Cerbera's Master V2.5 thread

[Cerbera]

I'd love that, and am still chopsy enough on piano to pull it off, but alas, no public pianos in malls near me

[Cerbera]

Righty, new helmet ordered - Scorpion ADX-2 beat out all the competition, and mine is going to be pearl white with chrome visor (some TSG legacy there - can't help myself, and it was only another 30 quid) So, £239 in all, + £120 more if I want to light mode it like my TSG (I can share control boxes between the 2 and save the full cost £££). I will have to position Night Shift light differently because of the modular layout but I think I can do it, and it may end up looking even cooler than the configuration on the TSG. I think the surrounding white of the helmet will illuminate better too. I never could get a white TSG.

What's particularly good about this lid is that it comes all ready for the Scorpion Bluetooth coms system and has room inside it for voice box tech I will be installing for Mandalorian style coms later. Also, being a front-lift jobby I don't have to take it off to talk to people clearly, or drink tea, which, being British, is considered only fractionally less important than air to breathe.

And that will complete the armour set I think is necessary for the Master at high speed. This now consists of:

• Thermal underlayers, and inner jacket
• Pro Star Touring MC boots
• Leatt 5.5 Dual Axis Knee braces
• Leatt 5.5 Bodysuit
• Leather gloves / palm slide wrist guards
• Custom padded Rexel (RXL) Cordura 600D riding pants (hip / outer thigh impact foam)
• Helmet Mirror (various manufacturers)
• Phone Armband
• Finger Bell
• Various remotes for assorted lights / beepers

@winterwheel is right that this will give me new confidence to try and attain those speeds, but only where it is safe to do it, which for me at least, is still not amongst traffic.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Cerbera

[Paul A]

20 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

public pianos in malls near me

Might be one at West Quay North Shopping Centre, outside Marks and Spencer.  Southhampton

[Hellkitten]

Is the scorpion con compatible with other devices? Love this helmet so far. Please post your impressions once you get it all finished. 🤩

[Cerbera]

7 minutes ago, Hellkitten said:

Is the scorpion con compatible with other devices? Love this helmet so far. Please post your impressions once you get it all finished. 🤩

Specs are here...

TBH I am not going to install that - I don't do group rides, almost never listen to music while riding (see situational awareness) and it doesn't have a boom mic, and I need that for my plans...

Edited February 22, 2023 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

12 minutes ago, Paul A said:

Might be one at West Quay North Shopping Centre, outside Marks and Spencer.  Southhampton

How the holy f**k do you know about that from 10,000 miles away !?   I don't think they do though - I was there seeing Avatar 2 in their Imax thing the other day. they had a skeleton of an Allosaurus, but no piano I could see ! Perhaps it was because I went to an 11.20 pm showing !

Edited February 22, 2023 by Cerbera

[The Brahan Seer]

@Cerbera I'm guessing the chrome visor not being road legal is not an issue from your previous experience with the tsg helmet. 

The least of our worries I imagine.

Nice to hear you have been having a good experience with your Master. Its very hard to keep perspective on here sometimes as you always hear about the issues with our wheels. I like to think that the majority of folk with all brands of wheels generally have a good experience even if needing to do a little trouble shooting at the start.

My S18 has been trouble free 3500 miles in so far (touch wood!).

[Cerbera]

27 minutes ago, The Brahan Seer said:

not an issue from your previous experience with the tsg helmet

29 minutes ago, The Brahan Seer said:

The least of our worries I imagine.

Yep. Fart in a hurricane when the machine itself is so legally questionable... but actually I am not technically ON the roads unless I am crossing them. I don't know if they are legal or not on cycle paths etc...

[Paul A]

17 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

legally questionable

 

Install these on an EUC.... to avoid police attention.

