Kona Stinky Six 2009 Conversion

[Alastor]

Hello everybody ,

This is my third build my older mountain bike could not give the fun i wanted in the trails so i decided to go with a full suspension bicycle.

I was very lucky to find an almost new stinky six 2009 model at the awesome price 700 euros (for Europe at least is a very good deal).

Here are some photos of the bike before the conversion

 

[Alastor]

I still need to fix some things like brake down my battery pack and rearrange the triangle space in the falcon bag so the battery can fit better and remove the dropouts in order to mount the doc's TA's permanently.I did a little test ride today and i was impressed by the bicycles behavior and overall driving experience.

I will post more videos and better pictures when the hole project will be completed.

 

[Alastor]

The battery pack is made out of 6 * 6s1p zippy's i connected every two packs together in parallel and then all in series.73volt10amp out of the charger.

 

[Alastor]

some more pictures

 

[whereswally606]

very nice Andreas, a clean build there

 

[grindz145]

Yeah, could do some damage with that guy Nice.

 

[Alastor]

Thanks guys it need some tunning yet and i am also waiting the DOPE system so there will be no brake jack and frame stress

http://www.konabikeworld.com/dope.htm take a look here its really interesting

 

[sardini]

Now we need a better camera!!

 

[Alastor]

Today i took her to the mountain 8) .Everything was smooth and the bicycle delivered like it was on auto pilot i was stunned how good the suspension worked i almost forgot to get up of the seat even in very large bumps.

Only s few things where a little troubling.

1st > Due to 26x2.50 tiers i lost about 15 km's of speed from 60-65 its 50 max now.
2nd >I need better brakes or service the ones i go the pressure on the rear brake leaver is low.I will probably replace the old rear brake system with a newer and better that i am having and i will send the old system for service or try to do it my self if i find the tools needed.

I really liked the CA's feature limiting the amps when the voltage getting lower and lower this actually gives some km's and the pack is not getting stressed at all.I did like 20 km's with only 5ah's had three more on the pack and the ride time it was 1hour and 10minutes.

Thanks a lot mates

 

[Alastor]

Some more update to my build.

I spoken with some technicians and they told me that the Dope system for kona stinky six will not work with an electric motor because of the torque.They believe that the motors torque will destroy the Dope system (floating brake system) or even damage the frame.Anyone with experience in this matter can give me a hint because there claims dose not make any sense.

Anyone have tested tubeless tiers and system on a e-bike ?I ask because due to a lot of downhill i get snake bite all the time to the rear wheel and its a hell lot annoying to do the repair on the train.
So i decided to test out the tubeless system.To be on the safe side i took Joe's tubeless system and a new tubeless tier even if i didn't really need it to be tubeless.I could not resist to the very low price of it.

Over a year i have spend like 30-50 euros for tubes and the kit costs only 35 euros.I guess that its a fair price if the system works ok.The tier was a necessity since the old is damaged.So a total of 40 for the tier and 35 > 75 euros and hopefully i will not have to repair my tier on a trail again.

I will take some pictures of the tier and kit and will post em shortly

 

[Alastor]

Here are some pictures of the tubeless kit and tier.

 

[Alastor]

Guess what its working and i had no trouble installing it at all i just took the time to read the instructions and everything worked perfectly.I am crossing my fingers hopping that i will find the tier full after the night.And hopefully in the morning i will take it to the mountain and test it out.This tier is the best i ever owned it fits to my rim like a glove .

 

[e-biker]

very nice!!!

 

[pendragon8000]

Alastor, it looks great. I bet its a sweet ride.
I found limiting the current on the CA is really great for improving economy. Quite often need less than 1kw.
I don't know about what the technician said, I'm sceptical to. Have you got docs Ta's yet? Also did you change the suspension to accommodate the weight of the hub?
Video would be great to

 

[Alastor]

Alastor, it looks great. I bet its a sweet ride.
I found limiting the current on the CA is really great for improving economy. Quite often need less than 1kw.
I don't know about what the technician said, I'm sceptical to. Have you got docs Ta's yet? Also did you change the suspension to accommodate the weight of the hub?
Video would be great to

Yes CA limiting the current is one of the best things happens to my e-bike.Usually when i run full power i do like 25 kilometers of stiff hill climbing close to 8 of 10amp hours.Yesterday i limited the current to 15Amps and Speed to 30 km's and i made 45 kilometers with 6,4 amp hours out of 10.

I think i might have to buy the dope system myself and try it out and see how it works out for me.Its only 70 euros.Yes i am using docs Ta's but i have not made them permanently attached to the frame just yet.Can i trim this TA's with a drumel or a small tool like that ?

I didn't do anything in the suspension except the fact that i did it stiffer.If you have info on how to do so because i am in the process of learning my new bike or any tips and everything let me know.

I will post some videos the only thing is that i don't have a nice camera so it will take some time.

