Kuberg Freerider Extended Swingarm Project

[skeetab5780]

Did you have to drill the holes bigger on the front hub to fit the thicker spokes

No it came that way, i had the same exact thought and you can tell they were not drilled which is a relief. I will probably use 13 or 12awg for the rear

[skeetab5780]

Does anyone happen to know the ERD of the Eastgem 18" moto type rims? I've reached out to Alex twice with no reply and I do not know how long I need my spokes to be to build my rear wheel!


any info would be appreciated. Otherwise I will have to measure by eye off a 17" rim which may waste money

[skeetab5780]

Until I get the 18" rear wheel built I decided to throw a 17" voloci wheel on the back and change out the sprocket from a 96t to a 90t to make up for the lost diameter. I have to say the bike feels much better being a bit lower the the ground. But this front tire seems like complete overkill right now. When I match the back with it, it may grow on me but idk...

The bike feels pretty good like this but it looks pretty goofy. I feel like the front end is really heavy now, but I think it will feel more stable now for sure especially off road

I can actually touch the ground flat foot now( im 6'3") before it was one tippy toe on the ground, but a few inches is also my bad seat mod, so I feel if I get the 18" rear then fix the seat it will be mint!

[skeetab5780]

Well I just eyeballed my spoke measurement so lets hope for the best! I laid down a 17" voloci rim with tire installed and I put the 18" moto rim over it and measured how much longer I needed the spokes to be, I ordered 12awg stainless hopefully they fit...kind of just guessing

then I checked that measurement against the front spokes and it seems pretty darn close, we will see

[skeetab5780]

Took the bike out for quick ride and it is performing awesome! The seat may look odd but the bike is super comfy and raising it helps for my long legs until I can possibly drop the pegs an inch. The front end seems heavy now and so does the bike but it handles the rocky rooty muddy dirt bike trails soooo much better! You have much more stability and comfort in the overall control and handling in corners. If anything you just feel safer. The rear Voloci 17" worked well but now I cannot wait to get the matching rear 18" on the bike!

One thing I did not like is the throttle half twist with a dead spot for the first few MM's of turn, wrist was dead most of the ride and couldn't concentrate on hanging on. I think either a full moto twist or a thumb throttle needs to go in its place. and since I have a thumb throttle that is what I will do.

front fender stops the majority of the mud from hitting me but the controller is still getting covered in debris, will have to cover it up somehow, also don't like leaving the bike outside overnight because the LIPO are exposed, need to cover those somehow too

thing climbs like a beast, I need to get a few more hours of saddle time before I attempt anything too nuts

Also had to get a new satiator HV charger to get the 18s in its happy place

[skeetab5780]

Here is the change back to the thumb throttle, response is much faster now, maybe a bit too fast. I think its good but have just tested in a parking lot. If anything I will adjust the throttle up/down rate one click.

trusty 12v soldering iron

At first I tried the long throw thumb throttle that I used on the Apollo dirt bike but I didn't like it

This one is what im using now, I like it overall even though the mount is plastic and a bit cheesy, it has a much shorter throw than the black one and it goes between the brake lever and the grip


Quick little solder job and tape them up and im back at it!

[trazor]

Finally (it takes time, I know), that bike is looking rad. Would like to see videos of trail riding and tell us how the suspension is doing. I just brought the DNM USD-8 (all black) for my second OpenEMoto build. Nice work.

[skeetab5780]

Started a very crude but effective control panel area for some switching and possibly a Volt meter if I can make it waterproof. I plan to put a switch for the pre charge resistor first and then add other switches when needed...maybe a headlight switch for LED light coming in mail.

I use the C.A.D method of design (cardboard aided design) then trace it to material being used

Made my first cut with a Sawzall and immediately regret my decision! Moved on with the hacksaw making much nicer cuts, this cut will be on the underside!

This is a piece of foam/wood display board and it is being repurposed, don't mind the holes in it...

Had to trim the bottom a few times to ensure a snug fit

fit it in place to mark spots to drill mounting holes

My hydro brake line has to run right to the left of the board so that rough cut actually helps tuck it in a bit

few random mounting holes

was able to use the stock mounting hole


now to add the pre charge switch is next step

[skeetab5780]

Ohh man did these wheels end up fitting the Kuberg Soooo perfectly IMO. I am happy with the results even though it was not easy to get it done. If I did not extend the swing this would not even have been close to possible.

