KMX Cobra

Ypedal

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After starting this thread on March 6th
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=37487

I had pretty much made up my mind on the KMX from day 1 but still took some time to look at my options, after some discussion, i sent an email to a kmx dealer in Quebec and asked for a quote, even wrote my email in french to encourage a quick reply ( yeah.. i'm an impulse buyer ) ... a few days went by with no reply...

On march 16th, I got in contact with Recumpence, aka: Matt the RC guy ! , who happens to be a KMX dealer.. within minutes i had a reply to my PM.. and by march 19 funds $$$ were sent... :D

2 days ago, FedEx left a notice of delivery on my door ( go figure, 10 minutes after i left for work.. grrrrr ) .. but later that night :
 

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But, yep, it's all in there .. somehow.. terrific packing job.. +1 KMX !

View attachment 2

I'm reminded of the micro-car with clowns that keep comming out.. 3 wheels.. a frame.. nuts, bolts, tools, .. it's all in there..... :shock:

Full color instructions/assembly manual..
kmx5-manual.JPG

3 wheels with parts partially installed, cables neatly zip tied safely into bundles, seat looks very good.... and comfy !
 

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8mm hex and 17mm wrench for the bolts that mount the front wheels brackets to the frame.
kmx9-parts.JPG

The box contains tools, but they are basic cheapies stamped metal that tend to round off nuts ... so i used my own.. :mrgreen:



front wheels on, i had to hold back the urge to just get with it and stick to the instructions.. as hard as that is to the average male.. i'm a firm believer in " try it and if all else fails read the manual "... but RTFM rules in this case was observed .
 
Bravo kmx for not pre-installing the derailleur hanger, many bikes arrive with bent hangers, and this can be a frustrating event to a newb resulting in a derailleur into the spokes ....

Neatly bagged and tapped to the rear dropouts..
kmx11-hanger.JPG

ok.. 1st gripe... minor one tho..
kmx12-cable-mounts.JPG

:evil:

These are made of stiff plastic that will not give, zero bend, they just snap, i tried being gentle, i wiggled and rocked .. and tried my best but snap..

then i tried lube.. :p
kmx13-lube.JPG

but nope.. broke a 2nd one.. :|

Then i got the flat file and opened up the gaps so the rest went as expected, what's going on here is that the brake and shifter cables are not the same diameter, brake cables are larger.... but the mounts are all the same size.

not a big deal tho.. a zip tie and a dab of hot glue will fix this. more on that later.
 
Seat went on easily.. so did the rear wheel and derailleur..

The chain guides however, gave me some grief, i sat there and scratched my head a while and googles, and youtube searched for video's of how this is supposed to be.. but it seems there have been various changes over the years and nowhere could i find my setup explained for dummies... the diagram in the manual shows how it goes but not in detail....
 

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sorry for all the replies to my one review, it's how i organize my picture archive and re-size process.. :lol:

Ok. so it's cold and cloudy, and windy, holiday tomorrow so work let me out early and i jumped at the opertunity to get home and go for my first test ride.. i had it built last night but it was raining and i did not want to dirty up a brand new bike on day 1 lol..

Front brakes not yet adjusted, but i got rear, so good enough for a test ride..

Seat, way comfortable, you could go all day on this thing and not have a sore ass.. hell.. i see myself going out on late night rides with a case of beer..

There are quite a few adjustments that can be made on this, steering arms can go in or out, adjust radial, but i set it up roughly good enough and kicked off...

oh my, this is FUN !!.. i zipped around the yard getting used to the feel, it has the turning radius of a school bus, but once electrified ( and you can bet it's getting electrified shortly !! ) it will be a good thing at speed..

it gets plenty of looks, cars slow down and stare as they roll by.. people out here are not used to these machines.. and attention is of no short supply....

15 minutes of pedaling up and down my street and my legs are jello.. i predict great soreness..... more to come ! 8)
 
She sure is pretty.. One day id love to have one of those.. Just limited on where id feel safe riding it.
Look forward to watching your progress.
 
Nice spring project

You know a lot about ebikes and I was wondering why you chose that model?

I don't see any suspension .

Is the seat so comfortable and does it have some "road smoothing " capacity?

Noise in the chain ?

Watching with interest.

Cheers
 
Nice !!!!

