KS-14D : newbie, first day

[vasuvius]

Once I got the app worked out and the unlocking completed, I deleted the KS app and downloaded the EUC World app.

Then I spent about 30 minutes at the high school and used a wall and my wife for support. In about 15 minutes I was able to go 10-25 meters very shakily. Took a break and went out alone an hour later.

And boom, it just came to me. Spent 45 minutes going around the block, making turns, slowing, speeding up etc. The KS often screamed at me to decelerate :-)

I don't know how to unlock the speed controls. Is that possible from the EUC World app ? 

I still have not figure out how to get on it without holding onto to something. Need to find a youtube video for some info.

EUC says my top speed in 45 minutes was 40 km/h and Avg riding speed was 10.1 km/h. Not bad. (I am unable to insert images for some reason or I'd attach a screen shot)

Thanks for reading.

[TomOnWheels]

You can only unlock from KS app. Be careful, to ride a EUC you need to be humble :-) High speed, is something reserved for advances users, wearing full protection, and only ok a known roads. Or you will soon experience another well-known EUC rider experience: face-plant... :-) There is quite a lot about in on the forum:

 

[Tazarinho]

Congrats on your fast learning!

Mounting without support is indeed a skill that often comes a bit later, but it is crucial nonetheless!

One thing to watch out for though. Nearly every new EUC-rider goes through a stage where confidence exceeds skill! Zipping around at 40 km/h while not yet being able to mount without support sounds look you might be in that stage already.  

So do be careful, but above all, keep having fun. Soon you will be riding everywhere you can!

[mrelwood]

Well done, you had a fast start!

The 14D can only go 30km/h, so the 40km/h is probably the free air speed from lifting the wheel when powered on.

Everything said about overconfidence is still valid though. Understanding the wheel’s limits during acceleration, inclines and obstacles is complicated, and something that one will usually learn much later. Just don’t learn the hard way!

[Rehab1]

14 hours ago, vasuvius said:

And boom, it just came to me. Spent 45 minutes going around the block, making turns, slowing, speeding up etc. The KS often screamed at me to decelerate :-)

Congratulations! Enjoy your new sport but do listen to the beeps (screaming). If I had my druthers I would prefer my wife beeping at me instead of screaming.  

[vasuvius]

5 hours ago, TomOnWheels said:

You can only unlock from KS app. Be careful, to ride a EUC you need to be humble :-) High speed, is something reserved for advances users, wearing full protection, and only ok a known roads. Or you will soon experience another well-known EUC rider experience: face-plant... :-) There is quite a lot about in on the forum:

 

Thank you for the tip. I think my wheel is still locked at 12.5 mph. And I don't plan to unlock that for a while.

As pointed out by @mrelwood, the 14D can only go up to 30 km/h (18 mph). The acceleration from lifting the wheel is what caused the higher speed.

I'm not over confident and do plan to take it easy. Currently only riding within 2-3 blocks from home on streets with very low traffic.

The roads in the northeast US are pretty crappy and at this time of the year there's loads of leaves, tree branches and other fall debris on the streets making it a bit more challenging.

 

 

 

[TomOnWheels]

26 minutes ago, vasuvius said:

Thank you for the tip. I think my wheel is still locked at 12.5 mph. And I don't plan to unlock that for a while.

As pointed out by @mrelwood, the 14D can only go up to 30 km/h (18 mph). The acceleration from lifting the wheel is what caused the higher speed.

I'm not over confident and do plan to take it easy. Currently only riding within 2-3 blocks from home on streets with very low traffic.

The roads in the northeast US are pretty crappy and at this time of the year there's loads of leaves, tree branches and other fall debris on the streets making it a bit more challenging.

 

 

 

So then you will remain a happy and healthy rider for a long time :-) Remember also that new KS wheels need to ride some km before you can unlock full speed. So if you are locked to 20km/h max and can't unclock higher speed, this is probably the reason why. Anyway enjoy, euc is very addictive and an awesome way of traveling !

[vasuvius]

Day 2 (yesterday) was more fun. I had less than 20 minutes before it got dark. I don't want to ride in the dark till I'm really comfortable on the wheel.

