skyungjae
10 kW
I've had quite the journey with my previous 2005 Kona Stink-E, but I went down that modification path which caused more problems than I'd want to deal with. For more details on that, you can click on that link in my signature following this post.
View attachment 11The Stink-E in its prime.
This bike was my primary commuter, and I put about ~2000+ miles on it during the year and a half I had it. The need for 7" of travel wasn't there anymore, and I was fond of the idea of mounting a battery in the actual frame triangle.
Anyhow, upon dismantle of my Stink-E, I began searching for full suspension bikes that could accommodate an OEM style frame mount battery. I briefly picked up a 2007 Novara Float which turned out to be a small (listed as a Medium by the seller, gifted it to my sister), an 03 Jamis Dakar off eBay which was missing half of its main pivot bushing (listed as good condition, returned), and finally this large '05 Jamis Dakar (would've preferred a medium, but battery fitment was my priority).
View attachment 10
Upon purchasing this bike, I installed a shorter stem, KS Exaform 861 suspension dropper post, flat pedals w/ replaceable pins, Hayes Prime sport hydraulic brakes and 203mm rotors.
After picking up the bike, I wanted to try a more plug and play style kit. Something I wouldn't lose days on tinkering with and more time riding. The BBS-02 seemed to fit the description. I ended up ordering a battery and kit from BMS Battery on September 19th. Almost 2 months, a PayPal dispute, and paying more for shipping, my kit and battery were delivered this past weekend.
It's difficult to really comment about BMS Battery's service, but I think the best way to describe ordering from them is like rolling dice. If you roll a 7 or higher, you'll probably get your stuff in a timely manner with everything correct. Roll any lower, you'll run into problems.
Well, I spent the weekend putting the bike together. I didn't have enough time to actually test ride it, so my ride to work was its maiden voyage.
At the train station. :wink:
I didn't like how the display mounted on the bars. Getting the occasional flat, it's nice being able to flip the bike and service it. The display on the bars would get crushed or would need to be loosened and twisted out of the way, so I decided to make my own mount with some plexiglass I had left over from making the side panels on the Stink-E. All I had is a small Dremel (rotary tool), so it took some time to make the mounting plate for the stem.
It also seems like Bafang has updated their outer lock ring to conceal the inner lock ring. It uses the external bearing bottom bracket tool. It's definitely a nice little touch they shouldl've done from the get go.
My friend had one of these chain retention things lying around from his Kona Howler e-bike build, so I decided to use it on my bike. The chain that came on the bike was too short, so it would drop the chain on the largest rear cog. This plus a longer chain is doing a decent job keeping the chain on. I'll see how it can handle stairs and some climbing later today.
All in all, this bike is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I don't intend on tinkering with this bike much, but I've said that plenty of times with my Stink-E project. :lol:
As for my initial impressions, it's very nice not having to backpack a battery and plug in every time I want to ride. This bike feels lighter than the Stink-E even with the frame mount battery. It definitely feels more like a bicycle too since you can just hop on and start riding. The Stink-E had a more underpowered dirt bike feel.
Going from a throttle only e-bike to one with PAS is also a new experience. I hope I get used to it. :? The power kicking in while pedaling, even under assist level 1, is a bit surprising. Shifting on assist isn't too bad so long as you apply the same principals to shifting as you do on a a regular bike. I had thought about wiring up a motor kill button I'd use as a clutch for shifting, but it doesn't seem necessary at the moment. I can always quickly bring it down to Assist Level 0 if need be with a thumb press or two. This is why I went with the 961 display. I like having the thumb accessible power adjustment.
As for the programing, I know the programming varies per distributor, and the amount of thumb throttle corresponds with the amount of assist. I would've preferred having access to max throttle power at any assist level, including 0. I understand Lectric Cycles programing includes this. Hopefully I can live with this and not dabble in re-programming the controller. I don't want to go down that road again. :lol:
I may get some black PVC piping to clean up the bundle of wires; however, I'm pretty lazy, so I think the bike will probably stay the way it is for a while. :lol:
View attachment 11The Stink-E in its prime.
