E-S Stealth Electric Bike Owners

[biknut]

Damn Alex you were really moving in those vids! I'm curious what you were doing hanging out in the Russian country side. It doesn't exactly look like a tourist destination :lol:
I wouldn't be doing that too often on motoRTs though! I used to use them but found the sidewalls a bit too soft. And obviously they're not designed to take those sorts of speeds. A blow out at even half your top speed without any gear on (as per your vid) and you'd be toast.

Nice pics SRT, I especially like the one with the barn in the background - the colours mask your streamers

Proper, you definitely need to switch to moto tyres. The amount of miles you do is very uncharacteristic and soft knobbies (and even bicycle rims for that matter) seem inadequate.

Yeah a good place to do 200kph without police bothering you
I was visiting my Dad in Moscow, and then headed down to the countryside where he relax in the weekends, perfect place for some e-biking and filming.
Many people was curious about the bike. Asked a lot of questions as this transportation something they never have seen before.
Those speeds are not my normal driving style, this is just for the youtube so I hope RTs will hold up!

My Bomber video gets the third most hits from Russia. USA, Germany, Russia, then UK usually.

 

[proper159]

Proper, you definitely need to switch to moto tyres. The amount of miles you do is very uncharacteristic and soft knobbies (and even bicycle rims for that matter) seem inadequate.

Yep Rix and Morati helped me source all the parts. Might just buy another rim to get me through the summer with stock Duros (ordered from a guy in Ebay) and then build the MC wheel over the winter. I'm surprised non-MC/Razorback wheel/tire Stealth owners aren't freaking out about the shortage of Duro Razorbacks. Going to a 19 Shinko SR241 is almost necessary. Or maybe I depend on my Bomber too much.

 

[proper159]

My go to bag now for my 100 to 200 km commutes. Spare Halo Contra (which came in handy when I got a staple in my rear tire), solar panel back pack by Birksun which charges a 10,000 mAH external battery with two usb ports (1A and 2A). Battery is perfect to charge my 3 lights in between stops. I leave my Note 3 phone charging inside with GPS turned on so my Fiancée can track me at night or people I'm headed to go meet can see my real time progress. Phone is synced to my rooted Galaxy Gear smartwatch so I can take calls, start the GPS notifier app Glympse and other notifications. Most important one is a SOS app that allows me to press one button and notifies 5 people that I'm in trouble and my location. And lastly a brita filter water bottle to refill by the tap so I don't waste money or polute the earth with more water bottles.

Straps underneath are great for extra tires and hanging from a tree to collect solar power. Bag fits my battery charger, tools and locks without a problem and actually feels lighter than regular bags. I ride about 4 hours a day (when my bike isn’t broken) so that's about 2000 mAH of solar power captured on rides alone. When I get home I leave it outside to capture more power and went for a week without plugging in my phone and other small accessories.

 

[Cowardlyduck]

Went for an epic journey in the snow the weekend before last. Only just finished editing and uploading the video though.

Ride was here: https://goo.gl/maps/0Cxau
It was more stairs than riding, but I'm a stubborn guy, so I was determined to 'ride' to the top of the mountain one way or another. I ended up having to give up when I had used 3/4 of my battery, it was getting dark, and still hadn't made it to the top.

I promised my wife I would be back in the mid afternoon, but couldn't let her know I was running late due to no phone reception in the remote area I was in. When I failed to show up a while after the agreed time, she called the police to report me missing. :lol:
I showed up 30min later, much to her relief.

Anyway, here's the video:
As usual, it only really looks good in HD.

[youtube]QE4OgQbd4J8[/youtube]

Cheers

**Edit** Youtube seems to not like my video being posted elsewhere...but it works direct on youtube.
http://youtu.be/QE4OgQbd4J8

 

[Rix]

Nice snow ride CD, At 9:13 into vid, looks like you had a close encounter with the ground.

 

[biknut]

I've called 3 bearing houses. They're all telling me that these are light duty bearings, but they're available.

Damn those Chinese mofos.

For 6808-2rs

SKF are $141.16 each

Chinese candy ass bearings are $16 each. I guess that explains why our bikes come with them.

 

[biknut]

I've called 3 bearing houses. They're all telling me that these are light duty bearings, but they're available.

Damn those Chinese mofos.

For 6808-2rs

SKF are $141.16 each

Chinese candy ass bearings are $16 each. I guess that explains why our bikes come with them.

