King Song S18 Discussion

[fbhb]

11 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Maybe a little more rock climbing, but this is what I kind of expected when I saw the s18.

Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Chooch will drop a video of his usual rocky trail rides whilst he has the S18 in his possession!

Edited July 11, 2020 by fbhb

[mrelwood]

7 hours ago, musk said:

It's quite elegant how KingSong has designed the S18 mainboard as a single piece which has charge plugs and tail lights all together on a single board.

It’s the method that came popular a few decades ago when saving the last penny on electronics manufacturing came about. Connectors directly on the main board is difficult to do well, and tends to break the soldered connections with time since that’s where the support is at when plugging, unplugging and tugging on the cable. Ask anyone who repairs amplifiers etc. I hope KS was able to somehow support the connector much better.

 

1 hour ago, David Noel said:

I bet after watching that Chooch Tech video, a bunch of the people who cancelled pre-orders are kicking themselves

I’m sure people can separate the one cool aspect from the ones that made them doubt.

[Jon Stern]

8 hours ago, Zopper said:

I thought about them too, but I fear that they would be still consuming too much power (look at all the talk about range with suspension that doesn't consume anything), and would be probably too expensive (including patents). The last of I saw from Bose attempts to use it in cars, it is being used as top-class (and super expensive) suspension for driver seat in trucks.

Maybe not, if this work that uses eddy current damping to reduce power consumption by 70% pans out: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00423111003602400

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

2 hours ago, mrelwood said:

It’s the method that came popular a few decades ago when saving the last penny on electronics manufacturing came about. Connectors directly on the main board is difficult to do well, and tends to break the soldered connections with time since that’s where the support is at when plugging, unplugging and tugging on the cable. Ask anyone who repairs amplifiers etc. I hope KS was able to somehow support the connector much better.

Fully agree and if I had a pre-orders on this wheel, I would probably cancel.

WTF, this is so stupid. 

And then a power bank is offered with which one can charge while riding to compensate for the small battery. How long should this work, before the soldered joints on the control board are broken by the jumping charging cable?

The rear LEDs are also on the board? Cool, since we know that the LEDs last at least 50.000 hours, we will never have to buy a new control board just because the rear light is broken. 

KS takes the cheap way at the expense of the buyers, who then always have to buy the complete control board when the charging connection or LEDs no longer work.

I should start to make a list and note down all these shortcomings, so that I don't buy the S18 at some point because of my forgetfulness. 

[Zopper]

12 hours ago, redfoxdude said:

Also I've been wanting to get into some off-roading, and the S18 seems like just the ticket =]

It will certainly be more fun, but trust me, a small 550W V5F can be an offroad EUC too if you are determinate enough and there aren't big hills. And even with V10 (1800 W/40 km) I'm getting overload and speed warnings on trails (while cursing "damn, I will really install Kuji or power pads next time".) I dare to ride more difficult terrain with my V10 than with my bike. 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Zopper

[David Noel]

10 hours ago, mrelwood said:

I’m sure people can separate the one cool aspect from the ones that made them doubt.

Sure, if the jumping capabilities was the only cool aspect of the wheel. That is not the case with the S18. It also looks cool. 

[EUChristian]

Long term testing on off-road courses will probe or disprove the reliability here, that much is true. I doubt the axle will incur damages but it’s possible. People jump normal EUCs as well and that’s a much harder shock to the axle. If the shock breaks that’s an easy fix. 
 

also, Chooch’s video got me pretty excited 😆 

[chopsywa]

23 hours ago, Shield said:

It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. 

It's not so good when you have to explain that philosophy to the divorce lawyer. LOL!

[Zopper]

17 minutes ago, EUChristian said:

Long term testing on off-road courses will probe or disprove the reliability here, that much is true. I doubt the axle will incur damages but it’s possible. People jump normal EUCs as well and that’s a much harder shock to the axle. If the shock breaks that’s an easy fix.

These are exactly the parts I'm not afraid about at all. The all-in-one board, connectors and lights is something that makes me nervous. The barely protected wires on the side makes me nervous. 

[Steef Klonoa]

9 hours ago, buell47 said:

Fully agree and if I had a pre-orders on this wheel, I would probably cancel.

WTF, this is so stupid. 

And then a power bank is offered with which one can charge while riding to compensate for the small battery. How long should this work, before the soldered joints on the control board are broken by the jumping charging cable?

The rear LEDs are also on the board? Cool, since we know that the LEDs last at least 50.000 hours, we will never have to buy a new control board just because the rear light is broken. 

KS takes the cheap way at the expense of the buyers, who then always have to buy the complete control board when the charging connection or LEDs no longer work.

I should start to make a list and note down all these shortcomings, so that I don't buy the S18 at some point because of my forgetfulness. 

