wearing a full face helmet (head didnt hit) and body armour. The armour got a bit scraped up but I walked away without a mark on me. Externally anyway, internally I had 3 broken bones.

Yeah I do wonder if even d3o would prevent broken bones. I have d3o padding in one of my jackets and it absorbs the impact of a full-force baseball bat hit. But if you land on your wrist or hand the wrong way, I don't think anything would help.

 

[Samd]

Sorry to hear about the crash mang. No, really.

Rix may have a good point. That slomo video shows the landing with the rear swinger compressing fast, but then it bounces out and comes back with a second harmonic kick whilst the seat is still low. That's the point when when your brain is racing and goes from 'maybe I can salvage this' to 'better give this away'. Damping rate.

 

[Architectonic]

I'm actually heading out for a ride now both Phasors. I haven't been able to get my ca3 working either not sure what the issue is the Cromotor is running but as soon as I plug it in it stops. Ill keep trying I know its an incorrect setting somewhere.

CA-v3 won't work on the old CA-direct plugs, you have to wire the throttle through the CA for it to work (or use 'legacy mode', but be sure to reset before/if ever you wire up the throttle through the CA, otherwise you'll do a burnout on your foot...).

 

[full-throttle]

How did you know Jay likes strap-ons?

This one

Sorry to hear about your wrist

 

[Rix]

Thanks Rix, I'll have a play with it. To be honest I've not done any proper suspension tuning on it since I first put it together. It rode nice and plush and I thought "yep, good, now to the nearest trail"
Thanks for the vid Alastor, a tutorial on how not to fall off is just what I need! I probably should look at more instructional stuff like that, any (questionable!) riding skills I have are from trial and error and when I come off I think "well, I won't do that again" :lol:
That said, here's a clip from from yesterday to show that I don't land badly and fall off most of the time ]

Jay, I know your a good rider, hell when I was following you on the Bomber and you almost crashed into those trees and bushes on the Yosemite ride, a lesser rider would have ate shit big time. BTW, did that come out the go pro? Got the package delivery slip today, will get it on the way to you tomorrow.

Rick

 

[Hyena]

I have d3o padding in one of my jackets and it absorbs the impact of a full-force baseball bat hit.

Thats impressive. Is that a marketing claim or did you test it yourself ? I dont think I'd be game with my plastic plated body armour. I did do an impact "test" with a car door a high speed a few months back but of course it struck me dead centre the chest where the zip was and no armour

But if you land on your wrist or hand the wrong way, I don't think anything would help.

Yeah pretty much no defense against that. Unless you wear a snowboarding type wrist guard, but that'd prevent you holding the grips/throttle properly which would further increase the chances of crashing!

That slomo video shows the landing with the rear swinger compressing fast, but then it bounces out and comes back with a second harmonic kick whilst the seat is still low. That's the point when when your brain is racing and goes from 'maybe I can salvage this' to 'better give this away'. Damping rate.

I like this line of discussion. It's the bikes fault I came off, not me for setting up the landing badly

How did you know Jay likes strap-ons?