Another bearing house just called me back, and said I could get Japanese bearings for $116 each.

 

[Allex]

What about ask stealth to send you new bearings?

 

[biknut]

What about ask stealth to send you new bearings?

If Stealth gave me new ones for free I'd take them for spares, but if I have to pay shipping, that would make them cost more than the ones I can buy here in Dallas. Since the stock bearings are Chinese, warranty replacements will most likely be Chinese too.

Since nobody else is reporting failure of these bearings on their bike, I think we can assume this bearing probably had a manufacturing defect.

 

[Stealth_Rider]

Hi TV,

Here is the contact information for Joe at Stealth. Should be a warranty replacement and you might ask (for USA people) what company would Stealth recommend that could do V-Boxx rebuilds if we sent them the entire V-Boxx. After viewing Dlogic's video's I'd be inclined to put the ball back into Stealth's court as a warranty item.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=26950

Jim

 

[biknut]

Hi TV,

Here is the contact information for Joe at Stealth. Should be a warranty replacement and you might ask (for USA people) what company would Stealth recommend that could do V-Boxx rebuilds if we sent them the entire V-Boxx. After viewing Dlogic's video's I'd be inclined to put the ball back into Stealth's court as a warranty item.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=26950

Jim

Thanks Jim I appreciate you. That saves me a lot of time hunting for that contact information, which I might need someday. I'm saving that in a file this time.

I was able to buy 2 new bearings today for $36 total. I've already replaced them both a few minutes ago, so not much point of warrantying them now.

 

[biknut]

It turns out it's not that hard to replace your swing arm bearings. The bearings themselves weren't hard to find. I had to call 3 bearing houses till I found one with them in stock.

You don't need to fully remove your swing arm. All I did was remove the rear wheel, and then the end caps that hold the swing arm to the bearings. After that you can use a short 2x4 to hold the swing arm away from the transmission. The shock will hold the swing arm in place against the 2x4. That will give you plenty of room to get at the bearings.

I recommend you replace the left side bearing first to familiarize yourself with how to get the bearing off. Basically you use the bottom bracket tool to unscrew the splined ring. You really can't mess anything up on the left side, so that's why you want to do it first. The only difference on the right side is, you want to be careful not to disturb the output shaft after removing the sprocket adapter. That's the part the sprocket actually bolts to, and it's held on the output shaft with a single aluminum screw. After you remove it, you can now get at the last piece before the actual bearing. That's the splined ring. After removing the splined ring with the bottom bracket tool, you should be able to slide the old bearing off by hand. If it's hard to get the new bearing on all the way, use one of the old bearing to hold against the new one, and tap it gently with a rubber mallet till it's on all the way. A little grease might help too. When you're tapping the right side bearing on be careful not to touch the output shaft, and you got it.

The last thing is, don't over tighten everything. Nothing needs to be break wind tight. You may need to take it apart again sometime. Just take care to get the swing arm end caps right.

I haven't started putting the swing arm back on yet because it's late. I'm sure you've seen see how clean I keep my bike. It always takes me a lot longer to put it back together, because now I have to clean all the areas that I can't get to when the bike is in one piece. The right side swing arm end cap had some of the paint scuffed off, so I repainted part of it, even though it's on the side you can't see that faces the VBoxx, it doesn't matter, I would know. Now the paint will have to dry overnight.

I'll be riding to school tomorrow night.

 

[Villain]

Since nobody else is reporting failure of these bearings on their bike, I think we can assume this bearing probably had a manufacturing defect.

I wasn't replacing the bearings I did for the fun of it. They where stuffed!

Chinese 6808's in Sydney cost $8.80 each.

 

[Villain]

The last thing is, don't over tighten everything. Nothing needs to be break wind tight. You may need to take it apart again sometime. Just take care to get the swing arm end caps right.

As I said before, only tighten to 10Nm any more and you will crush that "light duty" bearing.

Theodore, can you check something for me? Once you have your swing arm pivot bearings back on, disconnect your shock. Then check the smoothness of the pivot bearings by moving the swing arm up and down by hand. Let us know what you find.

 

[remf]

Since nobody else is reporting failure of these bearings on their bike, I think we can assume this bearing probably had a manufacturing defect.

I wasn't replacing the bearings I did for the fun of it. They where stuffed!

