E-S Stealth Electric Bike Owners

[Greenlight]

Has anyone tried this easy mod. I have replaced the battery wire/cable from the battery directly to the controller circuit board with 8 gauge wire. The factory wire is 12 gauge. It feels like the torque increased 50%. If you wanted even better performance, also replace the phase wires with 10gauge solid copper magnet wire double wrapped with heat shrink wrap. It fits in the axle channel with no modifications. I have approx 3k mile with no problems. it feels like I swapped to x5404 or x5405 motors without losing any top speed

 

[Elliot]

Hope are Dope! Gatorbrakes are no longer made and spare parts are generally not available and subject to far eastern forgeries - I bought some pads for my Bomber 8-pistons and they were forgeries (Taiwanese Ebay company called 'Ebike'). Its a shame Stealth were marketing them as an (expensive) upgrade option when they were discontinued and replacement parts unavailable. Not bad brakes at all though - saved me from serious harm quite a few times but now pads a worn and I might as well throw them away unless anyone can recommend me a source for replacement pads?

Can you elaborate more on the fakes ManxE, I've got 2 packs from there and another pack of alligators and they look identical (weight is within a gram too). I see Stealth is still selling the gator upgrade too.

 

[Greenlight]

I believe Gatorbrakes were always made in Taiwan

 

[dh-paule]

wohooo... this bomber is a beast )
Have been out for a lunch break ride at our local freeride track, the bomber is so much fun, but it isnt a mtb anymore its much more a dirtbike. Lets say the bomber isnt a heavy downhillbike, its a lightweigth dirtbike

The avid code is much more better than the gatorbrake. It is always possible to do a nosewheelie (or sliding at the front) I did a "extreme test" for the brake: at a long steep section, there are two corners where I have to brake down from 60kph to 10kph, braking as late as possible I got some smell from the brake...
Just checked the disk, and yes it seems to become hot, it turned into light black and blue colour

But I did never loose the braking power, and fading was no problem at the avid code.
The gatorbrake at the rear had some problems with fading :-(

My personal conclusion: the Avid Code is much more better than the gatorbrake!
I have to take care because of the heat at the limits, but I never lost the braking power. Maybe a Hope V4 with vented disk is a better option

 

[Rix]

Dh Paule, this is what I am talking about, real world Test and Evaluation (known in the US as T&E). The fact that your front brake didn't fade and over 72% of stopping power is on the front brake, coupled with the fact that you got your rear brake to fade, says that the avid codes are awesome!. Looking at your pic, the rotor isn't so discolored that you got it "bright red hot". Right now my front 6 pot gator caliperwith the Hayes 9 stops fine and hasn't faded yet on me. But as I wear out the pads, I will be switching to another brake. Looks like its going to be a toss up between the avid codes, Hayes Stroker Ace, and the Hope tech4 evos. Price will be the deciding factor when the time comes.

Greenlight. Clarify for me please, all you did was change your 12 guage wires to 8 guage and ran that inline directly from you battery to the controller and now you are getting alot more torque/thrust power?

Rick

 

[Greenlight]

Rix, Yes the biggest improvement on a stock bomber is to replace the 12 gauge wire inline from the battery to the controller with 8 gauge wire. The wire that comes out of the battery pack is actually 4 gauge or 6 gauge plugged into the factory 12 gauge which cotinues to the controller.

 

[Rix]

I have replaced the battery wire/cable from the battery directly to the controller circuit board with 8 gauge wire. The factory wire is 12 gauge. It feels like the torque increased 50%. If you wanted even better performance, also replace the phase wires with 10gauge solid copper magnet wire double wrapped with heat shrink wrap. It fits in the axle channel with no modifications. I have approx 3k mile with no problems. it feels like I swapped to x5404 or x5405 motors without losing any top speed

Greenlight, I will have to look into that. You said you are getting more power, does that increase show up on your CA? Does your Amax screen on your CA reflect the increase. Are you bouncing off your LVC more frequently? Here is a pic of my CA. With my battery settled at 80.1 volts, WOT I'm pulling almost 72Amps (just over 5.6kw) with my CA set at 70Ah. For the first 400wh used, the battery doesnt sag below 72.4 volts (LVC set on CA @ 69). This pic was taken after I rode WOT for 17 miles consuming 1217WH. Would this change with your bigger wire modification? Does anybody else have any informaition about this and why it would increase power besides the bigger gauge wires having the ability to flow more current? Man, I wish I was smarther with electrical theory.

