King Song S18 Discussion

[Elliott Reitz]

On 10/3/2020 at 4:22 PM, Rehab1 said:

If you watch the S18 disassembly video it’s fairly easy. Don’t be intimidated.  If I can  remove all of the panels in approximately 20 minutes you can too.,

First locate all of the hidden screws buried beneath the padding  then use a long phillips bit for easy access. Be sure to place each batch of screws from the various panel locations into separate containers with labels for ease of reassembly.

When I watched the KS video with the tech tossing all of the screws into the same container I realized the guy knew his screws. 

Its only easy for KS with a new wheel where none of the bolts are tight.  Strip one bolt or screw and the game changes.  Remove the wheel and the game changes (shims fall out, never the same).  Change the tire to a K262 and you're in a whole new ballgame. If simple and easy were the same I would simply fly the same places and speeds without need for a wheel.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Elliott Reitz
spelling

[Scottie888]

Received my S18 mid week but only had the chance to put it thru its paces today. Went out at 2ish pm & came home 6.30pm. Put in 58kms at 23% battery with about 50% offroad. Nothing too radical speedwise as the wheel was beeping like a maniac trying to unlock topspeed. Even then, it beeps crazily trying to pair with EUC World (I'm guessing). 

Followed the russkie method of pumping up the shock & it works pretty well. Awesome on big(ger) jumps & not so much on smaller stuff. Grass was like floating on a carpet esp at speed. Actually, I find the suspension works best at speed (not ballsout ofcos but at least faster than what I was doing on the Tesla). Indeed, 1st day I was going atleast 2x faster than the Tesla on the trails. Not saying much ofcos as the Tesla isn't exactly on offroad monster but still. My bum knee was definitely in much better shape end of day 

So far, no issues & tire was somewhat aligned with the fender & no scraping nor any other unwanted sounds. An oncoming cyclist saw me jump a 8" curb & shouted "that's cool!". I had a good time doing stuff that I wouldn't naturally do otherwise on either the Tesla or Mten3.

Can't wait to get more familiar with the machine before I try some gnarly MTB stuff.

[Bridgeboy]

14 hours ago, Scottie888 said:

 

Can't wait to get more familiar with the machine before I try some gnarly MTB stuff.

Don't discount the fact that you're enamored that you have an EUC that moves with suspension at all vs. the fact that the suspension is put together terribly with throwing engineering standards out the window. Look to see if you have oversized washers bearing directly against the shock arms and if you have black spilt washers against any of your bearings.

That was my plight, I thought everything was great, but it wasn't.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Bridgeboy

[.....]

2 minutes ago, Bridgeboy said:

Don't discount the fact that you're enamored that you have an EUC that moves with suspension at all vs. the fact that the suspension is put together terribly with throwing engineering standards out the window. Look if you have oversized washers bearing directly against the shock arms and if you have black spilt washers against any of your bearings.

That was my plight, I thought everything was great, but it wasn't.

shhh. dont rain on everyone's parade, you will be met with much ferocity. Even if what you claim proves to be right, ANY mention of this wheel being a shitfest, will be met with direct insults to your character and intellect.

[Bridgeboy]

2 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

shhh. dont rain on everyone's parade, you will be met with much ferocity. Even if what you claim proves to be right, ANY mention of this wheel being a shitfest, will be met with direct insults to your character and intellect.

I don't think so. This entire thread of now 148 pages are full of people tearing down and rebuilding their suspensions. Or at least making minor tweaks if they were lucky enough to be able to remove the problems of oversized washers and split washers without stripping out the overtightened and Loctited bolts.

I have yet to witness a delusional fanboy of Kingsong's debut of the S18 in this thread.

[Rehab1]

19 minutes ago, Bridgeboy said:

I don't think so. This entire thread of now 148 pages are full of people tearing down and rebuilding their suspensions. Or at least making minor tweaks if they were lucky enough to be able to remove the problems of oversized washers and split washers without stripping out the overtightened and Loctited bolts.