Chinese 6808's in Sydney cost $8.80 each.

Is that formerly MexicanBatman's Bomber? I'm surprised that all you had was a busted bearing

If you ride hard (and are a heavyweight) and don't want to repeat the procedure, best to use Japanese NSK bearings at about $40 a piece.

 

[Cowardlyduck]

Nice snow ride CD, At 9:13 into vid, looks like you had a close encounter with the ground.

Thanks Rix.
Indeed, that stack was worse than it looked. My leg was pinned pretty bad and the bruises are still healing now, 10 days later. At least I was still able to get off the mountain. Had I really injured myself, I would have needed that police rescue my wife had in mind.

All this talk of the bearings for the Bomber has me wondering. Has anyone replaced the Fighter swingarm bearings? My Fighter is about to hit 10000km and I've only re greased the pivot pin a few times. It sounds like it would be a good idea for me to replace the bearings as well at some stage.

Cheers

 

[Villain]

Is that formerly MexicanBatman's Bomber? I'm surprised that all you had was a busted bearing

Yes, my bike was MexicanBatman's, but my bearings are ok. I was replacing the bearings on another bike. Around here bombers are like wolves, they hang out in packs. ☺

 

[Stealth_Rider]

It turns out it's not that hard to replace your swing arm bearings. The bearings themselves weren't hard to find. I had to call 3 bearing houses till I found one with them in stock.

You don't need to fully remove your swing arm. All I did was remove the rear wheel, and then the end caps that hold the swing arm to the bearings. After that you can use a short 2x4 to hold the swing arm away from the transmission. The shock will hold the swing arm in place against the 2x4. That will give you plenty of room to get at the bearings.

I recommend you replace the left side bearing first to familiarize yourself with how to get the bearing off. Basically you use the bottom bracket tool to unscrew the splined ring. You really can't mess anything up on the left side, so that's why you want to do it first. The only difference on the right side is, you want to be careful not to disturb the output shaft after removing the sprocket adapter. That's the part the sprocket actually bolts to, and it's held on the output shaft with a single aluminum screw. After you remove it, you can now get at the last piece before the actual bearing. That's the splined ring. After removing the splined ring with the bottom bracket tool, you should be able to slide the old bearing off by hand. If it's hard to get the new bearing on all the way, use one of the old bearing to hold against the new one, and tap it gently with a rubber mallet till it's on all the way. A little grease might help too. When you're tapping the right side bearing on be careful not to touch the output shaft, and you got it.

The last thing is, don't over tighten everything. Nothing needs to be break wind tight. You may need to take it apart again sometime. Just take care to get the swing arm end caps right.

I haven't started putting the swing arm back on yet because it's late. I'm sure you've seen see how clean I keep my bike. It always takes me a lot longer to put it back together, because now I have to clean all the areas that I can't get to when the bike is in one piece. The right side swing arm end cap had some of the paint scuffed off, so I repainted part of it, even though it's on the side you can't see that faces the VBoxx, it doesn't matter, I would know. Now the paint will have to dry overnight.

I'll be riding to school tomorrow night.

TV,

Thanks for that good info on the swingarm bearing replacement job. Can you give me the part number and a place to purchase the bottom bracket tool. I'm collecting what I'll need so that when I need it I'm all set.

Did you end up purchasing and using the SKF 6808-2rs bearing for each side? Can you post the SKF part number?

Thanks.

Jim

 

[biknut]

At the bearing houses, I just ask for 6808-2rs. They knew right away what I was talking about. The first place I called sold u.s. made SKF for $140 a piece, and they didn't have any in stock. The second place I called had 1 NSK bearing for $80 something each, but would have to order the second. The third place had nondescript Chinese bearings in stock for $16 each plus tax so that's what I ended up with. They told me these were good bearings that they haven't had much trouble with.

One thing you have to understand about bearings is no matter who makes them, they can come in different qualities. A good local bearing house will only try to sell bearings that are high quality, because if their bearings are crap they'll have to hear about it from angry customers. It's hard to say how well the Chinese ones I bought will hold up. but as easy as they are to replace I'm not that wild about paying $100 a bearing. There's a chance a $16 Chinese bearing will be better quality then a $5 Chinese bearing. There's probably more than 100 factory's in China that make bearings, and some of them will be better than others. All I can hope for is the ones I bought came from a good part of China. Now that I know how easy they are to change I'm not as concerned about them.

