Jonathan1981 said:
Haha, OMG, and that's exactly why they're out of business, that must have cost a fortune to do....
Likely not the reason. KTM/Honda/SurRon/etc all go full custom. That casting wouldn't have been too expensive. If you are going to hit those performance/weight targets there is no other choice.
Jonathan1981 said:
CR85 forks, IFICR, are ~ 20lbs... they're not light, but not CR250 or KTM450 fork heavy. A pretty nice sweet spot. But they're also 11.8" travel
that's the key. But I think an aftermarket company could make something 8-10" and that would be great also. Like a marzocchi trials bike fork. That'd work just fine also.
CR85 forks are 275mm/10.8" stroke unless you've modded them somehow to 300mm/11.8"?
20# doesn't seem right either? The 43mm 270mm stroke Tech forks are 10kg (22#) incl. the triples.
https://www.rideformula.com/products/moto-forks/enduro-o43-usd/
Their 39mm 270mm pitbike forks are 6.3kg(13.9#) but no triples incl.
https://www.rideformula.com/products/moto-forks/pitbike-o39-usd/
FWIW, I didn't know Formula made the Tech forks until just now. I have the Techs w/ aluminum stanchions on my '19 Sherco 300ST Factory trials bike and knew they were pretty light and went searching for their weight. Browsing their website I found the above linked pitbike & enduro forks.
I will have to say the '21+ Freerides got larger Formula brakes than the older models. So far they feel awesome (better than the Brembos on my full sized KTMs.) I've always gotten the impression the Formula stuff was low end but their Tech forks are really nice and these brakes have changed my mind. They must just make a low end cheap line for the low budget mountain bikes.
Jonathan1981 said:
Yeah so, like I mentioned, I've tried to play around with this before but the longer batt packs are a really issue. I'm not too keen on trading that length for width either...your idea about two seperate packs is interesting. That could definitely free up some design freedom.... I'm not an electrics guy so not sure how feasible that would be, I'm assuming you'd need fairly large cables between them....
Putting batteries in series or parallel isn't too big a deal. The cables aren't any bigger than those currently used if in series. They only have to be sized to carry a little more than the continuous current. They can be even smaller if running parallel packs. Imagine of you had a main 40Ah pack and an aux 20Ah pack. The aux pack it delivering 1/2 the current the main pack is and wires can be sized appropriately. Wire runs on a bike are fairly short too so they don't have to be so oversized to reduce voltage drop.
The other advantage to multiple packs is better cooling. In the RC world where we are discharging packs in 5min (20C avg rate) we are putting spacers between the packs to get more airflow. The center cells of the 6S packs are getting toasty! I know some folks have had thermal issues w/ the surron batts when pushing hard so the problem exists on the bikes too. KTM/Alta/Zero/Energica are using water cooled motors but still air cool the batteries AFAIK.
I've been playing w/ the idea if I raise the Surron seat, I can stuff a parallel 10+Ah under there. As far modded as mine is, I've still resisted raising the seat or rear linkage. W/ the moto tires its about the perfect height for my wife so anything I'd do to better fit my 6'2" frame, I'd have to undo for her. Now that I have the KTM I'm less tempted to make the Surron taller (but its not completely gone.)
Opps, I got sidetracked and forgot to measure the height of the Litespeed pack. Will try to remember tonight.