 

 

[Wheel Guy]

14 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Well, after today's ride, in which I was testing my new Cordura 600D riding trousers in the damp and cold I am finally feeling like I am fully at one with the Master, and it is at last beginning to feel like the extension of me that the MS3 always did. I would not have expected it to take 750 miles on the clock to get here, but it has taken that long to round off the tippy edges of the CST-186, and to fully compensate for it over a range of speeds and terrains. But now I feel fully locked in, able to access the full power of that amazing machine, which now seems to growl under my feet in a 'let's go' sort of way - it's all very joyful

So another very wet ride, despite actually managing to avoid any rain in progress, and no new or worrying noises from the Master, from which I infer the waterproofing I did is still adequate / holding up.  I am constantly on the listens and feels for any changes to suspension stiffness, but all seems normal so far.

So, lovely, if short town ride today - no dismounts required as my town rides are later these days, now being sunset at around 5.30 pm when most people have cleared out of town. This is the time of year when riding gets better because I am up and riding when there are fewer people about as the daylight hours get longer. I am also in peak comfortable temperature mode for the Winter rides. Ambient temp of 8-10 C means I am really very cosy in my undercoat / bodysuit / overcoat arrangement, even very high up on the windy peaks.

Master has been perfectly behaved for these last (nearly) 800 miles. The original firmware has no appreciable problems as far as I can tell, except some pedal dipping that only happens on long sustained tight corners. That seems to take a while to reset itself after them, but if you expect it it's fine.

Did a bit of walking about in an earlier ride today, mainly to see if my blanking off the top 3rd of the Masters main light has fixed it being in everyone's eyes. I think it has - haven't a single complaint or cross look since as I wheel it about in pedestrianised areas. I think it has worked for cars coming at me head on too - they no longer slow down, and go wide as they approach me on the pavement. Good good. Wheel still charges to 133.9, and will not go higher than that no matter how long it is left on charge for.

Still not doing any seated riding. I sort of can do it, if I start off that way, but I can't find anywhere to put the Grizzlas where they are perfect for both standing and sitting - I don't like having to be on tippy toes right on the edge of the pedals, and transitioning between that and standing foot position is, at the moment, what my old nan would have described as 'sketchy as fuck'. Not sure how I'll ever circumvent that, but not sure I care - as I am all about the standing ride anyway, and tend not to do over 50 miles in a stretch so don't feel like I need to sit down to relive fatigue.

Lastly, got quite a few positive comments about the armour and lights today - everyone is properly loving those, except curmudgeonly older men interestingly, and I don't meet them so often, none today I was pleased to say ! Conversely, the older ladies seem to quite like it, and often come up and want to enthuse about it, which is nice.

Some residual schoolkids out in town who literally behave as if it's the coolest thing they've ever seen, and clear out of its way in hushed awe as I come past. Well done Begode - that's the sort of respect we want - lols 

Here she sits, doing her own cool backlighting while she charges for another day...

Have you tested your charger with a voltmeter? What does the wheel report for voltage? Maybe you just need to calibrate it, I understand some chargers charge too low from factory but you can adjust them. 

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, loofv said:

Have you tested your charger with a voltmeter? What does the wheel report for voltage? Maybe you just need to calibrate it, I understand some chargers charge too low from factory but you can adjust them. 

Thank you - I have considered it, but not so far - my old multi-meter has died a death recently, and I haven't got round to replacing it yet.

I am not unhappy with 133.9v - it stops me worrying about the regenerative braking I have to do in my steeply down-sloping driveway over-volting my packs !! And I'm not a great range rider - 30 mile hops are about the largest I ever do - in most journeys I still have 90% pack remaining after them, so really not that fussed about squeezing every ounce of claimed charge voltage out of mine !

It's the second of 2 minor faults that came with my wheel that I have chosen to not fix because there are secondary advantages. The other one would be that my wheel arrived slightly mis-calibrated and with a minor tendency to roll backwards from stationary. I kept that because the behaviour really suits me in that the wheel wants to roll back under me after free dismounts from speed, and is presumably more hesitant to roll on forward in a crash, and because it helps with trolleying, which becomes absolutely effortless if I simply wheel it in reverse around the shops !

