New Luna Fat Galaxy Ludicrous owner in NJ

[AZguy]

Here goes:

1) I guess the question everyone has (based on my Google searching) - how do I know for sure that I actually have the Ludicrous option?
2) When I floor the throttle it displays 1250W but after a few seconds it drops down to like 800. Not sure if this is normal behavior. Or maybe because I'm not upshifting and the motor is redlining (not sure if this is a thing with electric motors). If I start out in a higher gear it seems to go longer before experiencing the drop. All my cars are stickshifts and I used to ride dirtbikes, so I'm no stranger to shifting, I just haven't ridden a bicycle in like 30 years.
3) When pushing it hard I sometimes get a little pinging sound from the front tire. Not sure if it's the spokes or the brake.

Those are the main questions for now.

1) You would need a way to measure the battery current - the ludicrous works by "tricking" the controller that you are using half the current (power) enabling it to try and do twice as much so the batteries ability to deliver becomes the real upper limit... the display indicators are notoriously off anyway... there are options for bar mounted units that will also measure and display amps, volts, watts, amp-hours, watt-hours etc. and are worth it to me

2) It sounds like you are thinking the battery needed conditioning and there's truth to that... frankly I'd take it easy on it for the first half dozen cycles, discharge only about half way and charge fully and leave it on the charger at 100% for a few hours for those first half dozen... after that the "rules" are a lot different... I'd also peek at the controller parameters (need programming cable but another thing that is more than a little worth it) - I've never been happy with what I see come from the suppliers

3) Spokes settling in will make pinging sounds - are you sure it's not the rear? They tend to make the noise when applying a lot of power... Brakes will often squeal or make other noise until bedded in - look up bedding procedures

[Rich_S]

Just took her out for a longer spin. The wattage drop issue has gone away. Maybe it was just a new battery thing and it balanced itself overnight or something. Also, I'm now 99% sure the pinging noise is coming from the front brake. It only happens above a certain speed and mainly when I let off the throttle or stop pedaling above that speed, and a quick squeeze of the brake lever stops it. Must be the disc vibrating against the pads or something.

Also, need to start wearing gloves, it's like 24 degrees out and pretty sure I was on the verge of getting frostbite, lol.

Can't wait to take this thing to the Pine Barrens this weekend.

[Rich_S]

What does the adapter look like? Just an inline blob?

Yeah, it's like an inch long, solid plastic, male on one end and female on the other.

The instructions said something about using it to avoid getting sparks inside the connector on the batter.

Is this the more basic charger that doesn't have the display?

I got the advanced charger.

I'm not sure how they mounted the battery for shipping but if its a regular wolf mount there should not be any zip ties. If there are that could be whats holding it for shipping and I would cut them.

Yeah, standard wolf battery. I'll cut them. I have a box of big zip ties in the basement in case it turns out they are needed.

[73Eldo]

What does the adapter look like? Just an inline blob? Is this the more basic charger that doesn't have the display? If so that has something to do with keeping the charger happy at lower voltages so not always critical to have. If you want to charge on the bike I would just pick up a short extension cable for the battery and leave that dodad on the charger end. If you search XT-60 cable you should find plenty of options since they are commonly used for RC toys.

I'm not sure how they mounted the battery for shipping but if its a regular wolf mount there should not be any zip ties. If there are that could be whats holding it for shipping and I would cut them. To get the battery off you need to kinda roll it off. Get your fingers over the top just grabbing on the side so your palms are on the near side then kinda roll it. Once it pops off one side you can then kinda twist it to get away from the magnet. You will never get it trying to pull straight up,

[73Eldo]

Someone with Ludi will have to answer that part. My standard system will max out and stay there if I hold it as far as I know but I try not to hold it just because its not good for anything to stay at max. Maybe the Ludi adds something to the software to limit things if you are lugging it? Downshifting and and pedaling I can usually get under 1000w. If its comfortable to pedal you are at the very bottom of the range the BBS wants to be in. The BBS really seems to be happiest spinning at the upper limits of how fast you could pedal or even a bit faster. Maybe knowing that will help?

It is normal on a new bike to hear some sounds from the spokes as the sort of seat in. I could see a fat tire being worse since the loads are more distributed and dampened by the low pressures. I didn't look close at what style they use to attach the front wheel but make sure you understand it and have it set correctly. You can pluck the spokes like its a harp with your thumb and finger to see if that is the sound you are hearing and if you do them all you can compare to make sure they all sound and feel similar.

If its the brake and you have the wheel fastened correctly you should still hear it just spinning the tire off the ground. It looks like that has 4 piston hydraulic brakes so there isn't a ton of adjustments to them like there are with mechanical ones.

[Rich_S]

Couple of other questions.

1) I can't get the battery off. I watched all the videos. I think they put the zip ties through the rail holes that are connected to the battery itself. Is this possible?
2) There was a little adapter in the charger box. Am I supposed to plug this into the battery and then the charger into it? I ended up plugging the charger directly into the battery since I couldn't remove it and there wasn't enough clearance.

[Rich_S]

Here goes:

1) I guess the question everyone has (based on my Google searching) - how do I know for sure that I actually have the Ludicrous option?
2) When I floor the throttle it displays 1250W but after a few seconds it drops down to like 800. Not sure if this is normal behavior. Or maybe because I'm not upshifting and the motor is redlining (not sure if this is a thing with electric motors). If I start out in a higher gear it seems to go longer before experiencing the drop. All my cars are stickshifts and I used to ride dirtbikes, so I'm no stranger to shifting, I just haven't ridden a bicycle in like 30 years.
3) When pushing it hard I sometimes get a little pinging sound from the front tire. Not sure if it's the spokes or the brake.

Those are the main questions for now.

[73Eldo]

Cool. I was wondering when we were going to get someone here that had one of those. No one seems to be that picky here about what section you post in and if you have spent any time here or searched you will see its kinda a jumble so the best you can do to help others is have good info in the subject like like you did for this thread. I think it would be reasonable to keep asking right here but there is also the catch all general section. The general posts about riding would be a good place if its more about the use of the bike rather than working on it.

I have a similar (non liudi) fat bike and similar age and yes its amazing. Not sure about you but I'm in the 250 pound range now. 30 years ago (and at least 100 pounds less) I would ride maybe 500 miles per week. 15 years ago I could maybe pull off 5 per week. Last year 1 would just about kill me. Summer on the E bike I was doing about 20 per day and having a blast just exploring my neighborhood I have lived in for 4 years as well as the mountain bike park which is 2.5 miles away. I'm only getting 1 ride per week in now that its cold and snowing but trying to get motivated to go out more.

[Rich_S]

Just took delivery this morning. Tightened the handlebars down, put the pedals on, and charged the battery while on work calls. Managed to take it outside and play with it for half an hour on my lunch break. I'm 47 and felt like a kid all over again. I do have a bunch of dumb newbie questions, is there a forum suited for that (I don't want to clog up the technical forum)?