I laugh when I have read you said “after 15 minutes my legs are like jello!” … lol… it happened the exact same thing for me the first day I tried it !

Then I discovered that the tire pressure + the angle between the two front wheel is critical !

If they are not well adjusted you can double or more your effort to pedal!!

I adjusted mine with two little cheap laser pointer that I installed to have the beam just on the edge of the side back and side front of the tires and than I adjusted the angle to get the same distance between the two beam spot on the wall on the front of the trike.

Or you can trial and error.

Btw when I saw that Recumpense installed a sterring damper on his trike I immediately boght one for mine.. but I never installed it .. at 80km/h this thing is still stable and have zero wobble

I installed my 5304 hub motor with my torque arm that I soldered directly to the steel frame using my battery trike as the welder source ! It worked great!

I wish you great weather for this long weekend Ypedal so you’ll appreciate it as soon as you wish!

Doc
 
Unlike a bicycle seat that supports a small portion of your rear end only, this cradle distributes your body weight across the entire surface of your back and rear end evenly, suspended between 3 wheels vs on top of 2 inline, not the same..

Suspension would be ideal, but this is priced right and the rear dropouts are flat steel and nicely thick ( i was expecting thicker... but they are ok ) .. i also know knoxie, steveo, doctorbass , FFR trikes, recumpence, and quite a few more have converted KMX with success so the geometry, bits and pieces work..
 
Doc, thx for the laser idea, i have a few ( drives the dog insane!!, hilarious ), i have messed with it a bit and have it pretty close.. using a tape measure across the spoke nipples from front to back.. tires can certainly use more pressure..

front brakes are on my priority list however.
 
Houston, we have a problem...

We just lost another upright rider. :lol:

Enjoi your ride!
 
I'm excited too!

What does she cost landed and delivered into Canada-like me?

I'm wondering whether to buy the Cobra or the Typhoon or the Tornado....


I'm 6' 5" and 250 lbs

cheaper one looks good to me?

just came back from a three hour tour of my regular bike and my AZZ is numb...neck and wrists are sore too!


Thank god for drinkable ethanol :shock:
 
Very cool ypedalman.

So for the front brakes, What keeps one from pulling more than the other? Is it as simple as adjusting the cable tension?
 


I couldn't help but notice ... that chain guard (TUBE) covers about 70% of the entire chain length.
Doesn't that add a lot of friction working against the rider's pedal power (not that it'll matter once you put your motor in there)? :mrgreen:
And does the chain rattle in the tube?
 
Nice KMX, Y!

Now I've seen the "before" pictures, I'm ready to see you molest it. :mrgreen:

-JD
 
Ok.. many replies to cover..

melodious , yes and no, the trike should be ok certain trips, but there are places i go that a trike will not be safe to use, so the e-BMX and the other 2 wheelers will remain in service....

motorino magnet , cost, check with recumpence, shipping is what really makes a difference, i paid retail 1650 $ but got a really good deal on shipping :wink: .. at 6ft 5 and 250 you are at the upper limit of these things, wheel size is the biggest concern, 20/24 is what my ideal setup required so that's what i got.. but depending on hub or chain drive and all that, determines what you need, the frames appear identical across the various models, it's a matter of wheel size and components ( brake, shifters etc. ) .

The fingers, information is key, take the time to read up on the details and go from there, i decided on the KMX knowing it would electrify, and the square tubes make easy mounting of various things..

Sacman , hell yeah, i'm going to ride around for a few days to get the thing dialed in, then comes the X5304 in 24" i have in a box ready to go.. along with an 18 fet controller for 24s lipo and 100 amps.. *note to self.. contact doctorbass and order another set of dropout plates....

Very cool ypedalman.

Pure : " So for the front brakes, What keeps one from pulling more than the other? Is it as simple as adjusting the cable tension? "

That, was interesting, the bike comes complete but not tuned up, the brake pads needed adjusting so that the calipers would not rub, once that was done, i pulled in all the barrel adjusters on the calipers and brake lever ends, pulled out the slack from teh cables, then using a rubber band to apply a fixed pressure on the brake lever i adjusted the barrels so that both wheels would come to a stop from a light manual spin equally.. then removed the rubber band and they are both engaging equally..

I'm sure there are better ways.. but that's how i did it without looking it up online. :p
 
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