King Song S18 Discussion

[OldFartRides]

You might like that stock tire a little better if it was a bit softer.

I weigh about 195 geared up and run about 27 psi.

[Funky]

9 minutes ago, OldFartRides said:

You might like that stock tire a little better if it was a bit softer.

I weigh about 195 geared up and run about 27 psi.

Anyone who's worried that 27 psi may be to low..

Spoiler

I'm 280lbs and rode 28psi (Now 30psi) on non suspension wheel. So - Don't Worry Be Happy.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Funky

[novazeus]

On 1/2/2023 at 7:03 PM, OldFartRides said:

You might like that stock tire a little better if it was a bit softer.

I weigh about 195 geared up and run about 27 psi.

no, it's classic bait and switch. hard enough buying a wheel online without being ablt to examine it in person. king song sponsors kuji, and he has a different tire, a much, much, better tire.

but i figured out how to fix it before next ride. i'm gonna find a suitable patch of asphalt, not too rough, and pick it up on a right leaning angle and sand down the right side in one minute. it's been getting better. i started at 41, went to 36, and i'll keep riding it this way and it will assuredly be losing a little air. too windy to ride today. i hate wind on a wheel, but more afraid of my oak treed lined road. 

kuji's big presentation of the s18, which i studied closely:

and the tire i got with the molicel version

big difference. it's 2023. taking pictures is free now. but finding good photos or specs before u buy is impossible. and wheen they bait and switch, that's terrible. 

and while i'm bitching, i'd like to get rid of the social crap in their app. i have an armband phone holder coming because everytime i'd slip my iphone in my shorts, this damn camera mode started and impossibe to get rid of.

which tire did u get?

 

 

[Tawpie]

39 minutes ago, novazeus said:

which tire did u get?

IRC TR-1. Wonderful tire, but very difficult to source.

[OldFartRides]

Pretty sure mine came with the same as yours. Put the Chao Yang H 666 that ewheels sold on both wheels.

[novazeus]

8 minutes ago, OldFartRides said:

Pretty sure mine came with the same as yours. Put the Chao Yang H 666 that ewheels sold on both wheels.

that would be great if there's a mobile euc shop that will come change it for me. what do u think someone would have to charge for a tire swap on a s18 and still feed themselves? i just don't have the facilities here or time for that. i thought i was getting the tire kuji was demonstrating. i like the s22 tire. it's symetrical. like u need on a unicycle.

btw, i knew a guy that owned a place in tampa called gyroride, back in the 70's. they would true automobile tires. i'm very tire sensitive i guess. everybody on this forum in 2017 thought weighing 200 plus pounds on a tire rated for 150 pounds was just fine and dandy. now i see all wheels have rated tires except the okd ones.

[Tawpie]

If you can connect with someone in the local rider community, I'm guessing there are more than one person that would be more than happy to take on that chore for you. It's not terribly difficult, and doesn't take a ton of time... the techniques aren't much different than changing a bike tire.

I say all that about it being easy, and haven't changed any of my tires. But I've torn my S18 down to the point of tire change (for truing the suspension so it'd work properly), and once you're to that point it shouldn't be rocket surgery.

Hmmmm. You're in the Tampa area. I'll be visiting (without a wheel to ride—hint hint wink wink) next month. Maybe I should stop by and we can curse at your wheel together! There will likely be cursing.

[novazeus]

8 minutes ago, Tawpie said:

If you can connect with someone in the local rider community, I'm guessing there are more than one person that would be more than happy to take on that chore for you. It's not terribly difficult, and doesn't take a ton of time... the techniques aren't much different than changing a bike tire.

I say all that about it being easy, and haven't changed any of my tires. But I've torn my S18 down to the point of tire change (for truing the suspension so it'd work properly), and once you're to that point it shouldn't be rocket surgery.

