US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Heyho Forum and Friends! back from my yearly one month long Thailand Koh Tao Dive trip! Perhaps some of you have allready seen my first night experience with the 18S together with Kingsong Thailand? If not, here is a 1080P shot of the ride on youtube: On the last evening of my holiday...the 28.th Ks Thailand surprised me with the 18L, which they just received some hours before....and we did an extensive testride with 2 of their 18L (black/white) and the 18S changing! There will be a video edit about this ride coming, too.just Ks Thailand needs some time todo the edit! I will be saying much more about the 18L later on here...but i just recently arrived at home ? Just a short one: This wheel really is a winner! Keep notified for more info/review on the 18L..will be soon coming ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Wow you guys sure can weave through pedestrian traffic! I worry about the indecisive person who walks one way towards you and then changes direction a few times trying to get a read on which way you’re planning to go. Welcome back, and thanks for sharing that clip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 3 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: Wow you guys sure can weave through pedestrian traffic! I worry about the indecisive person who walks one way towards you and then changes direction a few times trying to get a read on which way you’re planning to go. Welcome back, and thanks for sharing that clip. That weaving through the crowd was just because i had to lead...and had no clue where to go...so we landed on a sidepart of the famous Khao San Road. People in Thailand are pretty used to that even a small motor bikes weaves through such a crowd... But we did a good job...noone was even touched...and noone was hurt ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ED209 Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Good riding skills, you seem very comfortable on the KS18s, well controlled especially in surroundings you are unfamiliar with. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 My Friends from KS Thailand havng fun while unboxng their wheels: Just for info: This girl is just about 1,50 Meters...thats why the 18L looks so massive on her and reaching even her knee. On the day we were testriding through BKK she allready was very comfortable to go with her - white ? - 18L (her daily driver where she can do tricks with like nearly no one else i know is a 14S wheel) Thats one of the facts for an 18L review: Other than the 18S with its high shell...adjusting to the 18L is a very very simple task. Nearly like riding a Ks16 or V8....easy to change to the 18l from any other 16 or 18inch wheel. the allocation/distrivution of the battery weight in this wheel is fantastic. Even when the wheel seams high...the battery is reaching down to the end of pedal arms...its battery is build around the pedal arms and over it and instead of plastik wrap the cells are build in a hard plastic case. the height of the wheel results only from the trolley and from the board sitting over the tire...where it gets cooled by the heatsink from tire movement (and from fan if needed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Please xcuse me when this review until now is no real review... when the video of me drivmg the wheel is ready i will say much more and let the pictures speak for themself. In an environment where i dont know just one pothole or even a street (BKK) i adjusted to the wheel in a second and was able to weave and idle around immediately ? So lets just wait abit for the video ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 29 minutes ago, US69 said: Please xcuse me when this review until now is no real review... when the video of me drivmg the wheel is ready i will say much more and let the pictures speak for themself. In an environment where i dont know just one pothole or even a street (BKK) i adjusted to the wheel in a second and was able to weave and idle around immediately ? So lets just wait abit for the video ? we always like a video ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 44 minutes ago, stephen said: we always like a video ?? Yeah...me too. This year i wanted todo a lot of videos me riding the 18S on the steep hills of Koh Tao, and what happend? On the first day of diving i flooded my GoPro Clone...because me douchbag changed to a new backplate of the camera shell...not knowing that this backplate was one for „in air using“, and having two big holes for better microphone sound....my sound was......blub, blub, blub.....and as result GoPro totally dead! All video ideas for EUC riding on reset after first day ? Thank God i saved the whale shark videos from year before ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Btw one of the best short promovideo shot i have seen ? : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 So some of my impressions of the 18L before the video is released: Positives: The 18L is a real beauty and in my view a winner for KS. Since years KS was blamed for the 18a/s because of its unusual size and shell and the problems to adjusting on the ride style needed for this wheel. Everyone was waiting for a „16S“ style 18inch wheel from KS.... Now its here and the have done a nice job. Its very eays to adapt to the wheel and nearly feels like a 16inch wheel. It is powerfull, and has a fast acceleration, when you reach top speed (still 40kmh on this unit, not 200km unlocked) the tiltback is very gentle and easy to handle. The build quality is top notch! The trolley handle system in my view is the best you can have on a wheel...its just much better than trolley solutions from „behind the wheel“ or „added on the wheel“. The handle sensor is also a big plus, when you need to carry the wheel for a short time on some stairs or so. It has worked most of the times, but still has some flaws, but they are not security related in my view.