So I had to take apart my 24" original wheel build since I needed the rear hub for this wheel, I didn't want to but oh well...no going back now

Here is where the story was a bit drawn out, I ordered 12awg 220mm spokes and laced my wheel with a simple single cross and they were too long...oops! Then I relaced it again with a two cross and it was somewhat doable, but then I had to go back and put some washers under all the nipples to keep everything where it needed to be.

Rubber protector so tube doesn't get pinched

Denzel Bikes tube/tire so heafty

This tire was not fun to get on the rim needed two tire irons which I didn't have and scratched the rim a bit using a wrench butt

About to inflate tube



Going from 17" to 18" is like night and day... it seems like a lot more than an inch to me...or?

Sprocket will have to swap back to 94t now

So using cheap bolts does suck sometimes...stripped two out of the six sprocket bolts after only using them 3 or four times, had to cut one off with a dremel and the other I had to notch and use a big flat head to remove it

I just put these on a week or two ago...

Lubing axle since it didn't want to go back into place

tightening chain

And its back and looking better than ever!



Just enough room for the tire, some real big knobbies will fit but be damn close!

[trazor]

Very nice. Keep in mind that if you raise the back of the emoto, your front forks are going to change angle, so probably more upright now. This raises the probability of a case of going over the bars and stanchion bending. I wonder if those DNM usd-8 can accomodate a 21 moto wheel, maybe you can compensate to the original headtube angle.

[DanGT86]

Just curious, what is the actual diameter of that 24" rim and the tire. That almost looks like a 17" bike tire vs. a 24" bike tire rather than a 17"moto vs 18" moto.

The Denzel 24" looks like a good option for a lot of projects. The tread pattern looks perfect for the type of mixed riding I like to do. I'm looking forward to getting your long term feedback on it. I've heard so much negative feedback on car and trailer tires from China that I'm skeptical.

[skeetab5780]

Very nice. Keep in mind that if you raise the back of the emoto, your front forks are going to change angle, so probably more upright now. This raises the probability of a case of going over the bars and stanchion bending. I wonder if those DNM usd-8 can accomodate a 21 moto wheel, maybe you can compensate to the original headtube angle.

Ya technically the raise is only the amount the swingarm was extended from the DanGT plates, since it has the same stock front fork travel and the stock Freerider uses same size front/back wheel set. But it is slightly noticeable and the seat is now too high for me to touch ground again (I'm 6' 3") it doesn't bother me unless handling will be effected. I will have to get a trail ride soon.

[skeetab5780]

Just curious, what is the actual diameter of that 24" rim and the tire. That almost looks like a 17" bike tire vs. a 24" bike tire rather than a 17"moto vs 18" moto.

The Denzel 24" looks like a good option for a lot of projects. The tread pattern looks perfect for the type of mixed riding I like to do. I'm looking forward to getting your long term feedback on it. I've heard so much negative feedback on car and trailer tires from China that I'm skeptical.

The other wheel I took off was a 17" stainless moped rim and low profile moped tire off the Voloci bikes, putting a Michelin Gazelle on this rim would increase the diameter atleast an inch
the Denzel rim and tires outer diameter is just under 26" its much larger, also curious to GPS my top speed now

[skeetab5780]

Got a bit more work done on my half assed control panel. Got a pre charge resistor installed and a main battery disconnect switch wired in, and also an extra switch for a headlight soon. Here are the pics of the fun!

Im using the resistor that came with the Kelly controller and a 12v 100a battery master switch from auto parts store, then two 10a bat switches with weatherproof covers

Deciding which power wire to use ( I used the smaller stuff )

Used this giant crimper to set the crimp lugs, worked very well


Snuck a small accessory wire into each crimp for the pre charge


little heat shrink never hurt nobody

Bolted them to the master switch

Drilled out the control panel with a hole saw 7/8" I think

soldered wires to the resistor(make sure you put this on the controller side on the switch)

almost done, but im going to add a jumper for the headlight while I am here

there we go!

mess of wires!

traced mounting holes and drilled them out, found some stainless hardware to mount master switch

I like to eyeball everything and the two switched are about 5mm off where they needed to be, so they are a tad bit crooked(perfect for me!)