Hmmmm. You're in the Tampa area. I'll be visiting (without a wheel to ride—hint hint wink wink) next month. Maybe I should stop by and we can curse at your wheel together! There will likely be cursing.

yes, that would be great. my road is pretty treacherous and i'm afraid of liability if u got hurt on my property(donkeys, cows, other wildlife everywhere)but there's all kinds of stuff for u to explore next door at the outlet mall. tampa premium outlets is built on the north side of our ranch we sold in 1988. 

i never leave the ranch, because Bob can't come with me, but if nothing else, just getting a second opinion of this tire. i'm grinding it down on the asphalt tmrw. but i'd love to meet u and learn from ur wrenching knowledge. i have 8/10ths of a mile frontage on the interstate. i'm right where i-275 and i-75 split.

shit, next month, woo woo, i might have the v13 by then. we'll leave Bob alone for awhile and u and i can go off ranch together! big fun. my first group ride. 

no racing, haha.

[Tawpie]

15 minutes ago, novazeus said:

no racing, haha.

I'm far too old for racing, rest assured. 

Anyway when the time comes I'd love to help if I can. We'll be on Manisota Key, so not exactly "across a bridge" but if we decide to tour north I'll be in touch!

(oh, before tackling any tire change I'm told to have at least 1 and perhaps 2 spare tubes on hand. because, well, store bought replacements take a few days to arrive... I got my spare from RevRides)

Edited January 5, 2023 by Tawpie

[techyiam]

22 minutes ago, novazeus said:

woo woo, i might have the v13 by then. we'll leave Bob alone for awhile and u and i can go off ranch together! big fun. my first group ride. 

Just a friendly heads up. It may take a bit to acclimatise to the V13. But if you already getting along with your S22, then the jump may be OK.

Jumping from the S18 to a V13 may be more of a shock.

[novazeus]

i appreciate the offer to change the tire, but even if i can't grind the center rib down to my satisfaction, i'm not gonna change the tire. the s18 will just be my redheaded step child to take out when i'm getting too cocky on the s22 and v13. i know the s18 will lower my ego. i'll have three wheels and have to make time to ride one, once a day. i've been using my s18 as my training wheel. not that i'm crashing on it, but i'd rather let it fall over in a free mount than the s22.  

[novazeus]

13 minutes ago, techyiam said:

Just a friendly heads up. It may take a bit to acclimatise to the V13. But if you already getting along with your S22, then the jump may be OK.

Jumping from the S18 to a V13 may be more of a shock.

oh i know. thinking about building a guardrail at my 90 degree curve. left sb np, but right is difficult. i had an 18s. it was a toad. actually, the s22 is a dream to ride on my road. the s18 is pure torture. i'm riding on one foot! i love everything else about the wheel. the trolley with a little yoga mat stuck on it, leans and stays put real nice. the pedals are a little soft for my liking. software issue, could change later, and if i keep these pedals add some of that real expensive grip tape kuji likes. still not sure about the suspension. i lowered the pressure yesterday to 165 over 70 i thimk. i guess i need to start taking notes. i'm guessing the v13 will take effort to turn, for sure. i sucked 4 years ago when i quit, kinda surprised i was able to get back on and ride like riding a bike. and going faster now, sorta. it's a different experience after eating 50 thc gummies, equivalent to my downsized dosage now. u get static ataxia from extract, but i can ride an wheel. might fall over standing on ground however.

[novazeus]

did my tire sanding on a concrete pad. i think it's better. course i had to take a lap in loafers without any gear on, like thousands of trips before. 

much better.

now i'm itching to suit up and put some miles under my belt.

[novazeus]

yeah that fixed the tire. mad at myself for not figuring out how to fix it in the first place. hit 19 today. not trying, just happened. ur not learning going fast.  fast. 

 

[Elliott Reitz]

So I'm wondering what I should do with my old S18 that has 2500 miles on its chassis (controller and 1 battery was new at about 1000 miles).  I have a spare Webcarcass and controller so only thing missing 2 dead rear batteries that have 0 V at the connector.  The 2 front batteries both read 81.4 V. 

{+} AliExpress has the rear batteries at $205/each.  Most of the miles have been hard work on its suspension off road.  Its done a summer of commuting too.  (+2} Like should I get someone to parts sell it or would someone want to even bother fixing it when there's are S22's, and T4's out there now?

Edited January 20, 2023 by Elliott Reitz

[Elliott Reitz]

Bump!  Anyone here still ride S18?  Does this wheel still dominate a use case over the T4 for weight or anthing like that?

[The Brahan Seer]

1 hour ago, Elliott Reitz said:

Does this wheel still dominate a use case over the T4 for weight or anthing like that?

They still sell the S18 so its a viable option. Certainly good waterproofing its only the lack of power really that lets it down (bearing in mind all suspension wheels seem to have suspension issues to address more often than not). I know some one here (not me) who would take on a beaten S18 to repair but alas we are in the UK.  Always someone will buy the wheel at the right price even as a spares/ repair. On paper though the newer wheels are better spec wise. The S18 is a great suspension starter wheel with about the maximum weight you ideally want to start on as a push. 

[NewB]

Anybody know the bolt torque on the know the bolt torque on the S18 motor covers?

[Grandpa_Jay]

On 1/4/2023 at 5:38 PM, novazeus said:

and the tire i got with the molicel version

Hi All - New to EUC's and the thread... I just bought my S18 in November 2022, NOT Molicel version. I was told it was the last of the 2022's. I believe it also has this tire.  I am just now starting to be able to ride short distances at slow speeds. (I still have my S18 bubble wrapped) However, I am noticing if I go over 10mph I get a wheel wobble. I have been assuming that it was due to my lack of experience?  Still to soon for me to worry about it much, but it does have me a bit concerned. 

[Tawpie]

not to worry... generally speaking.

Wobbles, both "speed" and "braking" are something that experience and muscle tone will help with a ton, but you should probably do a very close inspection of your tire to make sure it's properly centered. S18 has a way to do that pretty easily... microbalance mode.

1. Turn on the wheel, connect to you favorite app
2. Set the lift switch to "microbalance", this makes it so that when the trolly handle is at its first detent, the wheel will stay balanced but only if you move it very slowly.
3. Make certain it's micro balancing by pushing it forward and back, the balancing should fade/release
4. Careful lift it, the tire will turn slowly. If the wheel spins up to full speed, keep it lifted until the motor cuts out and the wheel stops—when the wheel is stopped, set it back down and recheck the lift switch setting
5. If step 4 passes, put it on a stand and the wheel will go around nice and slowly for inspection!

If your tire isn't centered or properly seated, deflate it most of the way, massage it into place, and reinflate a little (5-10 psi?) so that you can ride it slowly a few revolutions. Inflate some more and ride it a few revolutions... inflate to riding pressure and recheck.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Tawpie

[OldFartRides]

If you haven’t seen Vee’s wobble vid, it’s worth a watch or two. Also the comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49HEDtqSUo

The S-18 has been accused of being more wobble prone than other wheels as well.

Higher tire pressure also makes them a bit more dodgy I think. 
 

Congrats on your successes so far, and many more to come. 

[Elliott Reitz]

On 1/21/2023 at 8:12 AM, The Brahan Seer said:

They still sell the S18 so its a viable option. Certainly good waterproofing its only the lack of power really that lets it down (bearing in mind all suspension wheels seem to have suspension issues to address more often than not). I know some one here (not me) who would take on a beaten S18 to repair but alas we are in the UK.  Always someone will buy the wheel at the right price even as a spares/ repair. On paper though the newer wheels are better spec wise. The S18 is a great suspension starter wheel with about the maximum weight you ideally want to start on as a push. 

Yea, I have a friend at work that seems to want it.  He's riding an old A1 that I gave him and using it to move toro-rental cars that he owns to/from drop points.  So he liked his rides on S18 with me on S22, Master, MSX, or V12 (between me and another friend who bought the V12 last summer).  Anyway, he's on the low$ side and somehow I just don't feel right about charging him over $600 after fixing it cause it's 2500 miles... $420 to replace batteries... new carcass, controller, spare parts for everything but the batteries.  And as for fixing it, every repair carries a small but finite fk up risk, especially with old and older things.  And as for fixing I'm the only one I know among the friends here that can/would... but I have more $ than I used to so I'm tired of dealing with "old crap" as my late wife would put it.  Shit I could buy a new S18 for myself if I thought I wanted it.  

So I guess more than a project for someone who gives a shit without outher options than my coworker friend who's making >> 6 figures, rents out cars, ... but can't afford... has kids in shool... wife.. other priorities on his $, etc.  

So I'm somewhere "free to a good home" mind set but, but relationship/coworker-wise I can't just give people shit without it costing them something and if they don't care to pay anything IDK how to justify just giving shit out... so its sitting in pieces and I've not ordered new batteries.  My late wife would have been so proud of me right now!  The scrounging metal-hording weld-my-own-parts cheep-ass I've been all my life has only recently changed.  She did have a point and nice new wheels are great if they can work.  Oh and the only reason my S18 and S20 (Oh right S22 now) ever worked is because I've already fixed everything there is to fix about them. 

BTW, TODAY IS MY 60th Birthday.     Family just left for home a few hours away. 

2 hours ago, Grandpa_Jay said:

Hi All - New to EUC's and the thread... I just bought my S18 in November 2022, NOT Molicel version. I was told it was the last of the 2022's. I believe it also has this tire.  I am just now starting to be able to ride short distances at slow speeds. (I still have my S18 bubble wrapped) However, I am noticing if I go over 10mph I get a wheel wobble. I have been assuming that it was due to my lack of experience?  Still to soon for me to worry about it much, but it does have me a bit concerned. 

Some note on wobble.  The way it happens most/strongest is with feet and legs not in contact with the wheel to dampen out any wobbles.  Carving has 1 leg in contact at 99% time.  Seated is similar.  Breaking (lean back without a carve action or grab-point)... is a key way the wobbles happen.  Speed beyond carvings is another while noob tendency is to squeeze ankles while tightening up muscles all over and thus loosing the dampening effect of carving.  

Now as for S18 wobbles note that the normal riding knee bend too deeply tends to Translate the Side-to-side wobbles into steering wobbles (yet worse).  Another thing on the S18 is the motor isn't balanced or the tires just aren't round no matter how hard you twist it.  You can burn it in against the ground.  Note that an out-of-round tire couples into speed wobbles over about 30 mph.  S18's a 31 mph max but really 20 mph top average speed wheel... point is comparing that to the Begod Master I recently got the out-of-round induced bounce that coupled to wobble limited me to 30mph till I changed its tire and burned that in... so far now 44 mph (42 maxed speed on S20 but that tire seemes softer and doesn't bounce at all... I like that stock S20 tire!). 

[NErider]

On 1/4/2023 at 8:17 PM, Tawpie said:

IRC TR-1. Wonderful tire, but very difficult to source.

Yup, My riding is 80% or more off road, and the IRC TR-1 has been great for that. Really bites into dirt, sand, grips on grass. 

I had to make an Amazon Japan account to order it. 

I thought when I got my S22 I would install a TR1 on it also. But the stock tire has proven good also. 

I'm so happy with the S22 now with the E rides pedals and grizzla pads I think I'm going to sell the S18. 

[Tawpie]

1 hour ago, NErider said:

I'm so happy with the S22 now with the E rides pedals and grizzla pads I think I'm going to sell the S18.

Kind of took the words out of my mouth... (and I don't even have aftermarket pedals or grizzlas!)

But it's a lot lighter, for shorter more technical trails... might be so low in value that it's worth hanging on to just for special occasions

Edited January 25, 2023 by Tawpie

[novazeus]

so i just figured out after charging, the s18 isn't turned on, but somehow in standby mode draining the battery. 

if after charging, if i don't turn it on and turn it back off, it's still burning electricity.

weird. i noticed it because sitting there completely off, it will connect to the app.

and the battery drained down to 80% from 100%.

so when u charge a s18, and pull the charger off, the wheel is still "on" bluetooth wise at least.

Edited January 26, 2023 by novazeus