Edited February 23, 2023 by Cerbera

[Wheel Guy]

16 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Thank you - I have considered it, but not so far - my old multi-meter has died a death recently, and I haven't got round to replacing it yet.

I am not unhappy with 133.9v - it stops me worrying about the regenerative braking I have to do in my steeply down-sloping driveway over-volting my packs !! And I'm not a great range rider - 30 mile hops are about the largest I ever do - in most journeys I still have 90% pack remaining after them, so really not that fussed about squeezing every ounce of claimed charge voltage out of mine !

It's the second of 2 minor faults that came with my wheel that I have chosen to not fix because there are secondary advantages. The other one would be that my wheel arrived slightly mis-calibrated and with a minor tendency to roll backwards from stationary. I kept that because the behaviour really suits me in that the wheel wants to roll back under me after free dismounts from speed, and is presumably more hesitant to roll on forward in a crash, and because it helps with trolleying, which becomes absolutely effortless if I simply wheel it in reverse around the shops !

What would worry me is the packs not fully balancing if it doesn't ever get to charge to 134.4v, you may have individual cells that don't get balanced and charge less and less overtime. May be a fire hazard in the long run! But I do understand the concern with starting fully charged with a downslope, might consider walking it if it's not too long

[Rawnei]

I'm seeing some strange behaviour from the new charge board (C4), it seems to be draining packs for some reason, I'm currently investigating and will write more detailed about it later when I have all the facts around the behaviour, just a heads up since you swapped to the same board.

[Cerbera]

10 minutes ago, Rawnei said:

I'm seeing some strange behaviour from the new charge board (C4), it seems to be draining packs for some reason, I'm currently investigating and will write more detailed about it later when I have all the facts around the behaviour, just a heads up since you swapped to the same board.

Oh good  I shall read that with interest ! I too have been monitoring mine since the swap. Mine is doing very consistent behaviour so far. With the old board it would charge to 133.2, and in the 20 or so charge top-ups since the swap it has reached 133.9v every time.

[Rawnei]

8 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Oh good  I shall read that with interest ! I too have been monitoring mine since the swap. Mine is doing very consistent behaviour so far. With the old board it would charge to 133.2, and in the 20 or so charge top-ups since the swap it has reached 133.9v every time.

Let it sit for a day and check if it drained anything.

[Cerbera]

22 minutes ago, Rawnei said:

Let it sit for a day and check if it drained anything.

Hmmm. Interesting... mine finished charging about 12 hours ago, and I checked it had reached 133.9 when it had finished, and had been sitting on green light for an hour or 2.

Checking it just now - you are right - it's now down to 133.4 ! I might expect it to lose 0.1 volts every time I turn it on to check the voltage, but would not expect it to drop 0.5v overnight on its own.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Cerbera

[Rawnei]

12 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Hmmm. Interesting... mine finished charging about 12 hours ago, and I checked it had reached 133.9 when it had finished, and had been sitting on green light for an hour or 2.

Checking it just now - you are right - it's now down to 133.4 ! I might expect it to lose 0.1 volts every time I turn it on to check the voltage, but would not expect it to drop 0.5v overnight on its own.

So far mine keeps draining and draining, from 134.3 to 133.2 and going, I'm checking with multimeter now and then not turning wheel on at all, after it stops (if it does) I will check each pack also.

[Cerbera]

8 minutes ago, Rawnei said:

So far mine keeps draining and draining, from 134.3 to 133.2 and going, I'm checking with multimeter now and then not turning wheel on at all, after it stops (if it does) I will check each pack also.

They are not trying to do some weird misplaced 'safety thing' where it auto-bleeds down to storage charge if unused are they ?! :/ or perhaps something similar to that other brand I read about the other day where if you don't disconnect the charger right the bluetooth stays on, draining power ?

Probably not. Anyway I have notified Speedyfeet, who will probably ask Gotway about it.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Cerbera

[Rawnei]

4 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

They are not trying to do some weird misplaced 'safety thing' where it auto-bleeds down to storage charge if unused are they ?! :/ or perhaps something similar to that other brand I read about the other day where if you don't disconnect the charger right the bluetooth stays on, draining power ?

