Begode Master 134V 2400WH Suspension

[UtahRider]

Received my 40T Master with a Kenda 342 road tire from EWheels today and can gleefully report no issues with it whatsoever. I have zero and I mean zero pedal play. All pads arrived in excellent shape. Bolts and screws were tight. EWheels evidently did a thorough check and applied generous amounts of epoxy over wire connections. I didn’t see any bare, dangling or stretched wires like in my RST. MB looked clean, sturdy and well connected. Removing the cellophane over the battery cases was annoying. I applied the Clarkpads fairing and seat combo which was ridiculously tedious because all the double sided tape they applied had to be removed and replaced w industrial strength Velcro. As many have already reported, the 3M tape on Begode’s supplied pads is just silly. There is no sticky glue underneath the paper, it’s just smooth and must be cleaned w alcohol for anything to stick to them. Like what’s the purpose in that? (I don’t expect an answer).
 

The ride feels like my EX and RST had a big baby. Both low and high end torque is excellent! Very similar to my RST and unlike my EX which is slow to get going up to 20mph. The Master feels lighter and thinner than its 78 lbs, my EX is similar weight but feels much wider and heavier. I have no issue with the pedal height, again feels very similar to my EX. The Begode spiked pedals feel good but I’m replacing w Clark pedals because the spikes aren’t as sharp and will use Begode’s for trail riding. Suspension is surprisingly good for about 99% (not scientific) of the road surfaces I ride. Much better than I was expecting actually. Pumped shock to 300 psi and I’m 5’11, 210 lbs. It feels similar to my EX but plusher, smoother w quicker rebound. However, I don’t notice much difference in the rebound settings so far but for road riding, it feels good to me. Suspension does bottom out with a loud clack when hitting big bumps or going off curbs. I don’t see a need to change the shock until I do off road rides next Spring, it’s good enough for now. The headlight is better than expected but wish it had a little wider beam instead of the big ball of light.
 

I cancelled my Master preorder last Friday because I just had it with all the issues being reported esp the pedal play. But after soul searching over the weekend and talking to eWheels about my concerns, I kind of reluctantly un-cancelled Monday and actually glad I did. I only road 15 miles today and as hard as it was, stayed below 35mph until I get use to it and can totally trust it, but I love the ride so far and looking forward to opening it up tomorrow! It really did surpass my expectations, my expectations were admittedly low, but I do still think it’s overpriced by about $500 for what you get. I’m withholding my buy recommendation until after I reach 500 miles. But, if it holds up as well as my EX and RST, it’s going to be a fabulous EUC.

P.S. I didn’t take thorough notes and pics like @Cerberabecause, well I’m lazy. Sorry.

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by UtahRider

[Cerbera]

Today's mission is to conquer the fear of higher speed corners that embedded itself yesterday. Low speed turns are alright with just a little more twist effort from the waist.

Even at 27 PSI there is some light rider-stressing rollover inclination remaining in the stock tyre, and this worries me a lot, because I have to lean counter-intuitively against the direction of turn to prevent it falling over. It is fair to say that compared to my smooth, finessed and statesman-like riding on the MS3, I have now got all the balletic grace of a frightened hippo on a frozen lake on the Master ! I think it may have to be new tyre time ! Likewise, I find the primary issue with me getting up on those higher pedals is that the stock pads don't let me communicate quite enough forward pressure to quickly get to the speed where angular momentum prevents falling. So, with my very light weight I sort have have to get up on the pedals as 1 move, and then try and get going as quick as possible, which sometimes, I am finding, isn't quick enough, and I have to abort and start again ! So I think that is suggesting that better pads might be the way to go. It's a shame as I REALLY like the look of the stock pads, and they are very comfortable for me. Ah well - perhaps I will get used to them - It is only Day 2 !

I didn't expect to care what anybody thought of my struggles to ride a new machine, but following yesterday's second, slightly ill-judged decision to ride into town on day 1, there were several moments that must have been highly amusing for bystanders to observe, but I didn't enjoy those because I consider it quite important to the reputation of our community that we always appear to be in utter control of our machines, so definitely felt I was letting the side down a bit by doing my learnings (and leanings as it goes) so publicly ! Sorry. It's Ok - they'll forget

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[techyiam]

33 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Today's mission is to conquer the fear of higher speed corners that embedded itself yesterday. Low speed turns are alright with just a little more twist effort from the waist.

What kind of speeds are we talking about? 

[Cerbera]

12 minutes ago, techyiam said:

What kind of speeds are we talking about? 

Oh not fast - the 15-20 kph ones, just above the speed where you would normally do it with leaning rather than waist twist...

interestingly, I am finding that doing the waist twist a bit anyway can counter the over-lean sensation, so have been doing that, despite knowing that is the most graceless way of addressing the problem !

Fairly sure the best way of addressing it is to get a better road tyre !

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

On 10/15/2022 at 5:42 AM, UtahRider said:

Suspension does bottom out with a loud clack when hitting big bumps or going off curbs.

