Help me troubleshoot a 2007 Kona Stinky Build!

[markw]

Hey ES,

General brainstorming thread - I'm not going to spit specs but I bought a Kona Stinky for dirt and I'm mad pumped about it. This particular Stinky is a from 2007 - decals show "Garbanzo Stinky DC" because it was special built by Kona for Killington Ski Resort when they opened their downhill trails. Thing has seen some shit, maintained by some pros, and here it is on the other side. Previous owner bought it in 2010 and only used it a couple of times since. It has some upgraded components vs a stock Stinky. It has the Dee-Lux paint job, custom decals, Marzocci 888 fork, single speed front kog with raceface bashgaurd and chain guide, couple of things. Any shred of "new bike!" luster it once had is clear out the window, and I kind of like it that way. Anyway, let's get down to business, pictures first though.

My first issue is motor mounting. For now, I'll be using my moded yescom motor... eventually I'll push into the world of middrive / the the cash isn't there and this yesmotor is. The actual dropout slot is a bolt on piece to the swingarm, that's pretty cool. I'm wondering if the piece is made of steel or something more handsome than aluminum. I need to research to confirm my suspicions. Either way problem is... it's not very deep. The line on the chopstick indicates the total height of the axle nut.

Here's a picture of the non-drive side. This side is interesting because there's another arm that bolts from the frame to the disk brake adapter. Issue here is finding a toque arm that will work well.

Here's a picture of the non-drive side with the brake adapter that connects to the frame pulled out from the slot. I'll have to unbolt these every time I take the motor off...

I'm sure I could file into the slots a little bit, but I don't want to modify them too much - there's not a lot of room to file into the slots and my track record with filing down dropouts is 0 for 1. This would be much different though, since I have the benefit of unbolting the dropout slot piece completely and fitting it on the axle nut. I don't wanna go too ham on it though since a mid drive motor is probably the plan for next winter. Can you guys make any comment on the dropouts, their efficacy in an unmoded state, any recommended toque arms or parts to secure the motor? If the slots are steel and the motors bolted on nice and tight, still yes on the torque arms? 4-5kW motor.

I'm also curious how I'm going to mount my controller. It's going inside the triangle, that's for certain, but there's no water bottle bolts to secure it on. Any tips on that one? Zip ties can't really function here since the down tube tapers off the further from the headset you get. Stumped on this one too. Any ideas?

There are actually a lot of Kona Stinky builds on ES and that's pretty awesome. If you have any in particular that you think really hit the mark I'd love to read them as well. I know that KARCH67 is working on his right now @ http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=66546& - but aside from his, most people had Stinkys where the triangle is wide open. Mine is pretty closed up.

I'm sure I'll get into battery mounting TSing eventually, but for now I want to focus on getting that motor in there nice and secure.

Thanks guys for all your continued support,

 

[dogman dan]

Lotsa meat there to file that dropout deeper.

But since it's a bolt on dropout, it's just begging for a set of custom steel dropouts, ones that are nice and thick with deep slots, so you don't even need a torque arm.

Very tempting also, to make the bike longer by at least 3" and run a motorcycle tire on the motor when you get a big motor.

 

[markw]

Lotsa meat there to file that dropout deeper.

But since it's a bolt on dropout, it's just begging for a set of custom steel dropouts, ones that are nice and thick with deep slots, so you don't even need a torque arm.

Very tempting also, to make the bike longer by at least 3" and run a motorcycle tire on the motor when you get a big motor.

dogman dan! Thanks so much for your assessment of the dropouts. I did read that they're intended for 12mm axles... so about 2mm in should give me the proper space. My understanding is that the axle nut wishes to rotate in a counter clockwise motion, so making sure the bottom of the axle has dropout coverage will be important. Lucky I can just take them off and test-fit to my hearts content and that they are also replaceable.

You're totally spot on with suggesting the wider, steel replacement bolt on dropout. I think I would contact teslanav and grab a MXUS and see if Farfle could mix up some sort of replacement bolt on dropout or just a complete swingarm. It's definitely on my radar for the future.

I've been looking into controller mounting options and my favorite thus far is to find a piece on the opposite side of the down tube (the outer part of the triangle) that will wrap around and provide something to screw bolts from the controller into. I'll line the inside with old bicycle tubes to prevent scraping the frame (as if I should actually be worrying about that with). I'll have to go and do that thing that hardware store owners must hate "hey I'm looking for this weird thing..."

I have some older crystalite arms that I can use or possibly convert into plates. In the mean time. Maybe there are some that would work better? People seem to like the GRIM torque arms.

I'm still brainstorming on the battery mounting, I'm thinking about fabricating steel boxes on each side and finding a way to secure them to the bike. Go figure, my dad has a mig welder but not a tig, so welding aluminum is out of the picture, but welding some steel boxes is still in the picture. Perhaps slots cut into the box for nylon ratchet straps/tube clamps cut at perfect angles for the top and downtube. A wrap will go around the neck of the bike and secure to the other box, prevent the boxes from sliding down tapered frames. Possibly work out a lid that could cover both and stealth the parallel connections/controller connections/throttle etc... boxes would be foam lined and maybe have some ports on the front for battery cooling. I'll have to bust out some cardboard/sharpees and see what's what. Here's an illustration I drew up in CAD... I mean, MS paint.

 

[dogman dan]

Just in terms of riding through puddles, or serious mud riding, I never have liked the idea of a controller on the down tube where the front tire throws shit on it the whole ride.

My simple solution has often been a cheap seatpost rack, then mount the controller on top of that. Then the rack acts like a fender, and additional fender material is easy to attach to it to keep mud off your seat too. Less mud stripe on your back that way.

Nothing wrong with your battery box idea, I've done similar things on several bikes. I built the boxes from wood on three sides, then the longer flat two sides from aluminum. I just drilled holes in the frame and bolted them on, but other less destructive mounting methods can work fine, that clamp to the frame tube. If you can attach a block of wood into the tip of the frame triangle with some kind of strapping, you can then just screw boxes to that wood.

 

[Ch00paKabrA]

The drop out that you have is a D.O.P.E. drop out for the floating rear brake. Floaters are good for competition and all but If I were you, I would just get a regular drop out for the brake side and use a torque arm.



http://www.hibike.com/shop/product/...9652a5/KONA-D-O-P-E-dropout.html#var_13389508

The site says they should be available in about a week and they are around 18 euros plus shipping.

Or you could make steel dropouts for it.

 

[ferret]

My first issue is motor mounting. For now, I'll be using my moded yescom motor... eventually I'll push into the world of middrive / the the cash isn't there and this yesmotor is. The actual dropout slot is a bolt on piece to the swingarm, that's pretty cool. I'm wondering if the piece is made of steel or something more handsome than aluminum. I need to research to confirm my suspicions. Either way problem is... it's not very deep. The line on the chopstick indicates the total height of the axle nut.

Odds are that it's aluminum.
You can confirm it by placing a magnet on it and checking weather it sticks.

Avner.

 

[KARCH67]

Mine also had Garbanzo Stinky decals over a crappy repaint - must have also been a Killington bike as I am only a couple hours from there.