Rick

 

[Allex]

Guys, what is the maximum speed of the Bomber on flat ground without pedaling, I know its stated 80km/h, but in real life?

 

[Rix]

Allex, in real life the bomber is faster than 80KPH. More like 85KPH. Before I swapped my 5403 for the 5404, I hit 94KPH pedaling hard on my bomber.

Rick

 

[DunkenKBliths]

Guys, what is the maximum speed of the Bomber on flat ground without pedaling, I know its stated 80km/h, but in real life?

Yup...

i've had 85+kph (calibrated GPS speed) .... i recon on a longer flat and tuck in position it would easy reach 90kph...(no peddling)
I've also managed 80km distance out of the battery being semi-conservative on the power...I recon if I was even more careful I could get 100km (with flatish road)

 

[DunkenKBliths]

Adelaide - WEST TERRACE

Who was here at 4:20pm -Yesterday 25th March 2013

My mate on the bus spotted one of ya...

 

[Rix]

Dunk, lets break this photo down. We see a guy Rockin a Blue Bomber, don't know what kind of day he is having, but because he is on a bomber, we can assume that its at least a good day. But wait, is that an orange reflector on his front rim?

i've had 85+kph (calibrated GPS speed) .... i recon on a longer flat and tuck in position it would easy reach 90kph...(no peddling)
I've also managed 80km distance out of the battery being semi-conservative on the power...I recon if I was even more careful I could get 100km (with flatish road)

Dunk, Im with you, the bomber exceeds the manufactures range and speed. I know I can go over 60 miles 97KM if I take it easy. Up in Boise, I went for a 31 miler (50KM) and only used 705 watts. I rode a bicycle path and kept it around 15 MPH and pedaling in 7th gear. So I am not the least bit surprised that you could get a 100Km on a "flatish road" being careful.

Rick

 

[DunkenKBliths]

Dunk, lets break this photo down. We see a guy Rockin a Blue Bomber, don't know what kind of day he is having, but because he is on a bomber, we can assume that its at least a good day. But wait, is that an orange reflector on his front rim? Rick

yeah, I'm sure no one will admit to that one...lol...perhaps it has the "cardboard" flapper on the back... snigger snigger..

 

[Rix]

Ring a ding ding. At least it would sound fast until the spokes turned the flapper into dust.

 

[DunkenKBliths]

Ring a ding ding. At least it would sound fast until the spokes turned the flapper into dust.

haha...PS.. got some SuperLube(as you suggested) last week and have started to squeeze some into the 4 lugs...a bit every night...(2 ml per lug)
the bike is getting quieter and quieter..

 

[dh-paule]

regarding the speed, with 5405 motor the bomber goes to aprox. 60-65 kph
Not as fast as the stock bomber, but more torque
For my local trails a motor with 30kph and even more torque would be the perfect setup.

 

[Brute]

I have replaced the battery wire/cable from the battery directly to the controller circuit board with 8 gauge wire. The factory wire is 12 gauge. It feels like the torque increased 50%. If you wanted even better performance, also replace the phase wires with 10gauge solid copper magnet wire double wrapped with heat shrink wrap. It fits in the axle channel with no modifications. I have approx 3k mile with no problems. it feels like I swapped to x5404 or x5405 motors without losing any top speed

Greenlight, I will have to look into that. You said you are getting more power, does that increase show up on your CA? Does your Amax screen on your CA reflect the increase. Are you bouncing off your LVC more frequently? Here is a pic of my CA. With my battery settled at 80.1 volts, WOT I'm pulling almost 72Amps (just over 5.6kw) with my CA set at 70Ah. For the first 400wh used, the battery doesnt sag below 72.4 volts (LVC set on CA @ 69). This pic was taken after I rode WOT for 19 miles consuming 1217WH. Would this change with your bigger wire modification? Does anybody else have any informaition about this and why it would increase power besides the bigger gauge wires having the ability to flow more current? Man, I wish I was smarther with electrical theory.

Rick

This sounds feasible . If the factory 12 gauge wire can`t handle the current you would get less voltage sag with bigger wire . I`d guess your min voltage in your ca wouldn1t be as low .