I know its initially impossible tell, but I recommend finding some way to make sure that the clunk you are hearing is not the the lower part of the wheel twatting that single screw that protrudes down from the MB box around half way into the depth of the wheel, which may directly contact the BMS board as I recall.

I read in other threads, or perhaps further up this one, that Begode had started including foam pads here to alleviate that problem, but mine doesn't have any that I can see... ah yes there it is from @Raptor's post on page 73...

 

That problem aside, I am delighted to hear that you didn't cancel in the end, and are enjoying your new machine  Happy riding dude !

Edited November 4, 2022 by Cerbera

[EUCzero]

2 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Oh not fast - the 15-20 kph ones, just above the speed where you would normally do it with leaning rather than waist twist...

interestingly, I am finding that doing the waist twist a bit anyway can counter the over-lean sensation, so have been doing that, despite knowing that is the most graceless way of addressing the problem !

Fairly sure the best way of addressing it is to get a better road tyre !

So. you twist same direction as the turn, or opposite direction? 
Love testing new ways to carve.

[Cerbera]

25 minutes ago, EUCzero said:

So. you twist same direction as the turn, or opposite direction? 

Same direction as turn.

Just to be clear, because I have no idea how universal this is but...

At speeds of 2-10 kph I turn not by leaning at all, but by twisting at the waist.

At speeds of higher than about 20 kph, ALL the steering comes from leaning, with no waist required.

But between 10 and 20 kph, there is a grey area in which find I have to do a combination of both techniques, which the master is making very difficult for me because of the sudden lean thing that stock tyre does when you get past a certain angle. In this speed range, I start to lean into the turn, feel almost immediately like the wheel wants to fall in the direction I am turning (past a certain point), leading me to lean in the opposite direction to counter it (but of course also negating and lessening the amount of turn!), and in my brief experiments so far I find I can recover from that (in a rather graceless fashion) by wrenching the wheel round with my waist. 

I have read a lot of reports about that tyre that mention this issue, so sure swapping it out for a city one will make it much more manageable, but it's gonna be a while before I choose / find one, and that gets here, so I want to learn to overcome the issue in a better way on this current tyre, and that's what I'm heading out to do right now !!  Tyre pressure is going down to >23 to see if that helps. (no serious kerbs !!)

I gotta sort it - I could carve like crazy on my MS3, but this is a whole new barrel of (heavy) fish !

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

Ok I finally see why people love that CST tyre for the off-roads, and why people that can afford it might buy 2 versions of the master, one with a street tyre ! 

[MTurcotte]

Question to All:

- What is the LED0, LED1, LED2, LED3 settings do on the Begode Master?
   (when I try different settings, I do not see any difference in the way the tail light works).
   (if it does not do anything, then I wonder why Begode left this setting available)
   (perhaps it works only on other Begode wheels that have decorative LEDs)

I have 1200 miles on my Master that I received in Late July.
I love it, amazingly stable with an upgraded tire (stock tire is trash, too soft for that heavy wheel).

One more thing:  Stock pads are way too limiting for this heavy wheel.
To use your Master fully, you need power pads that holds your back leg properly (for breaking and turning)
and front pads to stabilize your climbs, give you a manor boost in acceleration, turning and stability.
( I completely removed the top stock pads, FYI).

I was using small pads because I was experimenting.  But I lost one.
I am now waiting to receive Grizlla Pads (for large wheels).
I chose Grizlla because they are soft and reasonably priced (compare to expensive clark pads).

Thanks you for helping me figure things out 🙏

Edited October 15, 2022 by MTurcotte

[EUCzero]

24 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Ok I finally see why people love that CST tyre for the off-roads, and why people that can afford it might buy 2 versions of the master, one with a street tyre ! 

I have been riding cst c86 for more than years now,an the falling to ghe side feeling is something I am used to. But if someone find a technique than works better for this tire on asphalt I am ready to try...😉

 

A Kenda or Shinko tire with same pattern is different tho. Same pattern, but more round profile, and therefore more liked by the general group of riders.

[EUCzero]

Soo. I'm one of ghost who have problems with light and display not working. But start working if I restart the wheel after it get warm.

Many write it is enough to just wiggle the wheel back and forth a few times. Not for me. Need minimum 10min of riding before a restart will nake it work...

But today I saw a video showing bad soldering on pin 6 and 7 on the dc/dc card. I will investigate on my own Master tomorrow. If so, a firmware update will for sure not make it better.

 

[EUCzero]

Next finding is on my suspension.  I have been riding prox 350psi as this ws the pressure needed not to bottom out ll the time. (Now only 70%of the time 😉). But then quickly the rebound set screw stopped working,  and any setting would bounce full speed all the way up topping out with hard clonk. 

I was sure the suspension was broken. 

But yesterday I lowered to 150 psi by a mistake and rebound adjustment started working again. So question is, how high can I go and still have rebound adjustment. 

