This board has a few themes, initially I wanted to make a board that was able to handle transition riding at skateparks so it’s able to ride a snake run or a simple bowl with functional kicktails, but I discovered something better along the way and I haven’t even ridden it yet and I’m already compelled to share.
I wanted the smallest wheels possible, so I opted for the 76mm AHMYO Akasha which is normally an “inset” wheel but Muirskate offers a “cut” version taking the patch down to 50mm and creating a centerset wheel instead. It’s also stone ground and ready to go. I do wish it had rounded edges though and a harder thane for what I am doing.
This is obviously a much better wheel than the Hobbyking flywheel clones as 87.8mm and also smaller diameter which is what I wanted.
I found a new 15mm 36 tooth wheel pulley from Torque for Kegal cored wheels and this allowed me to adapt the Akasha wheels to the Hobbyking single motor drive kit which includes the robust 125kv sealed 2000w motor and VESC.
The trucks are Caliber 44 degree on Riptide 90a APS BS and 90a Kranks RS. This makes for a loose truck feel for a 200+ rider. The wheelsbase may still be too short for practical bowl riding, I may de-wedge during testing and also try some chubby bushings to get these Calibers to feel more like a 169 Indy.
The deck is the Jet Sergio Superslider which is a large double kick hybrid/tech-slide deck. It features a deep concave, wheel flairs/wells and large nose and kick tails. It’s 36.5 inches long and 9.7 inches wide.
I bought a simple aluminum box from Amazon and three cheap 4 cell lipo batteries at 10c, they are 10,000mah each. This gives me a 12cell lipo and it doesn’t weigh much at all!
So far the Hobbyking DIY single motor kit has been the best fitting and functioning parts I have used because they simply all fit together perfectly and that leads me to what I discovered doing this build. Anyone could do this!
I didn’t even use a loop key for this build, I used one simple battery wiring harness to connect the three batteries to one ant-ispark xp90 connector. This thing is super simple and robust and it may not look super great but it’s function is elegant and beautiful.
I racked my brain, like a dumb drunk skater in the shop trying to figure out how I was going to charge this thing, access it’s guts and maintain it easily while still making something tough that could handle the abuse of a “thrasher”. I wanted minimal weight and minimal parts, I eliminated everything I didn’t need.
Remember kids, it’s important to start with a clean work area! And a beer! Here you can see the simple wire harness, comprised of three xt90’s going to a anti-spark xt90 outside the box. I fit the 3 lipo batteries inside with enough room for battery voltage alarms to fit and you can also easily access the balance plugs for charging. I would love a simple plug-n-play lipo BMS made for such a purpose, then you could just bolt it to the deck and wait for it to catch fire someday.
I used my quick and dirty ziptie technique to mount the VESC to the box, it’s mounted on EPP foam and I find they breath really well in this location. Of course they are not well protected being on the outside of the box so this time I cut some plastic I had laying around the shop and placed it over the VESC to protect it with some cutouts for the USB and sensor wires. This plastic gave me a secure place to mount the RX as well and I stuck the antenna to the deck with a Caliber truck sticker! I also stuck on the bushing labels because I have so many setups now I keep forgetting what bushings I have in each one as I tune them.
I really don’t like Caliber trucks much, but they are better than the stock HK trucks in the kit and would really prefer to use the Avenue 169 tkp for this project. I do have a set to adapt and try out later. But for now I wanted this build to be stupid easy, as an example of something even a thrasher could build and appreciate.
The real difficulty was figuring out how to make the batteries accessible for charging and swapping. I settled on a weird idea but it works. I placed hinges on one side of the box, bolted to the box with skateboard hardware and held down to the deck using screws that are meant to hold on rails. I tried to use all skateboard hardware for this build, things any skater would already have. Again the idea here is to make the “skaters eskate”, super simple, easy and functional too.
Somehow late at night after a couple of beers, this popped out of my brain. I held down the other side of the box using two L-brackets from the hardware store, a skate hardware bolt through the box snaps into the hole on the bracket and locks down the box much more securely than I ever thought it possible. Screws for rails are used to hold the brackets to the deck. In order to release and open the box, you simply pry the brackets off the end of the screws and it snaps open. I couldn’t have asked for a more elegant and lightweight solution. Some EPP foam between the two keeps it snug and I will put on some foam gasket around the edges to keep out road dust. If you wanted to lock it closed, you could simply screw a wingnut on the bolts as well, but I didn’t have too!
The setup sits low and still has tons of clearance, it has a mean stance and I cannot wait to test it out, of course it just began to rain, you guys know how that works. I you finish a build it will always rain the next day, one of the rules of eskating.
I love how simple this came out. It features no frills, no extras, no BMS, no loop key, no power switch, no charge port, no voltage indicator…it’s just all skateboard…you plug in the battery to the VESC and off you go…oh and you can use the kicktails all you wish because there is nothing hanging out in front or behind the trucks.
Any old silly skater could make this and it’s not heavy either. It even features removable batteries for traveling, and has ample power.
The few parts that I did have to fabricate or solder myself, could be easily made by any company. A simple battery wire harness, a cheap remote, three 14v lipos, aluminum box, the Hobbyking DIY skateboard kit and a skateboard…That’s all it took, the rest was skateboard hardware that any skater already has and some hinges and brackets from the hardware store.
Price, Part, URL 75 Deck: http://www.jetskateboards.com/?room=super-slider-36-5 50 Trucks (44’): https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/trucks/57581/184mm-caliber-2-raw-downhill-longboard-truck 57 Wheels: https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/wheels/72684/76mm-ahmyo-akasha-cut-longboard-skateboard-wheels 23 Bearings: https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/bearings/70875/zealous-ceramic-built-in-bearings 9 RS Bushings: https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/bushings/70380/riptide-krank-barrel-longboard-skateboard-bushings-pack 7 BS Bushings: https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/bushings/13581/riptide-aps-barrel-longboard-skateboard-bushings-pack 14 Pivot Cups: https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/products/72058/riptide-wfb-rogue-caliber-cups 8 Risers/hardware (.25"): https://www.muirskate.com/longboard/products/72447/muirskate-beasto-0-25-flathead-hardware-mounting-kit 19 Aluminum box (9x7x2): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T576KI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 150 x3 4cell 10Ah lipos: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/multistar-high-capacity-4s-10000mah-multi-rotor-lipo-pack.html 20 Anti-spark XT90’s: https://www.amazon.com/Amass-Connector-Anti-Spark-Battery-Charger/dp/B074PTHZ3M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519669568&sr=8-3&keywords=xt90+anti+spark 280 Turnigy SK8 Skateboard Conversion Kit: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-skateboard-conversation-kit-v2.html?wrh_pdp=3 12 x2 small cabinate hinges: Local Hardware Store 15 x2 L-Brackets: Local Hardware Store instead of rail wood screws you could use sex bolts: http://www.sk8kings.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=SK8KINGS219&Category_Code=GU Assorded spare skateboard hardware including rail screws
Rough estimate is less than $800
I will report back to the thread with testing results and any changes I make as a result.
Edit: Added parts list…
. To make sure I never have that issue again I’m running 25mm wide HTD5 belts with 26mm wheel and motor pulleys. I can slam the brakes at 20mph and it doesn’t slip.
I’ll look into those stripping to kludge my setup. 
I want to see how those multi star batteries hold up long term.