I'll attempt to answer the questions:
1. Total cost was $3,200 for all the parts and help, most were acquired via ebay and amazon, it took some time to find the best deals. I got the BBS02 directly from a China supplier - Conhismotor, w/ 12 Ah Panasonic cell upgrade the cost was $1,027 with shipping. My goal was to build a premium (all the best components) e-bike for under $3K. I almost made it, would have made it but I got lazy and paid $200 to have the wheels laced. I also spent more on the brakes and brake cables, two sets of Jagwire Mountain Elite cable sets, than I originally planned, but they look awesome. I was inspired by the Grace MXII and the Felt NINEe but didn't want to pay + $4K , also I wanted a CroMoly frame and 29ers for gravel grinding. 1/3 of my 12mi commute is gravel / trail riding.
2. It's really quiet and the belt drive transfers the power wonderfully, best setup for an e-bike, IMO.
3. The chain line was a bit tricky. I needed to make a spacer to offset the front sprocket so it was as close to the mid drive housing as possible. The mid drive hit the chain stay before it made contact with the BB, this is where I needed the 6mm spacer, I also needed to slightly increase the dent in the chain stay for additional clearance ~3mm, and I took 3mm out of the right side drop out thus moving the rear wheel 3mm to the right. This all added up and I got the belt to line up correctly.
4. Picked the Krampus forks because I like the look, fits bigger tires if I want, for light trails & gravel grinding didn't want a suspension, they accept a standard 100mm hub, and they are 4130 CroMoly like the frame.
5. Cables - ran everything through the bars and stuffed all the extra cable inside the fork head tube and inside the stem. It was a pain but I got all the cables crammed into these spaces. I'll post some detail photos.
Parts came from all over the country / world: mid drive / battery - China, brakes - Korea, brake cables -Taiwan, tires - Europe, the rest from all over the US. Half the fun is hunting for parts on the web. Its not possible to save a lot by buying individual parts but if you shop around you can end up with exactly what you want for a bit less than buying a complete bike and customizing it. I believe there might still be a few SS Honey Badgers out there on sale for $1,799. seeing how it's built that's a good price for this bike.
All-n-all a pretty fun and easy build, I really like the Spot HB short wheel base w/ the 29ers, haven't weighed yet but it doesn't feel heavy being ridden and handles really well for an e-bike. Now that I'm done with the Honey Badger I want to make another, I wish Bosch sold there mid-drive as a DIY kit.