[Cerbera]

13 minutes ago, EUCzero said:

Next finding is on my suspension.  I have been riding prox 350psi as this ws the pressure needed not to bottom out ll the time. (Now only 70%of the time 😉). But then quickly the rebound set screw stopped working,  and any setting would bounce full speed all the way up topping out with hard clonk. 

I was sure the suspension was broken. 

But yesterday I lowered to 150 psi by a mistake and rebound adjustment started working again. So question is, how high can I go and still have rebound adjustment. 

Oh that's interesting. I got a couple of clunks today over relatively minor bumps, and didn't know where they were coming from, but I also had cause to imagine my rebound settings were doing something a bit mysterious !! I will investigate further also !

[Cerbera]

25 minutes ago, EUCzero said:

Soo. I'm one of ghost who have problems with light and display not working. But start working if I restart the wheel after it get warm.

Many write it is enough to just wiggle the wheel back and forth a few times. Not for me. Need minimum 10min of riding before a restart will nake it work...

But today I saw a video showing bad soldering on pin 6 and 7 on the dc/dc card. I will investigate on my own Master tomorrow. If so, a firmware update will for sure not make it better.

 

What's your temp there dude ?

I am finding the key temperature threshold is 16 degrees exactly. And then the amount under that is proportional to how long it needs to be on for until it works after restart. And yet mysteriously, my headlight is unaffected - it is only ever the display that craps out.

I have had crystal clear results with that - the colder it is, the longer it has to be on for. Today it was 2 degrees colder than yesterday, so it took 30 seconds more rocking to bring it back  I have not had enough time to determine if that is linear but I bet it isn't  I am also finding it hard to imagine a firmware update would fix this.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[EUCzero]

5 hours ago, Cerbera said:

What's your temp there dude ?

I am finding the key temperature threshold is 16 degrees exactly. And then the amount under that is proportional to how long it needs to be on for until it works after restart. And yet mysteriously, my headlight is unaffected - it is only ever the display that craps out.

I have had crystal clear results with that - the colder it is, the longer it has to be on for. Today it was 2 degrees colder than yesterday, so it took 30 seconds more rocking to bring it back  I have not had enough time to determine if that is linear but I bet it isn't  I am also finding it hard to imagine a firmware update would fix this.

It is cold here in Sweden. 5-10 deg C maybe?

[Cerbera]

There we go; that's the reason. If my predictions are correct, at 5 degrees C it will take around 7-8 minutes of gentle action or 1-2 minutes of brutal rocking before restart will activate screen...board has to reach 17 degrees.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

I think my lift kill switch is broken. I keep pressing it with all variations of handle position, and long and short presses and nothing happens, yet it obviously worked initially, or I wouldn't have been able to disable the transport lock - am I doing it wrong ?! When and how should it work please ?

Edited October 15, 2022 by Cerbera

[Whalesmash]

7 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

I think my lift kill switch is broken. I keep pressing it with all variations of handle position, and long and short presses and nothing happens, yet it obviously worked initially, or I wouldn't have been able to disable the transport lock - am I doing it wrong ?! When and how should it work please ?

It's a quick double press to activate the spin kill. Handle position doesn't do anything for it.

[Cerbera]

38 minutes ago, Whalesmash said:

It's a quick double press to activate the spin kill. Handle position doesn't do anything for it.

Ok thank you, yes it's totally working, and I am a twat 

[Cerbera]

What is the purpose then of the middle handle position - as in not fully extended ? Surely they don't mean us to lift the wheel like that do they ?! And there are sensor rods inside the handle so the system can tell what position it is in I think ? What are they for, or did I dream that ?!

Edited October 16, 2022 by Cerbera

[redfoxdude]

4 hours ago, Cerbera said:

What is the purpose then of the middle handle position - as in not fully extended ? Surely they don't mean us to lift the wheel like that do they ?! And there are sensor rods inside the handle so the system can tell what position it is in I think ? What are they for, or did I dream that ?!

Don't lift with the handle, it is very easy to break. (Come on Begode 🤦🏻‍♂️) It does not have a handle position sensor - only the spin-kill button is useful for lifting or setting it onto the stand. I use the middle trolley position when setting it down onto the stand, back up from the stand, and also while charging so the handle doesn't stick out so far. Otherwise it's not super useful, unfortunately.

[EUCzero]

Looking for bad connections or bad soldering to solve the display/lights situation did nothing. Did not find anything obvious wrong. And the video I found.
Bud the guy making the video made another video........ Well.... seems like he is looking deeper: 

 

[Grimm10]

I remember back in 2005, I bought a new snowmobile and the same thing happened in extreme cold (-25 degrees C), headlight and speedo display didn't come on until it warmed up.  I don't know what the manufacturer did, but it was rectified in future models.

[wstuart]

Anyone with litech 40T packs

 

......im curious what kind of range you are getting

[Aztek]

Have you noticed a faint buzz when the wheel is stationary which disappears when moved forward/backwards about 1 centimeter and starts again when moved another centimeter?

As if at certain position of the magnets it buzzes and at certain it doesn't.

Wonder are there any sparks flying inside.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Aztek