I'm nearing completion of my Ninja 250 conversion and it's been somewhat of a comedy of errors. So I thought I'd detail some of the fun. I don't know about these guys that say they did their conversion in two days.
I bought the bike with a blown motor from a guy on Craig's List. No problems.
I ordered LiFePO4 batteries directly from China. I had to wire transfer them a lot of money. Right after ordering, I started reading messages on the web about how I shouldn't send money to this company because people hadn't been getting their batteries. What a bad feeling. As it turns out, the batteries arrived right on time. No problem here. Big relief.
I ordered a DC-DC converter from California (I'm in NY). A few days later, a woman calls me at work and says, "The Astrodyne converter you ordered is out of stock, but we would like to send you a Sevcon for the same price." Remembering that the Sevcons were more expensive, I said "Sure". Later that day, I looked it up on their web site and found that Sevcon didn't make one for 64V input. I called and left a message on their machine explaining the situation. A week later, the Sevcon arrives, rated for 48V input. I sent it back and they sent me one for 72V input. Hopefully, it will work.
I found the rear tire was dry rotted. I could get a new one on line, but I decide to give the local shop some business. They call to say the tire is in. I bring the wheel over. They call to say they ordered a front tire, not a rear. They order a rear and install it. A few weeks later, I realize that the front is also rotted. I call them up and the front tire is no longer there. They order another one. I bring the rim. They install it. I put it on the bike and realize that it's not seated on the rim properly. I bring it back and they fix it.
I order a longer rear brake line because I had to flip the wheel over to move the chain to the other side. The brake line arrives. About a week later, the same brake line arrives again, even though I only ordered one.
I'm building a BMS using 20 microcontrollers. I order sockets for the 20 microcontrollers. They come in, but they are the wrong width. My fault. I order more, making sure they are the right width. They don't arrive. I check the tracking and it shows they were delivered to an address in another state. I call the distributer. The package was damaged, so UPS shipped it back to the distributer's warehouse. The send my order again, this time next day air. It arrives. They are the wrong size again. The web site description was wrong. I cut them down to make narrow ones.
I go to the place I got the tires and buy master links for the 520 'O' ring chain since I have to make it longer. A week later, I try to put the chain together and the master link doesn't fit. It turns out that Polaris 520 chain has a different sized pin than other "O" ring chains.
I order a Perm 132 motor. A shipment is coming in from Germany. The US distributer sends me an email to tell me that they got the motors, but they were all damaged and will have to send them back. It will be over a month before they get new motors. I find a company in CA that expects to get a shipment in in a couple of weeks. After a couple of weeks, I call and they say there was a mix up at the factory and the motors won't ship from Germany for another week. It has finally shipped from the distributer in CA. It's the last piece I need before I can ride it.
All this, and it's still a lot of fun.
Can't wait to ride it!
- Brad
I bought the bike with a blown motor from a guy on Craig's List. No problems.
I ordered LiFePO4 batteries directly from China. I had to wire transfer them a lot of money. Right after ordering, I started reading messages on the web about how I shouldn't send money to this company because people hadn't been getting their batteries. What a bad feeling. As it turns out, the batteries arrived right on time. No problem here. Big relief.
I ordered a DC-DC converter from California (I'm in NY). A few days later, a woman calls me at work and says, "The Astrodyne converter you ordered is out of stock, but we would like to send you a Sevcon for the same price." Remembering that the Sevcons were more expensive, I said "Sure". Later that day, I looked it up on their web site and found that Sevcon didn't make one for 64V input. I called and left a message on their machine explaining the situation. A week later, the Sevcon arrives, rated for 48V input. I sent it back and they sent me one for 72V input. Hopefully, it will work.
I found the rear tire was dry rotted. I could get a new one on line, but I decide to give the local shop some business. They call to say the tire is in. I bring the wheel over. They call to say they ordered a front tire, not a rear. They order a rear and install it. A few weeks later, I realize that the front is also rotted. I call them up and the front tire is no longer there. They order another one. I bring the rim. They install it. I put it on the bike and realize that it's not seated on the rim properly. I bring it back and they fix it.
I order a longer rear brake line because I had to flip the wheel over to move the chain to the other side. The brake line arrives. About a week later, the same brake line arrives again, even though I only ordered one.
I'm building a BMS using 20 microcontrollers. I order sockets for the 20 microcontrollers. They come in, but they are the wrong width. My fault. I order more, making sure they are the right width. They don't arrive. I check the tracking and it shows they were delivered to an address in another state. I call the distributer. The package was damaged, so UPS shipped it back to the distributer's warehouse. The send my order again, this time next day air. It arrives. They are the wrong size again. The web site description was wrong. I cut them down to make narrow ones.
I go to the place I got the tires and buy master links for the 520 'O' ring chain since I have to make it longer. A week later, I try to put the chain together and the master link doesn't fit. It turns out that Polaris 520 chain has a different sized pin than other "O" ring chains.
I order a Perm 132 motor. A shipment is coming in from Germany. The US distributer sends me an email to tell me that they got the motors, but they were all damaged and will have to send them back. It will be over a month before they get new motors. I find a company in CA that expects to get a shipment in in a couple of weeks. After a couple of weeks, I call and they say there was a mix up at the factory and the motors won't ship from Germany for another week. It has finally shipped from the distributer in CA. It's the last piece I need before I can ride it.
All this, and it's still a lot of fun.
Can't wait to ride it!
- Brad