To be fair, I have less than 300 hrs on my wheel and am getting close to 2800 miles on it. Unless the LEDs are faulty that's not going to be an issue, even if they only last 10,000 hours.

[Jon Stern]

3 hours ago, EUChristian said:

also, Chooch’s video got me pretty excited 😆 

It got me excited for a moment too. But then I realized he was cheating by using skill. If I were to buy the S18, I'm pretty certain I'd still be barely able to jump over worms. 

[Patton250]

1 hour ago, Jon Stern said:

It got me excited for a moment too. But then I realized he was cheating by using skill. If I were to buy the S18, I'm pretty certain I'd still be barely able to jump over worms. 

I don’t know about that man. I guarantee you could do it it’s just that you’re probably not in the position to deal with the consequences of a crash and injury whereas chooch probably is. 

[birdmentin]

Maybe this has been mentioned already, but i wonder if it would be possible for Kingsong to design a seat that could house an external battery pack with a short (and hidden) lead to the port. 

[fbhb]

Final version in Black and "Brown" 

 

[xorbe]

I'll never ride like Chooch, but I would like to learn the "180 degree move" from forwards to backwards in one smooth twist motion (at 0:22 in the previous video in this thread).

Edited July 11, 2020 by xorbe

[EUChristian]

20 minutes ago, xorbe said:

I'll never ride like Chooch, but I would like to learn the "180 degree move" from forwards to backwards in one smooth twist motion (at 0:22 in the previous video in this thread).

Dude me too. I can’t do it. I only get half way. 

[RockyTop]

14 minutes ago, EUChristian said:

Dude me too. I can’t do it. I only get half way. 

Good Start! Half way there!   It just takes practice. Practicing on loose dirt or very smooth concrete helps. You can do it. 

Edited July 12, 2020 by RockyTop

[.....]

Uh oh... time to decide...  Send e-wheels the extra $$ for air freight, or be patient for sea freight. Im torn both ways, as its a LOT of money to just toss out because one cant be patient. Then again.... how much is each summer day worth, if you are trying to live for today and not tomorrow? Loving these rich boy problems! The s18 is almost a reality and not some dream conspiracy. I'll believe it when it hits my doorstep. Hmm, do I wait, or do I just piss away the money because I'm lacking solid character traits?

Devil is in the details, the ewheels page has a typo and shows it as the 18s. Tsk tsk, Jason, caught you working too hard with not enough sleep.

Edited July 12, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[Ben Hatfield]

30 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Uh oh... time to decide...  Send e-wheels the extra $$ for air freight, or be patient for sea freight. Im torn both ways, as its a LOT of money to just toss out because one cant be patient. Then again.... how much is each summer day worth, if you are trying to live for today and not tomorrow? Loving these rich boy problems! The s18 is almost a reality and not some dream conspiracy. I'll believe it when it hits my doorstep. Hmm, do I wait, or do I just piss away the money because I'm lacking solid character traits?

Devil is in the details, the ewheels page has a typo and shows it as the 18s. Tsk tsk, Jason, caught you working too hard with not enough sleep.

it is potentially three (more) weeks - that comes down to $12.38 a day (x21 = $260).  worth it?  I don't know, but I'm getting mine asap!

[.....]

Just now, Ben Hatfield said:

it is potentially three (more) weeks - that comes down to $12.38 a day (x21 = $260).  worth it?  I don't know, but I'm getting mine asap!

But for pennies a day, you TOO could sponsor a <insert cause here>.  Maybe if we break it down to only $.00859 per minute, makes it seem better.

[Ben Hatfield]

could I wait?... no, not really 

 

[VicViPER]

 

[Patton250]

I had mine airfreighted just like the V 11. I should have both late next week if coronavirus doesn’t slow down airfreight. Still though I would rather have the veteran faster.

[EUChristian]

Big question I have that I haven’t seen in videos. Can you carve on this thing well?  Or does pedal height, suspension and/or the weight distribution of the S-18 make it more difficult or impossible to carve?

I used to think it was foolish to carve vs just riding forward (why waste the energy?) but now it’s basically all I do. Like skiing on cement. 
 

anyone have feedback on this?

[RockyTop]

32 minutes ago, EUChristian said:

Big question I have that I haven’t seen in videos. Can you carve on this thing well?  Or does pedal height, suspension and/or the weight distribution of the S-18 make it more difficult or impossible to carve?

I used to think it was foolish to carve vs just riding forward (why waste the energy?) but now it’s basically all I do. Like skiing on cement. 
 

anyone have feedback on this?

Good question! Given that carving Increases downward pressure and pressure compresses the suspension,  It might add a new detention to carving. This could add a new opportunity for skill level.