 

[pendragon8000]

thats a nice efficiency increase with the CA, well done.
Yeah I reacon the DOPE system shouldnt be a hastle unless you bomb massive gaps that would probly pinch flt your tube anyway.
with doc TA's ... they are HARD steel...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yodPBUW-baw
[youtube]yodPBUW-baw[/youtube]
he says he had trouble fileing them to the wider width of the hub axle, so if you're patient go for it and you'll get there eventially, otherwise, cut the frame? or weld some plate on there or something... I'd probly go the anglwe grinder and just take it easy. dont know why yo have to cut them though? sit ontop the dropout but bolts n shit in the way?
suspension: I had mine with little to no sag (amount it moves with rider just sitting on the bike) and fast suspension. now its at 33% sag and medium speed . so it moves around nicely but has a bit less travel for big jumps (that i dont do cos i got a 7 kg hub motor ready to pinch flat my tube :? )

 

[Alastor]

Thanks for the reply man.I missed that Video

I am puzzled on how to proceed with the TA's.Now i am using two different types of TA's one i got from Lyen its an adjustable angle that i have zip tied on one side and Doc's TA on the other side zipped with a metal stripe.Here are some close up pictures of the TA's as they are now.If you can see something bad there let me know.Strangely the zip ties are holding !!

After some reading and thinking it i believe the easyest way is to remove my 8speed freewheel install a 4 speed freewheel and install the TA's from the inside of the frame and epox them.

This way i will not loose time trimming this thick steel parts or doing anything to my dropouts.Stinkys dropouts are monsters but due to downhill use of the bike i don't want to trim em or do em anything to the frame that might be proven a reliability out there.Today i took a metal brush and a nice metal epoxy glue with 273 kg/cm2 or 3500 psi of pressure (6 euros total).I don't know if this glue is strong but it was the best one they had.I will test it out the next days and see how it ends up.I really want to make the TA's permanent because i am sicken of tighten the rear wheel after etch ride.

If you think that this glue is not good its the Logo Epoxy Fast let me know mates so i dont loose my time http://www.thepaperplaceco.com/esho...3525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/5/2/5202456009001.jpg

thanks again for the feedback mates ...

P.S.

The tubeless is working no flat this morning.Due to bad weather i didn't when out there but it was a nice sight

 

[pendragon8000]

Yeah looks like that would hold for a while but something more permanent would be good. Safety first . Yeah so the normal drob out width us 135mm how much you got? Some dh bikes have 150mm so that gives you about enough room to put them on the inside and would look nicer to IMO. Good luck with the epoxy. Can't you get that glue the doc uses?

 

[Alastor]

Yeah looks like that would hold for a while but something more permanent would be good. Safety first . Yeah so the normal drob out width us 135mm how much you got? Some dh bikes have 150mm so that gives you about enough room to put them on the inside and would look nicer to IMO. Good luck with the epoxy. Can't you get that glue the doc uses?

I think the dropouts are 150mm they are heavy man eeheheheh.I think i found the weak link and its the Adjustable angle TA.I did a 45 km trip again today with a lot of sudden stops and the screw from the adjustable TA was unscrewed.I think that the zip ties are to be blamed.While i was thinking the problem again i realized that i had the zip ties on so it will be easier to remove the rear wheel in case of a flat but not i don't really care due to the tubeless system.I think that i will replace the zip ties with a metal trip like i did with docs TA and test it out again with a lot of regen and sudden stops.

To the epoxy now.Unfortunately i will have to order the nice epoxy outside Greece because here this thing is just non existing eheheheheh so i will stick with the one i got for now and i will see if it works out for me.

 

[Alastor]

Here is what i did this time.I will test it out and see if it holds up. Hopefully it will :wink:

 

[pendragon8000]

Hose clamps look much stronger. I'm guessing you don't have a welder? You could make docs dropout into an actual arm and hose clamp that on as well.

 

[Alastor]

Hose clamps look much stronger. I'm guessing you don't have a welder? You could make docs dropout into an actual arm and hose clamp that on as well.

No welder unfortunately.I cant use one at my home anyhow because i don't have the space for a workshop here I know some ppl that know how to weld professionally and everything but i think i like more testing em out myself and trying things on my ride.Bad weather is not letting me go for my ride aarrrrrrg

 

[pendragon8000]

Just looking again at that photo of docs ta hose clamped on. I really think you should extend that by welding an arm to it and clamp that the bike (chain stay?) Or if you ant to DIY you could try drill the ta and bolt an arm on? What about docs method of cutting the frame and gluing the ta in replacement of the original drop out? I don't think I could do this on a bike that wasn't a piece of shit, I don't like the idea of glue stopping me from dieing....

 

[Alastor]

Just looking again at that photo of docs ta hose clamped on. I really think you should extend that by welding an arm to it and clamp that the bike (chain stay?) Or if you ant to DIY you could try drill the ta and bolt an arm on? What about docs method of cutting the frame and gluing the ta in replacement of the original drop out? I don't think I could do this on a bike that wasn't a piece of shit, I don't like the idea of glue stopping me from dieing....

I was thinking the same thing about the Docs TA (i believe i saw a dream about that ***sic sic me) , but i will not trim or cut the frame or dropouts for any reason what so ever I do downhill with my bike so removing materials from the frame is out of the question even if its an easy way to do it.Also i agree that the glue might not be the best idea a friend did this and it didn't last at all.

I want to test it out this days and see if it holds up.

I am also considering to remove the dropouts , remove the paint from them with a metal brush mark the place i want them to be weld Doc TA's and go to a metal shop or something so they weld the TA's on the dropouts permanently.I think that's the best it could be done in my case.

 

[pendragon8000]

Yeah welding the ta's on to the frame sounds like a good idea.