 

[ManxE]

Hope are Dope! Gatorbrakes are no longer made and spare parts are generally not available and subject to far eastern forgeries - I bought some pads for my Bomber 8-pistons and they were forgeries (Taiwanese Ebay company called 'Ebike'). Its a shame Stealth were marketing them as an (expensive) upgrade option when they were discontinued and replacement parts unavailable. Not bad brakes at all though - saved me from serious harm quite a few times but now pads a worn and I might as well throw them away unless anyone can recommend me a source for replacement pads?

Can you elaborate more on the fakes ManxE, I've got 2 packs from there and another pack of alligators and they look identical (weight is within a gram too). I see Stealth is still selling the gator upgrade too.

The pads I received from that company are not matching pairs - the smaller pads were both identical, rather than a facing pair. The pad material was too thick to fit them into the brakes and there were no retaining clips supplied with the pads. No company codes on packaging etc etc. Fakes.

Stealth should not offer the Gators as an upgrade now, simply because once the pads are worn you will have to discard the brake and fit a new one that is likely to remain supported. Presumably they obtained a bulk load of Gators cheap due to the company folding? They are good brakes but now useless to me, so unless Stealth have available parts to sell me I think the Hopes are beckoning...

 

[dh-paule]

... I think the Hopes are beckoning...

Or a set of Avid Code if you want

 

[Rix]

Manxe, I got my brake pads from Stealth Via the US Dealer Darin Brin. I know some other folks in other countries are having issue with support, but thats definately not the case here. I have orderd other parts for other Bomber Riders in other countries through Darin, but the shipping is mucho expensivo because it ships to me first. If you can get the replacements directly from Stealth, then DH Paule Avid Codes seem like a great option, by Paule posts, looks like he swears by them.

Brute, not that I'm questioning Greenlights larger gauge wire mod (and I guess I am), but a guy would think with some of the modders on this thread that this would have been brought up before. Well you know what they say, there is only one way for me to confirm or disconfirm Greenlights mod, gonna have to do it myself . Hyena and Kepler, care to comment?

Dunk once you have squirted a whole tube of super lube through those four holes, your Vboxx will starting acting very happy happy happy. When I did my Vboxx service, I put two tube of super lube into the box. I used a veterinarian's 50cc syringe and squirted 25cc into each of the holes. So figure 100cc of grease. The other thing I learned from Martin (Dlogic) is cable barrel adjusters on the shifter. Back out the barrel adjusters until there is just a little play on the two shifter cables. On my bike the rear cable barrel adjuster didn't need to be turned out at all. There was only a little bit of play in that one. But the front had to go out about 3 complete turnes. This also helped minimize the mechanicle noise in the boxx.

Rick

 

[Kepler]

Brute, not that I'm questioning Greenlights larger gauge wire mod (and I guess I am), but a guy would think with some of the modders on this thread that this would have been brought up before. Well you know what they say, there is only one way for me to confirm or disconfirm Greenlights mod, gonna have to do it myself . Hyena and Kepler, care to comment?

If cable size is acting as a restriction, the cable is going to get warm or even hot. This will certainly cause a bottle neck and reduction in performance. So the question is, has anyone noticed the power cable to the controller getting warm or noted any discolouration of the insulation? I ran 10# on my ex Bomber at 12kW and cable never even got warm. (Remember I had a loop cable coming out of the bike for charging and quick isolation so it was easy for me to the check the wire temp also.) It was always something I kept an eye on and would have gone to a heavier gauge if I had noted any temperature rise.

I don't want to contradict Greenlight's findings as he seems quite adamant that the difference is massive. Logically though, if the cabling is staying cool, then my thoughts are that it has the capacity to pass the required electrons without any noticeable restriction.

Also I thought the cabling to the controller was 10# not 12#. (I will confirm today)

 

[Rix]

Thanks John, I never thought to check the cable going into he controller from the battery, but I will start. I always check the controller case because I have gotten it hot once. But from what Greenlight said, its wakes up the Bomber.

Rick

 

[DunkenKBliths]

A little disguise ... for the less informed...

 

[Kepler]

Checked the battery cable size on the Stealth controller today. It is 11# Teflon coated. Same as the phase cables.

 

[Allex]

Lads, think I going to order a Bomber From Michael Brown. Then ship it to me. Damn this forum!
Dont know what color to get yet, hard to choose, maybe white with white swing, all the rest stock...

Worst part is that everybody will ask me how much this thing cost and if I tell them the truth, nobody will understand...I will be the crazy one!