I have yet to witness a delusional fanboy of Kingsong's debut of the S18 in this thread.

 

[Scottie888]

12 minutes ago, Bridgeboy said:

Don't discount the fact that you're enamored that you have an EUC that moves with suspension at all vs. the fact that the suspension is put together terribly with throwing engineering standards out the window. Look if you have oversized washers bearing directly against the shock arms and if you have black spilt washers against any of your bearings.

That was my plight, I thought everything was great, but it wasn't.

I"m not sure if I'm enamored by the S18 esp with all the issues as recorded here. If anything then yes I am enamored with this hobby. Wheelin' is the only thing that has save me from the lockdown madness. Infact I'm kinda thankful for the time off to really be outside & enjoy the sun & fresh air. I'll take things one day at a time & cross the bridge when I get there. There's lots of help in this pages & perhaps getting down & dirty opening up a wheel might be a beneficial learning lesson. That said, I'd rather just ride but....cest la vie. Part & parcel of being proof of concept guinea pigs I guess.

However I'm absolutely convinced of suspension in monowheels as the only way forward. Even with KS's poor execution & my 1st day's unfamiliar anxieties, there's a huge world of difference. In these few months, I've learnt that while I enjoy riding on asphalt & getting to speed, what I really really love is the offroad MTB trails. This S18 will be my monowheel MTB. Before this, I was thinking of getting into a nice MTB or perhaps even a Yami YZ450f but I'm glad I found this electric unicycle thang!

While buying 3 wheels within a coupla months seem extravagant but even combined its about the 1/2 the price of the YZ & perhaps 1-2% of the required maintenance. So even if I've to get my hands dirty with this, I figure I still I'm still ahead of the game.

Meanwhile I'm gonna go look for some nice MTB trails to enjoy whatever days of warmth & sun left in my neck of the woods. One day at a time mon ami🤠

[Bridgeboy]

11 hours ago, Scottie888 said:

I"m not sure if I'm enamored by the S18 esp with all the issues as recorded here. If anything then yes I am enamored with this hobby. Wheelin' is the only thing that has save me from the lockdown madness. Infact I'm kinda thankful for the time off to really be outside & enjoy the sun & fresh air. I'll take things one day at a time & cross the bridge when I get there. There's lots of help in this pages & perhaps getting down & dirty opening up a wheel might be a beneficial learning lesson. That said, I'd rather just ride but....cest la vie. Part & parcel of being proof of concept guinea pigs I guess.

However I'm absolutely convinced of suspension in monowheels as the only way forward. Even with KS's poor execution & my 1st day's unfamiliar anxieties, there's a huge world of difference. In these few months, I've learnt that while I enjoy riding on asphalt & getting to speed, what I really really love is the offroad MTB trails. This S18 will be my monowheel MTB. Before this, I was thinking of getting into a nice MTB or perhaps even a Yami YZ450f but I'm glad I found this electric unicycle thang!

While buying 3 wheels within a coupla months seem extravagant but even combined its about the 1/2 the price of the YZ & perhaps 1-2% of the required maintenance. So even if I've to get my hands dirty with this, I figure I still I'm still ahead of the game.

Meanwhile I'm gonna go look for some nice MTB trails to enjoy whatever days of warmth & sun left in my neck of the woods. One day at a time mon ami🤠

I agree the S18 has great potential if it just gets assembled correctly. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the wheel screwed that part up.

All I'm saying is before you go balls-out on MTB trails you should check if you have the oversized washers bearing on the exterior of your shock linkage arms and if you have the black split washers on any of your connections. Continuing to put stress on the system with those mechanical screw-ups is likely to exacerbate the problem and cause more damage to the suspension. I was like you, just happy to have a new suspension wheel when I first got it, and I didn't realize I was riding it with these, now obvious, mechanical problems.