This bike was my primary commuter, and I put about ~2000+ miles on it during the year and a half I had it. The need for 7" of travel wasn't there anymore, and I was fond of the idea of mounting a battery in the actual frame triangle.
Anyhow, upon dismantle of my Stink-E, I began searching for full suspension bikes that could accommodate an OEM style frame mount battery. I briefly picked up a 2007 Novara Float which turned out to be a small (listed as a Medium by the seller, gifted it to my sister), an 03 Jamis Dakar off eBay which was missing half of its main pivot bushing (listed as good condition, returned), and finally this large '05 Jamis Dakar (would've preferred a medium, but battery fitment was my priority).
View attachment 10
Upon purchasing this bike, I installed a shorter stem, KS Exaform 861 suspension dropper post, flat pedals w/ replaceable pins, Hayes Prime sport hydraulic brakes and 203mm rotors.
After picking up the bike, I wanted to try a more plug and play style kit. Something I wouldn't lose days on tinkering with and more time riding. The BBS-02 seemed to fit the description. I ended up ordering a battery and kit from BMS Battery on September 19th. Almost 2 months, a PayPal dispute, and paying more for shipping, my kit and battery were delivered this past weekend.
It's difficult to really comment about BMS Battery's service, but I think the best way to describe ordering from them is like rolling dice. If you roll a 7 or higher, you'll probably get your stuff in a timely manner with everything correct. Roll any lower, you'll run into problems.
Well, I spent the weekend putting the bike together. I didn't have enough time to actually test ride it, so my ride to work was its maiden voyage.
At the train station. :wink:
I didn't like how the display mounted on the bars. Getting the occasional flat, it's nice being able to flip the bike and service it. The display on the bars would get crushed or would need to be loosened and twisted out of the way, so I decided to make my own mount with some plexiglass I had left over from making the side panels on the Stink-E. All I had is a small Dremel (rotary tool), so it took some time to make the mounting plate for the stem.
It also seems like Bafang has updated their outer lock ring to conceal the inner lock ring. It uses the external bearing bottom bracket tool. It's definitely a nice little touch they shouldl've done from the get go.
My friend had one of these chain retention things lying around from his Kona Howler e-bike build, so I decided to use it on my bike. The chain that came on the bike was too short, so it would drop the chain on the largest rear cog. This plus a longer chain is doing a decent job keeping the chain on. I'll see how it can handle stairs and some climbing later today.
All in all, this bike is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. I don't intend on tinkering with this bike much, but I've said that plenty of times with my Stink-E project. :lol:
As for my initial impressions, it's very nice not having to backpack a battery and plug in every time I want to ride. This bike feels lighter than the Stink-E even with the frame mount battery. It definitely feels more like a bicycle too since you can just hop on and start riding. The Stink-E had a more underpowered dirt bike feel.
Going from a throttle only e-bike to one with PAS is also a new experience. I hope I get used to it. :? The power kicking in while pedaling, even under assist level 1, is a bit surprising. Shifting on assist isn't too bad so long as you apply the same principals to shifting as you do on a a regular bike. I had thought about wiring up a motor kill button I'd use as a clutch for shifting, but it doesn't seem necessary at the moment. I can always quickly bring it down to Assist Level 0 if need be with a thumb press or two. This is why I went with the 961 display. I like having the thumb accessible power adjustment.
As for the programing, I know the programming varies per distributor, and the amount of thumb throttle corresponds with the amount of assist. I would've preferred having access to max throttle power at any assist level, including 0. I understand Lectric Cycles programing includes this. Hopefully I can live with this and not dabble in re-programming the controller. I don't want to go down that road again. :lol:
I may get some black PVC piping to clean up the bundle of wires; however, I'm pretty lazy, so I think the bike will probably stay the way it is for a while. :lol: