E-S Stealth Electric Bike Owners

[Tench]

Here are some pics of my Bomber and a few of the small mods i have done to make it suit my needs better,

I have rotated the fork legs to get the steering stops into a position that allows more steering lock, this also gives a larger contact area with the rubber stop and the frame and provided a flat face for me to attach a brake pipe guide.

I also fitted a set of the Magicshine 1400 lights, the battery pack for these is inside the frame, the socket can be seen cable tied to the rear brake hose, this is where i plug the charger or lights into the battery pack.

The motor wiring wiring has been re-routed above the swing arm to make rear wheel removal a much simpler process.

And a pic here of the front mudgaurd, i also have a close fitting rear one that moves with the suspension, i could not fit these with the std tyres as there was insufficient clearance between the tyres and front fork brace/swingarm but i much prefere the DMR Moto RT's (2.4 x 24) except during the winter when the mud is bad where the originals are far better and will be going back on so i shall have to revise my mudgaurd set up before next winter.

 

[SilverTT]

The main reason why Stealth bikes dont use a derailleur is that its probably the easiest part of the bike to damage when off road. Its all about having a super reliable package when off road. If the main purpose of the bike was to be a road commuter, then a derailleur might well be an option. However, Although people choose to ride the bike as a commuter, they do so at their own risk.

The bike is clearly marketed as an off road bike hence the bike being optimised for off road use.

In relation to the 2 speed, keep in mind there is a clear difference between "all you need" and "all you will ever need" No one is arguing here that the 2 speed is a compromise. Having been lucky enough to ride ride these bikes for quite some time now including plenty of test rides on Fighters, I can say, Yes the 2 speed is all you need but a greater selection gears does come in useful at times.

I really like the new Fighter. If I was doing it again it would be a really hard decision between the two.

Power to weight, the Bomber does have a clear advantage when you take the the rider's weight into account.

Fighter 3000W / 34kg + 80kg rider = 26W per kg
Bomber 4500W / 52kg + 80kg rider = 34W per kg

Thats close to a 25% difference. The gap has certainly narrowed though.

Kepler - I have seen others make comments like this when comparing the Bomber vs the Fighter. Seems they are quite different bikes on the basis of top speed (50 vs 30mph is a big difference) and the weight of a bomber vs a fighter is significant as well. Range is probably the least difference on order of magnitude at 50 miles vs 37 miles.

If I was going to use the bike for 50% city riding and 50% offroad single track riding - would you recommend a Bomber or Fighter?

 

[Justtoby]

Thanks everyone for the helpful tips...and the battery offer tench! Very kind. My battery is due to arrive on weds/thurs this week.

I like the pics of what you have done to the bike, looks very different with those mudguards and tyres! Nice mods too. Can you tell me how you did the rear shock bushes I.e. Where from or what from? I have played with mine and there is some noise on the rear shock.

Thanks for the help on the competition wire, I have been thinking of adding an easy to get to switch for when a friend tries for the first time....or when knoxie has his first go lol. (Oxfordshire is not too far but there are some excellent trails round here)

I have bought a Xena disc lock alarm for motorbikes as it is heavy duty lock with 115db motion and shock alarm.

I am waiting for my gps tracker to arrive. The bike will be data tagged as well just in case it goes missing.

 

[Paul_G]

The switch will drop it to 750 Watts, its EZ'er to set the max Amps in the CA. Try 7 Amps (about 570 watts) to make the Bomber feel like an Optibike. The switch will make it jerky. The CA seems to be smother even set the same.

 

[Tench]

Thanks everyone for the helpful tips...and the battery offer tench! Very kind. My battery is due to arrive on weds/thurs this week.

I like the pics of what you have done to the bike, looks very different with those mudguards and tyres! Nice mods too. Can you tell me how you did the rear shock bushes I.e. Where from or what from? I have played with mine and there is some noise on the rear shock.

Thanks for the help on the competition wire, I have been thinking of adding an easy to get to switch for when a friend tries for the first time....or when knoxie has his first go lol. (Oxfordshire is not too far but there are some excellent trails round here)

I have bought a Xena disc lock alarm for motorbikes as it is heavy duty lock with 115db motion and shock alarm.

I am waiting for my gps tracker to arrive. The bike will be data tagged as well just in case it goes missing.

I had a bit of noisy chatter in the rear shock so i removed it and pressed out the spherical bearings in the end eyes and replaced them with some nylon bushes i made on the lathe, they are soft enough to not put any unwanted side forces on the shock incase of imperfect alignment or flex and do eliminate the play which caused the noise, it is properly silent now! It was unusual to see such poor quality eye bearings in what is really quite a good shock! Maybe mine just had a bad one?
I wouldnt bother with Datatag, it has to be found and then scanned to find out who owns it which is not difficult with so few around but if you can fit a gps tracker that would be a good idea as it leads you to the bike and the scumbag if it goes missing, thats a good idea, i will look into that myself. Build it into the battery so it is always powered up and ready to be activated.

 

[Kepler]

The main reason why Stealth bikes dont use a derailleur is that its probably the easiest part of the bike to damage when off road. Its all about having a super reliable package when off road. If the main purpose of the bike was to be a road commuter, then a derailleur might well be an option. However, Although people choose to ride the bike as a commuter, they do so at their own risk.

The bike is clearly marketed as an off road bike hence the bike being optimised for off road use.

In relation to the 2 speed, keep in mind there is a clear difference between "all you need" and "all you will ever need" No one is arguing here that the 2 speed is a compromise. Having been lucky enough to ride ride these bikes for quite some time now including plenty of test rides on Fighters, I can say, Yes the 2 speed is all you need but a greater selection gears does come in useful at times.

I really like the new Fighter. If I was doing it again it would be a really hard decision between the two.

Power to weight, the Bomber does have a clear advantage when you take the the rider's weight into account.

Fighter 3000W / 34kg + 80kg rider = 26W per kg
Bomber 4500W / 52kg + 80kg rider = 34W per kg

Thats close to a 25% difference. The gap has certainly narrowed though.

Kepler - I have seen others make comments like this when comparing the Bomber vs the Fighter. Seems they are quite different bikes on the basis of top speed (50 vs 30mph is a big difference) and the weight of a bomber vs a fighter is significant as well. Range is probably the least difference on order of magnitude at 50 miles vs 37 miles.

If I was going to use the bike for 50% city riding and 50% offroad single track riding - would you recommend a Bomber or Fighter?

That's a difficult question. So much is based on personal preference. I probably have the fastest Bomber in the group with a top speed of 85 kph however 99% of the time I am 50kph or below. I love the all out performance and smoothness of the Bomber but if I was doing it again I would certainly consider the Fighter mainly because it looks more bike-like and would draw less attention on the road. On single track work, the Fighter would probably be quicker then the Bomber simply because its light weight makes it easier to handle.

 

[knoxie]

Limit the power for little ol me :lol:

Ha ha yes prob not a bad idea so pleased you have got your bike now, I think these bikes are amazing! and great to see Australia heading up and taking on the world showing everyone else how to get the right mix between power, stealth, usability and desirability I think we must have exported some good DNA over there all those years ago :wink:

Its funny as I always have a bar mounted kill switch and throttle limiter, you have to be careful, I have only been stopped once here in the UK and that was because the po po figured I pulled out in the front of them, to be honest they didnt even notice all my batteries and motor :lol: it looked like a science experiment at the time.

You may be as well to put a throttle limit on the throttle somewhere where you can get to it quickly and turn it down if you need to, I dont know if you intend to use it on the road but you have to be careful if you do, the UK law would prohibit the bike on weight alone, I use the throttle limit pot to limit the max rpm of the motor, current limiting works but makes the low end too rough, I can limit the bike to 15mph, you dont need to worry about a peddle sensor as this is not a deal breaker as far as the law goes in the UK only in the rest of Europe.

These bikes whilst fun on the road must surely be ridden off road though I mean my old raleigh is a cheap MTB but great fun off road, god only knows what a bomber must be like

Please try and get some pictures posted else some video even if it is from your mobile phone, thanks to Tench for the pics, nice bike I can travel and dont mind getting on my motorbike, I can bring a gopro, a good quality video camera and make a super nice video of your bike.

Tracker is a very good idea, you have spent upwards of what most folks would spend on a new performance superbike here so you have to think along the same lines, crikey its a rare beast here in the UK as well, dont let the gadget show know you have got it they will be round to test it although Suzy and Polly popping round for a ride sounds kinda nice

Keep us posted

 

[Tench]

I think to some extent we all had the same dilema before we ordered our Bombers!! i did consider the Fighter, i think the range was what did it for me, and the triple clamp forks, the single stem ones on the fighter allthough i am sure they have been chosen well and tested more than thoroughly just dont look confidense inspiring to me when you come from a 35 year motor cycle background, having ridden and raced road enduro and trials. Looking at how i ride the Bomber now, nearly a year since it arrived the outright speed is less important, in the early days i used the speed a lot more than i do now, probably very rarely exceeding the capabilities of the Fighter. The gear box on mine also stays mainly in top gear except for a twist down into a lower gear so i can assist up a steep climb so 2 speeds may have been enough. The range is what does it though, i wish i had a little more. I do plan to build a 24s 18650 pack of quality cells or similar as a get you home job, it could be fitted into the frame and connected with a contactor, i reckon being super economical i could get a good few miles on that.
When i venture onto the roads i do always pedal all the time and keep my speed down to not much over 15mph just incase, been dying to do the local speed cameras though!! We have a very good cycle network around derby so i can get to most places around the city on the old canal paths etc, i have had great fun exploring the areas i thought i knew! Having ridden the trails on motorbikes all my life i also know most of those routes in derbyshire so i am not short of places to go have fun whilst keeping the road miles to the minimum.

Suzi Perry, mmmmmm

 

[knoxie]

Yo Tench would love to see some video of your ride? you got a cam? Interesting your thoughts on the Bomber, I also never get out of top gear on all my rides! ha ha to be honest a Bomber or any ebike with a fixed gear would be fine for me even off road, maybe 3 speeds at max but I could live with just a tall fixed gear most days.

I think both the bomber and the fighter have their plus points, I would go for the bomber on the basis of its better to have the speed and not need it than the other way around (you never know your neighbourhood might just get overtaken and you have to make a sharp exit! :lol: )

Making a Lipo pack for these bikes is easy and relatively cheap too, see Keplers bike, you can shave off a fair bit of weight and increase performance, the pack supplied with the bikes looks good though so a booster pack would be a good Idea, if you are brave enough slip a few in a fire proof bag (rucksack) and keep them as a get you home with no sweat option

Just watched the video from the guys, what a great film and an amazing advert for the fun that you can have on these things! I can wheelie a MTB like a demon as well (used to be my party piece to do it without a front wheel in) anyone wants to lend me their bike to have a go :wink:

 

[deecanio]

been known to pop the odd wheelie myself :lol:
and no Knoxie, no progress on the cobwebbed kona need more time.

D

 

[AussieJester]

been known to pop the odd wheelie myself :lol:
and no Knoxie, no progress on the cobwebbed kona need more time.

Is that right! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H7HkjcEvBs furthest you have ridden in two years too
i would think Deec

KiM

 

[Kepler]

I think both the bomber and the fighter have their plus points, I would go for the bomber on the basis of its better to have the speed and not need it than the other way around (you never know your neighbourhood might just get overtaken and you have to make a sharp exit! :lol: )

A very good point knoxie. Probably the reason why I went for a Bomber in the end. However worth considering the Fighter runs on a 48V pack. Once you get sick of 48V (and out of warranty ), nothing stopping the more adventurous types over volting to a nice 18S LiPo setup

 

[Kepler]

been known to pop the odd wheelie myself :lol:
and no Knoxie, no progress on the cobwebbed kona need more time.

Is that right! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H7HkjcEvBs furthest you have ridden in two years too
i would think Deec

KiM

lol. Hadnt seen that for ages. Nothing like an undergeared over powered RC setup to remove a bit of skin. Classic footage

 

[knoxie]

Ha ha dya know my tired brain missed that! ha ha I thought oh maybe deec can pop wheelies then? cool ha ha forgot about that one..

The stealth bikes are so cool though, I keep looking at them and am tempted, I would have to sell a whole lot of gear and then hit my savings to get one and not sure if my missus would be too happy, we shall see how I feel after I test ride one (if I am lucky enough to do so ) The garage is full of ebikes at the moment, sure I can make space for 1 more ha ha.

Cmon Deec get that bike sorted buddy, I think I might need a new pack on mine now, they are over a year old and have run maybe 200 hard cycles or so, they are still OK but loosing capacity, time to go get me some nanos!

 

[Justtoby]

Polly and Suzy from the gadget show can come over to my place anytime they like! In fact Polly on her own would be enough!!

I will try to get the pics sorted as soon as I get chance. (of the Bomber, not Polly as my wife might find them)

Knoxie, I think you will have the full power mode when you use mine and me restricted as you have far more experience than me. It would be good if you can take some vids. I will let you know once battery here and run in then we are good to go.
Tracker has arrived and looks good, I will let you all know how I get on with it.
Obviously I have not tried the Bomber with power yet but I can see that it is gonna be a handful due to the weight so the fighter has some merits as well as being cheaper. I agree that the triple clamp forks look right but I think the factory could fit some to the fighter if you paid them. I think the power may hide the weight though as a 50cc motobike feels like a toy to ride.

 

[knoxie]

Hey

Well Polly actually lives about half a mile from me I will see what I can do ha ha.. she is fit and she knows it mind you! glad you got the tracker, piece of mind even with the bike sat there without a battery in it, I know you mentioned a good lock but I would seriously not leave it anywhere outside though as it would attract so much attention, get ready for lots of people stopping and asking, how fast, how far, how much! ha ha

I am pretty sure I would be fine on a bomber, I also ride a souped up XT600 Yamaha on and off road, first time you ride electric it does take a bit of getting used to though, I have some time off coming up soon so can make it any time really, the most fun bike I have is the BMX but it could not live with the Bomber well none of my bikes could to be fair so I may just rock up on one of my motorbikes instead and bring my video cameras.