* It's literally as if Kingsong should issue a warning that if you do not tamper with the suspension and ride it as supplied by them, it will void your warranty. You must rebuild the suspension within accepted standard mechanical engineering practices in order to maintain your warranty.

 

*Sarcasm

[Steef Klonoa]

Anyone have a suggestion what to do here? In trying to remove the stripped screw the bolt head came off. The remaining part of the screw wiggles, it wants to come out but I can't twist it out with my pliers, not enough room. You can see it right next to the motor cable in the picture here.

[Bridgeboy]

7 minutes ago, Steef Klonoa said:

Anyone have a suggestion what to do here? In trying to remove the stripped screw the bolt head came off. The remaining part of the screw wiggles, it wants to come out but I can't twist it out with my pliers, not enough room. You can see it right next to the motor cable in the picture here.

 

I think all the bolts on the S18 are made of potter's clay. 

[Steef Klonoa]

@Bridgeboy Seriously, what a joke! How much extra would it be to get screws that are made of a durable metal. Esp on a 2k wheel.

[Daniel Hollinghurst]

21 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

If you watch the S18 disassembly video it’s fairly easy. Don’t be intimidated.  If I can  remove all of the panels in approximately 20 minutes you can too.,

First locate all of the hidden screws buried beneath the padding  then use a long phillips bit for easy access. Be sure to place each batch of screws from the various panel locations into separate containers with labels for ease of reassembly.

When I watched the KS video with the tech tossing all of the screws into the same container I realized the guy knew his screws. 

Disassembly was simple following the video , I also ended up throwing all the screws in the same container...oops.

Shouldn't be too bad guessing where they go hopefully 

[RagingGrandpa]

2 hours ago, Steef Klonoa said:

trying to remove the stripped screw the bolt head came off. The remaining part of the screw wiggles, it wants to come out but I can't twist it out with my pliers, not enough room.

I'd try a left-hand-twist drill bit next.

https://smile.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W9011-Handed-Drill/dp/B0733VP5JW

[Planemo]

2 hours ago, Steef Klonoa said:

@Bridgeboy Seriously, what a joke! How much extra would it be to get screws that are made of a durable metal. Esp on a 2k wheel.

Trust me, it wouldn't even cross their minds to consider the strength of bolts. As long as they are strong enough for initial assembly that's good enough. Longevity isn't a word they understand. If I had an S18, I would replace every bolt that came out of it with a hex head as I went, either 8.8 grade for general fittings or 10.9 grade for hangers/suspension/weight bearing stuff.

[Rehab1]

8 hours ago, Steef Klonoa said:

Anyone have a suggestion what to do here? In trying to remove the stripped screw the bolt head came off. The remaining part of the screw wiggles, it wants to come out but I can't twist it out with my pliers, not enough room. You can see it right next to the motor cable in the picture here.

Ugh. So you don’t destroy the motor and fragile hall sensor wires I suggest removing the side panel.  You can then disconnect the wires under the cover to allow for some additional slack., Hopefully that provides more room to extract the screw. 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Rehab1

[Steef Klonoa]

@Rehab1

I ended up tapping a flathead screwdriver into the soft metal that is a kingsong screw, and then managed to twist it out! First thing I tried was to score it with a dremel...and I bit into the foam kuji pad. Another question! Is there a good way for me to seal up this exposed part of the foam pad to protect it from the elements? I attached a picture where you can see the tiny bite out of the kuji pad, where I rubbed against it with the dremel.

[Rehab1]

22 minutes ago, Steef Klonoa said:

Another question! Is there a good way for me to seal up this exposed part of the foam pad to protect it from the elements? I attached a picture where you can see the tiny bite out of the kuji pad, where I rubbed against it with the dremel.

I would tape off the area and then use a liberal amount of ‘latex’ silicone caulk to build it back up. Then locate a close match of gray paint for touching it up. 