Park makes the bottom bracket tool you need. It's BBT-22. It fits common European style, sealed bottom bracket cartages. I think it's great that VBoxx uses the same tool for what is essentially a Bomber bottom bracket.

 

[biknut]

Once the splined ring is removed, does that have any effect on how much force it takes to accidentally move the output shaft? I sure don't want to do that.

I'm not sure, you will have to judge for yourself.

I can now answer my own question. Mine wasn't hyper sensitive to movement. Once it was apart, I didn't grab it and try to move it or anything like that, but I did use a Q tip to clean it, and around it, and it didn't ever budge.

A good mechanic could change these bearing at a race track in 5 minutes.

 

[Rix]

One thing you have to understand about bearings is no matter who makes them, they can come in different qualities. A good local bearing house will only try to sell bearings that are high quality, because if their bearings are crap they'll have to hear about it from angry customers. It's hard to say how well the Chinese ones I bought will hold up. but as easy as they are to replace I'm not that wild about paying $100 a bearing. There's a chance a $16 Chinese bearing will be better quality then a $5 Chinese bearing

This is true, as I found out, I ordered 4 Kymco bearings for a 5403 rebuild, two 6004 RS and two 6005 RS Stainless Steel units. One 6004 and 6005 would turn worth beans in the race. The other 6004 and 6005 turned smoothly. Same package and everything. So I tossed the crappy ones. Then I went to bearing shop in Boise, I asked for SKF units, the manager came back with Axiel brand beargins. He said these were American Made and on par with quality and performance to the SKF units. According to the manager the SKF units are not consistantly available for importation due to supply issues. Anyway, these units are butter smooth when I turn them. I can actually feel a slight improvement over the Chinese units I didn't throw away. Appearance from the outside of these two bearings ins't distenguishable, however when I turn the inside with my fingers, I can identify the differences.

 

[biknut]

Theodore, can you check something for me? Once you have your swing arm pivot bearings back on, disconnect your shock. Then check the smoothness of the pivot bearings by moving the swing arm up and down by hand. Let us know what you find.

I just finished putting the rest of it back together. One last thing I noticed is, you need to center the swing arm on the bearings before you tighten the caps down on the bearing. This just involves lightly tapping on either side of the swing arm with a rubber mallet till it looks centered. Then tighten to end caps.

Villain, after tightening the end caps and undoing the shock, the swing arm moves perfectly smooth, like velvet. There's zero side to side play too.

 

[Stealth_Rider]

At the bearing houses, I just ask for 6808-2rs. They knew right away what I was talking about. The first place I called sold u.s. made SKF for $140 a piece, and they didn't have any in stock. The second place I called had 1 NSK bearing for $80 something each, but would have to order the second. The third place had nondescript Chinese bearings in stock for $16 each plus tax so that's what I ended up with. They told me these were good bearings that they haven't had much trouble with.

One thing you have to understand about bearings is no matter who makes them, they can come in different qualities. A good local bearing house will only try to sell bearings that are high quality, because if their bearings are crap they'll have to hear about it from angry customers. It's hard to say how well the Chinese ones I bought will hold up. but as easy as they are to replace I'm not that wild about paying $100 a bearing. There's a chance a $16 Chinese bearing will be better quality then a $5 Chinese bearing. There's probably more than 100 factory's in China that make bearings, and some of them will be better than others. All I can hope for is the ones I bought came from a good part of China. Now that I know how easy they are to change I'm not as concerned about them.

Park makes the bottom bracket tool you need. It's BBT-22. It fits common European style, sealed bottom bracket cartages. I think it's great that VBoxx uses the same tool for what is essentially a Bomber bottom bracket.

TV,

Thanks for the info. I'll pick up the BBT-22.

Add this source for a stainless steel bearing in case you need to do this again: http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/Kit16643

This is the most recent V-Boxx manual that I received from Stealth. You can add it to your collection of keepers.
http://www.fareinc.com/Bomber_Kirk-065/Documents/

Jim

 

[arcticfly]

My Bomber has been injected with steroids from Russia! My goodness it goes like a rocket. Allex brought me a Max-E and after two days of swearing it is now up an running.

 

[Allex]

Sweet! Lets us know if your 5405 goes any faster with it!
Villain, TV, thx for the guide, might be usefull.