Toms build thread - poor mans stealth

Another build! maybe I'll get round to actually finishing this one. Managed to get hold of a Carrera Banshee frame for £40 on eBay, it's based on a 2004 Kona Stinky and that's no bad thing, the frame was brand new, it seemed a shame to start tearing it to bits.

I'd love a stealth fighter but when it costs the same as a small car, it's out of reach for mere mortals such as I. I recently reclaimed my 5306 motor from the KMX which was sold so it needed a new home, cue this build.


Making a battery box, 1mm sheet aluminium cut and bent to form a 112mm wide channel
View attachment 4


3mm plexiglass side cover, note the cable guides getting in the way of a good fit


fixed, which means she's going to need a respray now


Enough room for 8 packs of 6s 5ah with lots of spare room for padding / switches / DCDC converter / cell logs / fuses e.t.c despite constant jiggling I just can't get any more packs in there, a few mm more in each direction and I'd probably be able to get 12 packs in there. Shame, this is a 19" frame, several sizes larger than I would normally ride. Box is mounted on the bottle cage mounts with a big steel washer to spread the load on the sheet ali to stop it bending. two U bolts clamp it to the down tube and top tube for a very very rigid fit.





Getting there, steel torque arm is nearly done. Next up I've got to find some suitably sized gland nuts for a weather proof cable exit solution for the box, and find a way to securely mount the 18 fet controller

Looks great so far Tom!

Carrera Banshee's can be a bit of a bargin if you get lucky.....I bought a tatty one (full bike) last year from Gumtree for 60 quid!! It was a 17" but there was sod all space inside the frame, had planned to mount under the down tube in plastic pipes. Ended up selling it the other month for 170 quid when the greyborg came up.

Nicely done, the 19" frame has loads of room, As I say you could get 12 in if you really stretched the limits of the box size. It's a lot of bike for the money, there seems to be a lot of complaints online about the swing arms breaking on them but fingers crossed that won't happen to mine. I also need to get it properly set up as it has pneumatic front and rear suspension it's a bit like riding a trampoline at the moment. At least with the greyborg everything isn't a hack to make it fit

tada, powder coated pearlescent white. it was a dam cheap job so a little rough around the edges but I'm sure I will bash the hell out of this frame as it's designed for trail riding.

slow progress. Chipping away all the paint in the bearing mounts because I didn't cover them, idiot. Also wish I had made a note of where all the bushings went, there are hundreds of them!

How's it coming along. I'm keen to see it going. Battery box looks nice.
Poor mans stealth is pretty much what I was thinking when I built my ebike. Still cost a lot though.

Still got the frame, got a bit caught up re-assembling it, the swing arms don't rotate freeley and I think I got the bushings / bearings wrong, really wish I had made better note of how it went together, idiot. The 5306 has since been sold due to low funds but I'm hoping to re-start this build, maybe with a GNG 450W mid drive kit in the spring who knows. Or if someone in the UK wants this frame complete with battery box then they are welcome to make me an offer.

oh well i would have love to see you get it going hub or mid drive. would have been i sik ride by the looks.. dont give up.

if you want to get it going then I dont mind selling my GM rear hub motor (48v kit motor without wheel)
It has damaged wires and dead halls but other than that, its actually in quite good shape.

I know this thread is old... but still have the frame with box for sale?