[Steef Klonoa]

Thanks @Rehab1 what a relief! Finally got this thing on. Glad I opted for the 3d printed wire cover instead of bashing the cable into my wheel like Jack had suggested. @RockyTop thanks for the link to buy that!

[Steef Klonoa]

Here's the screw in question. Did a number on this one. Realized this after the fact but there's a hole all the way through the head of the screw from all my attempts to get it out.

[Rehab1]

1 hour ago, Steef Klonoa said:

Thanks @Rehab1 what a relief! Finally got this thing on. Glad I opted for the 3d printed wire cover instead of bashing the cable into my wheel like Jack had suggested. @RockyTop thanks for the link to buy that!

 

1 hour ago, Steef Klonoa said:

but there's a hole all the way through the head of the screw from all my attempts to get it out.

Welcome to the S18 Mods Club where flushing down parts becomes ordinary.

 

[Steef Klonoa]

5 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

 

Welcome to the S18 Mods Club where flushing down parts becomes ordinary.

 

Glad to be a member! I also have those 3d printed springs for the pedals, just in case I need them. I bought this wheel knowing I would have to tinker with it. Winter will be a good time to take it apart and really make sure everything is the way it should be.

[onizukagto]

Damn. Really hope the S18 drop down to half price, would love to have both suspension euc.  Too valuable to mess about with the daily commute wheel, just need a fun one to mod and mess with. 

[Kommienezuspadt]

I may have overlooked this skimming the long thread, but do we have any distributors offering replacement panels, mud guards, etc. for the S18? 
 

Mine is batch 2, running flawlessly, but cosmetically beat up from some off road trails. 

[Beachboy]

On 10/4/2020 at 10:18 PM, Steef Klonoa said:

Anyone have a suggestion what to do here? In trying to remove the stripped screw the bolt head came off. The remaining part of the screw wiggles, it wants to come out but I can't twist it out with my pliers, not enough room. You can see it right next to the motor cable in the picture here.

What I did was pushed down that steel spring before the notch then you can  slip the cable in after that just tape it..

as for those bolts & bushings they’re all craps and to make it worse some bolts overly glued on...

Some hints, I dont think you need to dissamble the whole wheel, just take out your shock then unscrew middle suspension linkage bolts, then the upper arms bolt you can leave the bolts that holds suspension arms in slider cage, after that install your washers accordingly, do not overly drop your washers there, a bit less is better. 
I also add washers on the bolts that holds the upper suspension arms so that bolts will not grind the wall/board frame and also in between the middle suspension linkage arms if not your bearings will clash then caused great friction so that your suspension arms cant move freely..put one or two good quality washers there..

do not overly tightened bolts especially the one that have stacked bearings..

You have to work your way on those crappy bolts and bushings out, then find a suitable replacement, I think feynman knows a good replacement.

I love my S18, all I did just those I mention up there, ride it almost every day without problem and I never been so excited everytime I saw bumps and curbs along the way

Btw, I hope you understand and sorry for my bad english anyway...

Edited October 5, 2020 by Beachboy

[~~~o~~~]

On 10/4/2020 at 11:03 AM, Bridgeboy said:

I agree the S18 has great potential if it just gets assembled correctly. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the wheel screwed that part up.

All I'm saying is before you go balls-out on MTB trails you should check if you have the oversized washers bearing on the exterior of your shock linkage arms and if you have the black split washers on any of your connections. Continuing to put stress on the system with those mechanical screw-ups is likely to exacerbate the problem and cause more damage to the suspension. I was like you, just happy to have a new suspension wheel when I first got it, and I didn't realize I was riding it with these, now obvious, mechanical problems.

* It's literally as if Kingsong should issue a warning that if you do not tamper with the suspension and ride it as supplied by them, it will void your warranty. You must rebuild the suspension within accepted standard mechanical engineering practices in order to maintain your warranty.

 

*Sarcasm

wait what's up should I take my s18 apart? it's been good for 300 miles so far. no signs of quitting or noises or issues.