Bolted the master switch and added weather boots to toggle switches

Key in place(shaved it down years ago)

Used two Morris 97102 insulated taps to put the switch into the system for now, worked well

Wiring all over the place, but working now!

[SlowCo]

That seems to be a nice location for the "key" to slide into when there is an emergency stop... (ouch)
Great progress!

[skeetab5780]

That seems to be a nice location for the "key" to slide into when there is an emergency stop... (ouch)
Great progress!

Oh geez, lets hope that doesn't happen now i'm going to round the key off even more. Its weird how there is a drop down void in front of the seat on these bikes...maybe I can make a fake gas tank cover or something?

[skeetab5780]

Got a chance to get the Kuberg out in the trails against a real bike to see how it holds up in the real world. Battery was fully charged to 4.15 per cell and we rode for a solid 45minutes of brutal trails and hard pull straight dirt roads. Afterwards we tested the Kuberg when the cells were at 3.8v we rode up the largest hill in the area no problems...Obviously the KX125 is way faster top end and he was just toying with me...but in the tight trails it was a close race and he was fairly surprised to look back and see me on his ass every time!

I have more footage but it needs to be edited

Shot before the mud!

Bens KX125

Since his bike is so freaking loud he had to baby it all the way to the trails to not disturb the neighbors, this is basically where we started really riding

Shot after the ride

[skeetab5780]

Cannot belive that after that ride with my bro on his Kx125 my batteries were only at 3.8v per cell! That's 45minutes of brutal trails and hard pulls and two decently sized hill climbs. Stupid me was not running my GPS app so I still do not have top speed or mileage...im slacking

Here are a few pics of the dried muddy aftermath, now that I know the bike is very capable I want to try and cover/protect the controller and wiring from the wet/mud/tire splatter just so I don't have to worry about anything bad happening while tearing up the trails!

The DNM front forks got used pretty good on this ride and they handled it ok, the front end needs to come up about 1" IMO with the rim set I have now, not sure how this will be achieved but if anything I can raise the forks 1/2" above their max threshold. If you look at pictures of the Mrazek revX bike their front forks are at the top most part of the stanchions which is probably too high, but they use a nicer fork also...the only time I was worried about the forks was when I was riding down steep hills coasting thru rocks and ruts, but knowing how to ride I just kept my ass behind the seat to balance out.


Don't judge me for neglecting my old NES system in the background of the pic

As you can see the front fender works but not entirely...

[trazor]

Nice job man, how about the power ?
For the stem, do a direct mount installation, it will looks way better !

This is a very old comment but anyway, I'm against doing direct mounts on emotos prone to crash a lot (like these kind of light MX). When you mount the handlebars with a standard stem, at crash time the stem is going to rotate a bit and absorb the impact. I always keep an allen wrench in the frame to re-align the stem. If you do a direct mount you will bend the bars (ask some MX rider how many times they change their handlebars per year).

@skeetab5780: your build + mud looks great, I envy the amount of lipos you can put in that frame. In my last OpenEmoto build I also used a 18S setup, but only got to fit 3 16Ah 6s lipos. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=92563&start=25#p1423299

[skeetab5780]

Thanks Trazor I like your Emoto frame builds! Very nice work

[skeetab5780]

Here is a completely un-edited upload of my brother and I trail riding. This is my first time ever riding these trails in Ashburnham, MA and I was letting him lead the way for most of it. A few minutes in we get to a dirt road and are able to get some race laps in for fun, shortly after that we take a random wet trail we both do not know, then after doubling back I notice my rear wheel spokes coming loose since it was the first ride since building the wheel. I took it easy on the way home until I could taught the wheel and feel at ease

[mxs]

Nice work.

I am going to say that the bike is being held back by the tires. Unless, I m not seeing it right, these are more like mild trial tires, not an aggressive decent pro off-road tread. Unless, of course you wanted hybrid road/off-road tire ...

With proper tire and riders being close to equal, he should have hard time keeping up with you on any single track tighter trails ...

[skeetab5780]

Quick little after trail review video I forgot to upload