Don't fret too much about the photos we kind of know what it looks like anyway as we have seen it albeit not in any detail though, I wonder why they don't ship the battery with the bike? didn't they both come on the plane? and the battery is Lifepo4 as well?

The magicshine lamps are a good option as well, get a DC to DC converter and run them off the bike battery as there was an issue with the battery packs that magicshine were shipping out, mine has been fine but others have been venting, they are great lights though and you will need good lights as Autumn is only a month away, in fact only this morning I did my usual 30mph fun short cut across a piece of land near my work and there were leaves galore so its already starting to happen :-( we had a summer yet?

Right back to what I was doing....wont be long before you get your batteries!!

Knoxie

 

[Tench]

I looked into a dc-dc converter but couldnt find anything that didnt cost too much, but then just after i had ordered the Magicshine i found the lights on the CA site that can be run of any voltage upto 100v. I am more than happy with what i have got though, last winter on the dark nights they where fantastic!! even with all 3 lamps on full power they last as long as the bikes battery so they are perfectly suited to the bomber.

http://www.ebikes.ca/lights/

 

[knoxie]

Hi Tench

I picked up a handful of cheap DC-DC converters from a chap in Israel, I have yet to make one in to a box for my bike as I also find the magichshine pack lasts generally for as long as i want to ride in the dark anyway

 

[deecanio]

Lolz, that was the one i was referring to, thx Kim, and it's embarassingly true that's my furthest ride in 2 years :lol:
noobs beware, a 8kw 3220 on a twitchy throttle = rash
not to derail - glad to see more stealth bikes in action, particularly pleased to see some in the uk too.
I'm with you Paul, i've always said i'd love to have one in my garage and they're the best available for sure, two of those would be a big bag of monkeys 8)
If theres any meets where we can see/ride? one that would be great, count me in!!

D

 

[Justtoby]

When are you off knoxie? With deec on board we have the rally! I too have some time off to make the bank holiday break longer.

the battery was delayed getting to factory so john arranged direct delivery to try and get it to me quicker....hope they send the right on with correct connections.

 

[Tench]

When are you off knoxie? With deec on board we have the rally! I too have some time off to make the bank holiday break longer.

the battery was delayed getting to factory so john arranged direct delivery to try and get it to me quicker....hope they send the right on with correct connections.

Dont worry, John arranged one for me direct from the battery manufacturer and it was made up correctly, came charged and plugged straight it......but they did put the full invoice value on the import docs so i had to pay £50 ish VAT when i collected it from DHL!! But then john sorted it all out so i didnt end up out of pocket He has always been fantastic in every way, his after sales care is as good as his products, which is reasuring as these are not cheap bikes for us in the uk with the Aus Dollar being very strong.

 

[knoxie]

Deec, Justtoby

Yes cool I might have all of next week off or the week after not sure yet? doing the same though just making it a nice long bank holiday, I am sure I can get away for a bit, yes Deec dont know how much you have been reading the thread but Justtoby has just got the bike and about to get the battery and would like to meet so we can do a bit of filming and a test ride

Be great if we can all meet up, I can see stealth doing good business here in the UK the optibike didnt sell over here because although its a great idea it was also very expensive and was comparatively underwhelming to ride, this thing is a different beast altogether though and has the power and handling to justify the price.

I am not sure if they are planning on any UK dealerships? it will be great to try one out, I could stretch to get one ha ha will have to see what happens I have so many ebikes and only really ride one of them all the time.

Deec when I win the lotto at the end of the week i will get 2 of them 1 for me and 1 for you

so you up for another meet Deec, we can PM Justtoby with any other details, will let him ride it and get used to it for a week! and if you do come Deec no wheelies

 

[sn0wchyld]

I looked into a dc-dc converter but couldnt find anything that didnt cost too much, but then just after i had ordered the Magicshine i found the lights on the CA site that can be run of any voltage upto 100v. I am more than happy with what i have got though, last winter on the dark nights they where fantastic!! even with all 3 lamps on full power they last as long as the bikes battery so they are perfectly suited to the bomber.

http://www.ebikes.ca/lights/

easiest one I found was to use an old external HD power supply, gives dual outputs of 12V and 5V, you can pick 'em up on ebay for around $10.

 

[GTR2EBIKE]

Randomly saw a Stealth Bomber near Bayville, NY 2 weekends ago. Talk about the highlight of my day.

 

[deecanio]

would love to meet guys
im off next week although i do have to smash out some more painting and decorating but the worst of it should be done come the bank holiday weekend (which im working).
If you both have some time off or are booking some after the bank holiday i could try and get a set of shifts off, or if we plan it right i should be able to come over on a day off anyway, let me know some dates you can both do and we'll sort it!!
can bring a second cam too

D