Probably not. Anyway I have notified Speedyfeet, who will probably ask Gotway about it.

For detail, my charge board is not connected to the mainboard at all so that's not a factor, it's just 4 packs on charge board and I'm checking voltage on charge board connector, I balance charged all packs individually before to 67.2 and will check them after if they are still balanced.

[Cerbera]

39 minutes ago, Paul A said:

Is this the same model?

It is, but this still doesn't belong in this thread if you'd be so kind, because this thread is about MY master, not anyone else's !

It should go in the General Master thread ideally I reckon, where most people who own these will see it, but it is quite old, and therefore may be there already, in which case is there any need for further duplication ? Also, we still don't have a consensus on what caused this particular cut-out / fire - lot of people in the comments are suggesting condensation, but it would be nice if there was some sort of resolution to it.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

Having spent a lot of this morning worrying about how much of my control board might not be in thermal contact with my heatsink I thought it was time to throw caution to the wind and go for a ride, and take the risk. And I got away with it I am pleased to report; nothing but exemplary behaviour from the Master again.  Out with the peak-less Scorpion ADX-2 again, which is now feeling so much more comfortable, and like my friend rather than something I have to wrangle and cope with - its calming isolation from the outside world definitely contributes to the overall zen of the ride, so that's nice  If I was feeling fanciful and alliterative I could compare the wind noise you hear inside that things being reduced to sort of low impulse engine hum you might get on the USS Enterprise D, which is very good if you like that sort of thing, which I do. 

It was a very relaxed ride today, the master feeling energetic, but firm and secure under my feet as I did a fairly protracted town ride on busy shared paths, at mostly uniformly slow speed - a lot of the time barely faster than pedestrians. That used to be something of a struggle on the Master for me, but these days, it is a pleasure to be gently and securely carriaging your way around town, utterly relaxed, deftly avoiding the hazards, and thanking the people that move about for you. All very zen-inducing today.

Except for the damn dogs ! If I thought they hated me in the TSG Pass, they REALLY f**king hate me in the ADX-2 ! Literally since I've had that, EVERY medium-size labrador type dog, and few sizes either side have gone absolutely MENTAL as I have wheeled past them, often requiring ALL the strength of their owner to hold them back on their leads. I watch old ladies sigh as I approach, move waaay off the path, and then brace themselves for the epic pull of the dog when it subsequently notices me. I am beginning to feel quite guilty and self-conscious about that ! I've tried going past them very very slowly, at walking speed, at cycling speed, and quite fast, helmet up, helmet down - nothing seems to make them hate me less ! Why is that do we think ?!

Anyway, those were the only down points in an otherwise thoroughly joy-filled afternoon ride ! More like that please ! (less dogs)

Edited March 1, 2023 by Cerbera

[Paradox]

3 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Why is that do we think ?!

You will find Begode haters in all forms.

[Paul A]

12 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

dogs

 

 

February 25, 2023

 

[Cerbera]

Yes indeed, stopping does usually shut them up, and I have done that before when they are not on leads and full-on chase is underway. But it's not typically an option when on a busy cycleway, where dogs ARE on leads, because if you stop and wait, the owner valiantly trying to hold the animal back has to do it for a very much extended period of time, which annoys them a lot, and they don't necessarily understand that you are trying to calm the situation rather than aggravating it by your continued presence ! Not to mention the difficulty of trying to explain this through a helmet, over all the growling and barking !! In a lot of ways it seems better to just GTFO of there as fast as possible !

Edited March 1, 2023 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

The snow and rainy season have kicked off, so now is a good time to test the voltage loss in the V4 charge board in this particular machine.

Readings taken from EUC World.

• Voltage after initial Charge: 134.0v
• After 24 hours: 133.2 v
• After 48 hours:  132.1 v

So, dropping about a volt a day so far. We'll see if that changes going forward...

• After 64 hours: 131.7v

Ooh - marginally less drop than before !

Edited March 9, 2023 by Cerbera