(see negatives) For me always to mention: The ability to upgrade firmware and make the wheel better. There already have been Firmware updates which get away little flaws like Led lightning and for example adding a fan test when wheel starts.... Looking forward to see big improvements as for example even better ride quality! Some people have reported „problems“ with the light sensor, as it is sitting in front of the wheel and when a carlight blends you the light switches of. [this can happen to you on the 18a/s also) I have to say that the position of the light sensor might be better on top of the wheel....but then people would complain that the light would go out if you drive under a street light (like on Ks14/16).... My answer to this is easy: Just switch the lights ON then...you dont even need a app todo(but can use the app for that), just switch it over the power button. The light system switches between auto, ON and OFF then and in ON/OFF the light sensor dont work. Because i was knowing about this complains i tested this functionality for the 18L and the switching has worked flawless. so i still see the light sensor as a plus as other brands even dont have that AUTO functionality. Negatives: First and biggest: The sensor on the trolley handle: Before it works more or less flawless you have to calibrate the sensor by app, this works only on newest android version 1.50...IOS APP is still in the works (IOS doesnt work at all with the 18L at the moment). Then we had some VERY SELDOM quirks that the wheel stopped balancing after touching the handle grip and you HAVE to lift it up and set down or even use the power button to restart. Attention: Things like this can and was ONLY happen when wheel is STANDING.....the sensor is not able to work when the wheel even moves a little bit. I Tested that by hand moving the wheel and even while driving slow extensively. i was not able to trigger the sensor at all when moving!!! Nonetheless i have to say as i until now dont understand fully how the sensor works i also didnt trust it and set it to off. Why i dont understand it? The sensor even works when you lift the wheel on the side of the grip...or when the trolley is fully open. So it seams to be working by the weight lifting...but then not as it also works by touching the grip. We just didnt get how i functions and so i dont build real trust. In the moment i am trying to ask some KS contact for finding out how this thing works.... So until i dont know better i would go to set the sensor to OFF....and thats a shame because it is a nice function! But then here also goes: can and for sure will get better with firmware updates. Second „complain“, but i guess that just goes for me as 18S owner: Powerwise i would have exspected a bigger jump going from 67v/1500watt to 84volt/2000watt.... Yes, the 18L seams to accelerate more easy and faster....but for me it seams the braking on the 18L is a bit on the weak side-again: this goes for a comparison to the already powerfull 18S! In general the 18L is fast, powerful and torque! And especially for this situation i have to point to the firmware upgrade ability: Was my 18A or my 18S perfect as early adopter? Nope! Are they perfect now? I guess not perfect...but much times better! Especially on the 18S Kingsong has done such big improvements, the „waah waah“ engine sound is gone, the torque and acceleration got way, way better with latest firmware updates. So my guess is the 18L also will get even much better as it allready is over time! Keep in mind it is the absolut first 84V wheel they have done.....i am pretty sure firmware updates giving it even more power/torque will come. For what Henrik told about 2 LED still on, but the wheel allready behaving like on zero percent battery is „just“ a LED display failure, which will be corrected. But unfortunately i wasnt able to drive the 18L battery down on that one evening....so i cant say that much to this. Just that the general behaviour of all KS is that under 10% is that you are reduced to 15-20kmh. On my 18S at about 25-30% i am reduced to about 35-38...with that than gradually going down to the 10% behavior. That massive beeps we heard in Henriks video i only got when my 18S is under 4-5% and you keep pushing....extra loud beeps and then TB to get you down...makes just no sense to still have 2 LEd lights on... I guess NOW with android v1.50 totally adjusted to 18L we will get better conclusions when and at what percentage the speed is reduced to what numbers..... Finally i had another negative ? I would love to see an 1600wh or even 2072wh version...should be no prob..just a small design change of the outer shell...... Conclusion in one of my next posts...:-) still hoping for the video to pop in... In the meanwhile if there are any questions i can answer (especially for 18S comparison)....feel free to ask ? main conclusion is still: this wheel is a winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esaj Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 1 hour ago, US69 said: The sensor on the trolley handle: Before it works more or less flawless you have to calibrate the sensor by app, this works only on newest android version 1.50...IOS APP is still in the works (IOS doesnt work at all with the 18L at the moment). Then we had some VERY SELDOM quirks that the wheel stopped balancing after touching the handle grip and you HAVE to lift it up and set down or even use the power button to restart. Attention: Things like this can and was ONLY happen when wheel is STANDING.....the sensor is not able to work when the wheel even moves a little bit. I Tested that by hand moving the wheel and even while driving slow extensively. i was not able to trigger the sensor at all when moving!!! Nonetheless i have to say as i until now dont understand fully how the sensor works i also didnt trust it and set it to off. Why i dont understand it? The sensor even works when you lift the wheel on the side of the grip...or when the trolley is fully open. So it seams to be working by the weight lifting...but then not as it also works by touching the grip. We just didnt get how i functions and so i dont build real trust. In the moment i am trying to ask some KS contact for finding out how this thing works.... So until i dont know better i would go to set the sensor to OFF....and thats a shame because it is a nice function! But then here also goes: can and for sure will get better with firmware updates. The sensor was discussed in the forums a while back, it's a strain-gauge / load cell attached to the other end of the handle: If the wheel jumps up and down while you carry it, that could cause the strain gauge to bend up and down, triggering the motor on and off. If it's set to too sensitive, it might not require much force to trigger... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 3 hours ago, esaj said: The sensor was discussed in the forums a while back, it's a strain-gauge / load cell attached to the other end of the handle: If the wheel jumps up and down while you carry it, that could cause the strain gauge to bend up and down, triggering the motor on and off. If it's set to too sensitive, it might not require much force to trigger... I have read through that thread... What i can say that when the wheel is just a bit moving we had no chances to activate the sensor and unbalancing....so definitly Ks has done their job like on the powerbuttono app shutdown or lock buttons, which also all dont work while wheel is running! The idea of standing on the wheel and not moving and then pulling the handle we didnt try ? But even when this is a problem, i would guess that goes for all sensor/mechanical and whatnot solutions of under the handle wheel stops. they all would have that problem of triggering when you pull the handle while standing still on it. What made me scratch my had is that we could trigger the sensor by pulling on the handle on whatever side you can imagine...even when the trolley was completly engaged/ out to 1,05 m.. But it doesnt trigger when i pulled the wheel up by holding it wih both hands on the aluminium rod? I would exspect that to trigger also. Like said, me and my Thai friend are asking our KS contacts for a detailed explanation of functioning and also to explain all security things they have done on this. Until we have that explanation...the sensor would stay off (at least for me) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Have updated the review above on some parts.... and appended another part to the review above under Negatives, here the appendix: For what Henrik told about 2 LED still on, but the wheel allready behaving like on zero percent battery is „just“ a LED display failure, which will be corrected. But unfortunately i wasnt able to drive the 18L battery down on that one evening....so i cant say that much to this. Just that the general behaviour of all KS is that under 10% is that you are reduced to 15-20kmh. On my 18S at about 25-30% i am reduced to about 35-38kmh....with that than gradually going down to the 10% behavior. That massive beeps we heard in Henriks video i only got when my 18S is under 4-5% and you keep pushing....extra loud beeps and then TB to get you down...it makes just no sense to still have 2 LEd lights on... I guess NOW with android v1.50 totally adjusted to 18L we will get better conclusions when and at what percentage the speed is reduced to what numbers..... Finally i had another negative ? : I would love to see an 1600wh or even 2072wh version...should be no prob..just a small design change of the outer shell needed to throw in a bigger battery..... And btw: In the Unboxing video of KS Thailand above you can see a very, very small part of me riding the 18L allready.... ? Man, that was fun again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzanine Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I still haven't unlocked my 18S, but now I'm thinking I should in case I need to use the last 30% of the battery. I typically recharge at 40% and it isn't an issue. This is assuming the low-battery speed reduction is scaled to the unlocked max speed. An advantage of a larger battery that I didn't really consider beforehand is that you can drive further before having to recharge. I worry a bit my V8's battery performance will degrade faster because I'm always recharging it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifrigel Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 US69, you must be "the German guy" Gookgai told me about. I also bought the last KS-18L from him yesterday. The wheel surely is very useful for riding in Bangkok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriull Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Welcome to the forum! 15 minutes ago, Nifrigel said: US69 For getting another forum member notified, one has to quote (a part of) his post or use the @ and choose the members name from the dropdown box (first letters can be typed to shorten/filter the list). If the name appears with a blue background as here: @Nifrigel It worked out! You managed it to post a link to his member profile - i don't know if the forum software generates a notification this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 7/2/2018 at 10:12 AM, Nifrigel said: US69, you must be "the German guy" Gookgai told me about. I also bought the last KS-18L from him yesterday. The wheel surely is very useful for riding in Bangkok. Yes...i am....look at the video at the start... And congrats to the 18L ....very strong wheel!!! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 2:39 PM, mezzanine said: advantage of a larger battery that I didn't really consider beforehand is that you can drive further before having to recharge. I worry a bit my V8's battery performance will degrade faster because I'm always recharging it. Thats exactly what i always say.... Charging my 1680wh 18S only all 4-5 days...and i am still between 20-90%..... Anf than there is also the safety aspect...mich less stress as you have more parallel systems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 8, 2018 Author Share Posted July 8, 2018 finally some first pictures: I guess what you see the best, is how easy it was to adapt to this beast...idling was that easy....great quality wheel! Thanks again @Gookgai Flytothesky from KS Thailand for making that holiday that great again!!! And even as that was my last day/Hours there ( 4 Hours later i have to leave for the Airport :-) ) it was one of the best days this year!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 Part two of the test ride......finishing with a great Steak :-) And nope...thats no beer can in my Hand ….it is just a Flashlight! And as i recently heared…..a part 3 will also be coming….lets see what awkward Moments where catches on this one :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 For everyone who will ever visit Thailand/Bangkok for Holidays: Contact KS Thailand! They are great and if there is any possibility to get you a Wheel for your Holiday....they will find a solution! I can not stress this enough...very, very fantastic People and i am happy that i get to know them!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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