I got on with support and stayed on for 3.85 kms with an average moving speed of 13.5 km/h. I'm still wobbling a bit when I turn. I expanded my range to about a 4 block radius around the house. 

I think the next drill I need to work on is kicking with one foot and balancing on the other view the aim of being able to get on without support. Getting off is pretty easy as it's easy to slow down and put one foot down. I wish I had read the trick about using a strap while learning. The wheel is now nicely scratched up all over :-( Oh well.

[vasuvius]

Today was day 4. It's been a 3 week break since day 3. Between vacations, snow on the road and too dark too early, it's been very hard to get out.

4.53 miles in 30 mins w/ avg moving speed of 9.6 mph and max 12.8 mph. I seem to have better control on the speed and the wheel only yelled at me to slow down once. 

I took my first fall today, ironically, the first time I forgot to wear wrist-guards and a helmet. Luckily I have a lot of practice falling and walked away unhurt.

I've been able to get on and off without using support but it's quite shaky. I'm still trying to figure out how to do tight turns i.e. U turns and small circles. The cold weather, and shorter day is not giving me enough practice time.

[ZoomWheelz]

45 minutes ago, vasuvius said:

... I'm still trying to figure out how to do tight turns i.e. U turns and small circles. ...

It does take some time to make those tight turns, but just as with motorcycles, you "go where you look".  Keep your head up and directed the way you want to go, then slightly lean into it.  The more you practice, the tighter the turns can get.

[vasuvius]

1 hour ago, ZoomWheelz said:

It does take some time to make those tight turns, but just as with motorcycles, you "go where you look".  Keep your head up and directed the way you want to go, then slightly lean into it.  The more you practice, the tighter the turns can get.

Yea. I've figured out that look where you want to go on my motorcyles, bicycles and snowboard. I keep looking down at the road while I turn on the wheel so as to get a better sense for speed to turn at. Need to work on it. Only 16.6 miles on the wheel so far. It's almost like learning to ride a bike. Maybe I need to fall a few times :-)

[RockyTop]

Great progress.   Learning tends to be slow but steady. The more fun it becomes the easier it is to learn. It is awesome once things becomes second nature. ...... The truth is, I don’t actually know how to ride one of these things.      .....  Good thing my lower brain does.   The more you over analyze the harder things can get.  

Foot position, finding the right placement front to back is important. Most people tend to stand too far back. 

[vasuvius]

13 hours ago, RockyTop said:

Great progress.   Learning tends to be slow but steady. The more fun it becomes the easier it is to learn. It is awesome once things becomes second nature. ...... The truth is, I don’t actually know how to ride one of these things.      .....  Good thing my lower brain does.   The more you over analyze the harder things can get.  

Foot position, finding the right placement front to back is important. Most people tend to stand too far back. 

Thank you. On the KS 14D, with 9.5 boots, my toes are a little forward of the front edge of the footrests. When getting on without support, I do struggle with positioning with the second foot. Wiggling it a bit helps to get closer to a comfortable/balanced point but I still need more work.

I'm hoping in another week I can start with my last mile commute, roughly a mile +/- from the train station at both ends. :-)

The crappy pothole ridden roads in NE USA do not help.

[.....]

Love to hear your progress! My toes hang off the front of my BIG pedals on my 18L too. I tried many miles to stand centered, but it just seems more stable on fronts. I think it all boils down to what comfy and spending many miles on it. Just like snowboarding was for me.. it was a few hours of torture and then BAM!! I didnt fall and it become immensely more fun. Soon to follow was the BAM on my face in the snow, as with speed, comes less butt injury and more face cleanings. Man, NE is pretty rough road, but think of how good youll get! Ive found 15-18 mph is my sweetspot for comfort. I fear anything over 10mph = not running it out, but damn the fun. Just today I realized that my wheel reminded me of snowboarding. Keep up the fun! Practice the start and stop with no support, I'm sure if you force yourself to work it, youll get it REALLY fast! Im still having to remind myself to NOT lean the wheel over when i start, as I over anticipate the weight shift.  Pretty much, Ive been overthinking it and still am.  DO you feel more comfy doing tight 180's one direction over the other? I still do, and still seem to fight the desire to stand offset.

[vasuvius]

15 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

DO you feel more comfy doing tight 180's one direction over the other? I still do, and still seem to fight the desire to stand offset.

