Why so much focus so much on negative stuff....
what about the good things about the motor?
CNC anodized ends
Thin Stator Laminations
Nickel/Chrome plated outrunner housing
6kw for $130
bigger phase leads than the astro (astro looks like 12/14 ga???, seems puny to me)
Luke spent a bunch of money improving the motor
with class 7 bearings and custom shafts.
normal bearings with seals are good enough can be had for $5 a piece = $15 total.
Custom shafts from Misumi can be made for $20
Snap rings are $1 for hardened steel.
or you can run it till it breaks, then fix it.
This is not unheard of either. Hell, I just had to drop a kilobuck on a new brake system
on my truck because the factory warranty has expired, Nissan won't fix it anymore,
and the fix is the same old $H1#. So, you buy better parts, and upgrade. It's with
08 factory parts, not a 3 kilobuck stillen brake system, but better.
Or you continually repair, which in my opinion is worse, but sometimes necessary.
Its not rocket science.
So, practical upgrades are feasible, without having to go uber high end.