THE GEAR DRIVE UPGRADE
So whilst i have been riding my board and enjoying It greatly i have had a few minor issues with my gear drives, the main one being that they were SUPER LOUD. you can hear what it sounds like in this video of yesterdays ride to our local pub. This noise is accompanied by some feeling of high resistance in the drives and awful range.
Now i know that i have a tendency to over tighten nuts, belts, gears and anything else that i don’t know the correct tension for. After originally building the drives i had suspected that they may have been to tight but having never ridden, heard or even seen a set of gear drives in person i had no point of reference as to what they are supposed to be like. Decided that i would just ride them for a while in the hope that they may “bed in” or something.
Then after a few miles / few tens of miles you get complacent and are having to much fun and it starts to become a “later job”. doesnt matter if its loud right cause you can still ride it and you can just fix it when you get the time.
THE CATALYST
This week i passed the 100 mile point on the board and there was still no reduction in the noise level so i figured they must be to tight and they are not going to bed in any further. I decided that this week i would make the time to open the drives and take another shot at setting the motor position correctly.
Then i got an PM from Audrius @3DServisas:
"I have a new lubrication for my gearboxes.
Do you want to test?"
I was already taking the gearboxes apart and would be easy to re-grease them so i agreed 
Before i knew it grease was on its way.
Then i noticed another message sitting in my inbox containing some awesome STL’s for some new “FatBoy SS HD bumpers”. They are small printable parts to stop the gearboxes getting scratched with my low profile tyres. Got them on print over night so that i could fit them at the same time.
STRIP & CLEAN
First job is to strip the gearboxes down and clean everything. 100 Miles on the road makes things surprising dirty.
Outer case is cleaned and removed from the drive to reveal the state of the gears and grease 100 miles in.
looks like my DIY keyway has been rubbing on the casing. Better green-locktight that in place on both drives before i rebuild.
After cleaning away all the old grease we can see the state of the gears. To be honest, after 100 miles of being over tightened and pushing a 280lbs gorilla i was worried that i may have done some damage but the gears still look brand new.
CORRECT PRESSURE
Before making any changes i made sure to take some video for comparison. This is what the naked gears sound like sounds like when you have them way to tight. What was i thinking?
I had followed the guide and used a piece of paper to get the spacing correct however the first time around i had applied pressure to the motor when tightening the bolts.
This causes the motor shaft and bearings to move slightly and apply large forces to the gears. i should have applied that pressure to the gear directly.
This lets the motor shaft and bearings sit in their natural position whilst tightening the bolts.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE
LUBE & REBUILD
Time to fill the gearbox with Audrius new secret sauce, applied liberally as instructed.
Replace the case and Stainless seal plate.
Bolt on the New Drive guards
Save some lube to apply under the V-ring seal.
Replace V-ring seal and clean off any excess.
Finally replace wheel.
Oh . . . and repeat all that for the other drive.
THE RESULT
Its incredible. I now understand why gear drives are becoming so popular. The gearbox is smooth and quiet. Im back to being able to coast again. im also having to get used to needing my breaks again when i want to slow down on hills. But feel free to judge for your self . . .
It might not come across in the video because i think its doing some sound automatic sound levelling but this is orders of magnitude quieter. It seems like the sound of the motors has become the main sound that can be head whilst riding.
Whilst cruising at constant speed my board is about the same volume as my friends belted boosted board but the difference seems to be that the volume of his belt drive depends on his speed whilst the volume of the gear drive depends on the power im applying. let off the power to coast and the board becomes almost silent, even at speed. But when you decide to rip it up you mostly just hear the electric whine of dual 6880’s pumping out a couple kilowatts of power.
Before i was questioning if the gear drives were worth it but after these adjustments im 100% convinced. They are better than my old belt setup for both feel and performance. Plus i know that they will probably outlast my motors and i never have to worry about belts breaking at the exact time i need my breaks the most.
I guess with the printed bumpers only time will tell how they will hold up but they have already saved me from a few more scratches.