Right now I really need a wide space to do a 180. Need to work more on it. I also need to figure out how to get over railroad tracks. That should be fun.

[vasuvius]

I managed to unlock the max speed on the wheel. Went for a ride today and did 5.6 miles in 26 minutes with a max speed of 18.2.

At this point I don't really like too much speed and plan to keep it slow. I had stop signs, traffic lights and stopped cars to deal with and it was a bit unnerving. I need to learn how to stay stopped with a forward/backward rolling motion to be able to handle street crossings and light. Got on and off without support or dropping the wheel :-)

[.....]

18.2=11mph? Thats right there at a very fast run. KS did well with putting that limit i think. I am a believer that my own desire to go very fast, was endangering my first few miles.  In my haste to go faster, I am still catching up with being able to stop quickly. Kinda like a pilot who decides to learn to land AFTER they get into the air.  Getting on/off is getting easier, as I force myself to stop and do it, rather than just enjoy long uninterupted glides. Being at a standing stop is freaking tough! I usually end up doing tight circles to wait in line, somehow they are easier to me than back and forth. Im sure i look like an idiot, but im also sure it seems like magic to some.  I had a 14" wheel for an hour and man was it a diff beast than my 18. I bet once you get that 14" under control at speed, youll flock to a larger wheel and fall in love again! Im glad you like it! Im sure Ill snag another wheel in 16" in time. These things are so much damn fun, I keep telling my wife.... I gotta enjoy all this that i can, before im too old, or the US govt takes steps to limit our fun. Stay safe, keep us posted! Good thing about practicing tight 180's is you only need a driveway and such little speed that your ankles are only in peril....mostly. You sir have some BIG cajones to be riding around cars so soon. Im still itimidated by the ditches and barbed wire out here. I found that starting is simply a matter of wedging the wheel against the inner leg at almost upright. I fight myself to NOT lean it away from the empty pedal as i wrongly assume it will tilt that way a lot when i hop that foot on.  Almost upright with inner leg pressure, lightly lean and pop the other leg on. Just keep leaining forward, as the movement help prevent the inevitable overcorrection. I learned on a soft yard with no support. Once i got that figured, the street was MUCH easier. Note to self: it is hard on the knees to step off the wheel before it completely stops. As i wobble to a stop, I WAS stepping off early. Let me tell you, when that pedal bites your ankle at a lowly 2mph, youll be in awe of how badly it hurts.

Edited January 14, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[vasuvius]

Hmm... That was 18.2 mph which is the max limit on the KS-14D.

I managed to do a few tight turns on my street later in the day today. Still very shaky though. Tighter turn required me to lean in more, which increased the speed and made it tricky. Need to find the balance between speed and lean to make it safe and smooth.

The potholes, cracks, stormwater drains and debris on the road are indeed challenging. Speed bumps are tricky too.

Tomorrow is the test - planning to ride to the train station for the last mile commute. Let's see how it handles the railroad crossing :-) Keeping fingers crossed.

[.....]

wow, 18mph is VERY fast to me. I think thats about the fastest Ive gone so far, and its a couple mph faster than my comfy zone. It DOES get smoother and easier at 15mph+, but i also fear those tank slapper wobbles more. Sounds to me like youll be outgrowing your wheel in another 48 hours. Curbs drops and such, just bend those knees and pretend they arent there. If you hyper focus and change your behavior as you go over them, your chances may lessen. My first curb drop was a 'f**K it moment, Im still working to my first curb CLIMB.  Just like on a skateboard, just freaking do it and dont hesitate.  If thats bad advice and you get hurt, its also your fault for listening to me anyhow. 50yrs old and learning an EUC. My hat is off to you sir! You got me by a decade and truly make me feel like a p**y I sometimes hop on not quite evenly. It is REALLY hard to do more than wiggle feet into place as i ride. I have noticed that i can move my feet a little better if i barely "hop" my body weight up, rather than try to wiggle or lock the level with one foot/calf. Seems like scooching my feet on a light hop, just works better. My feet never leave the wheel, mind you. Riding by and picking up trash on the move... yeah, that earned me some asphalt memories.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by ShanesPlanet