Duality, a different approach.

Did the bushing change resolve the lock out issue you were experiencing during a carve? How much lean are you able to get in a turn?

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It turns out the rear end was too loose and causing the issues. Once i put the hard bushings in the outside, it stopped all of the lockout silliness!!!
I have to get some better video now! I can rip around the neighborhood now, no problem

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This really needs to be called the BatEsk8

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EBat or Batsk8 flows better

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This.
Definitely.
Jeremy.
Get on board dude…

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This is sort of what I was thinking after looking at the initial instability, it seems like the steering response that normally keeps you upright while carving is hampered by using skate tech vs a classic castor found in thems caster-boards-speedboards-bikeboards

some possible advantage to using a busing suspended mtb truck is making it closer to a 4-wheel esk8 so you can stand on it while stopped without putting a foot down.

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Just got back from a group ride at the beach! This thing is amazing!!! I’ll be posting video.

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And here’s some video showing it carves and turns! Ill get more to come! What a great night!

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So freaking stoked!!!

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I still cannot belive i was able to take this thing out for a group ride!!!

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This is such a neat idea and the the aesthetics are just [chef’s kiss :ok_hand:]. I’m always psyched to see more 2-wheelers here.


I think the weird steering behavior of the machine is down to the huge negative trail you’ve got going on for the front wheel. This means that if too much lateral steering force is put into it by the contact patch, it’ll flip itself to one side or the other.

Lateral force (with respect to the trucks) could come from friction in a hard turn, or from normal force while the machine is leaned over.

If using a harder front bushing helped the issue, I’m guessing this is why. Or is that front bushing softer that what you started with? I’m interested in whether you’ve tried a bushing split where the front is harder than the rear.

I think it will be harmful here, since it adds another steering axis, which will still be aft of the front wheel. So still negative trail, but without bushings to stabilize it.


I think the reason your trucks can turn at all is because of the square tire profile. Having the sidewalls spaced out so far gives you something to lean against, just like having a skate wheel mounted to the end of a truck. You put your weight on the edge of the deck, the contact patch pushes back under your feet, and that allows you to squeeze the bushing.

That last diagram ended up cluttered so I stripped it down.

It’s like squeezing spring loaded pliers, basically.

Which is why I think that using round tires will hurt your ability to steer. If the contact patch stays closer to the center, it’s like trimming down one of the handles of the pliers, or using hard bushings on super narrow skate trucks. No leverage to compress the bushings, so the board leans over without steering.


This might be what you want for the front, since the front could be causing the static instability that makes the board lock out. The rear tire has positive trail, but only steering the rear tire can create dynamic instability that makes the board wobble.

I second this, to guarantee you have both static and dynamic stability, you’ll need to mount the front truck in ahead of the wheel instead of behind it, and make sure the pivot axis points at the ground in front of the contact patch. You may be able to use a steeper front angle and loosen the bushings to get more maneuverability at that point.

This is an interesting problem because the skateboard aspects of the machine are stable (steering the trucks on the sidewalls), the bike aspects are unstable (steering the front wheel through leaning), and the two sides are fighting each other right now. I can’t say for sure that I’ve got it all figured out, but I hope this advice helps you choose the direction you wanna go. I’m definitely staying tuned for this!

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You are pretty spot on on a few things here, I’ve tried multiple different durometer and locations for the bushings font and rear. Softer bushings would lock out easier.
I’ve found stiff bushings in the rear is required
The front tire definitely needs to be square so you can lean on it to steer.
I’ve got a feeling a round(er) rear tire will help with the ability to get the back of the board to lean easier which should help turn easier.
I don’t forsee me doing any crazy geometry changes or going to a 2swift style caster/ mount.
My board is stable at a standstill. Casterboards are not.
I really could care less about tight turns, as this was not a goal of this project.
I wanted a stable lowrider platform that makes cruising easy and makes me not worry about nosediving

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As long as you got what you wanted out of it, that’s mission successful. Kudos to you man :+1:

I think if you’ve basically immobilized the rear anyway by using a harder bushing, then yeah, using a round rear tire might focus more weight on the front sidewalls.

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What if instead of matrix channel trucks you were to use newbee 3Link style trucks :face_with_monocle:

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@zero_ads that was my first thought, only problem is all of your weight will be on the adjusters.
That is all that’s keeping the axle from rotating.
I really wanted to give those a shot.

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How is ground clearance dude?
Can you go up and down curb cuts ok?

Can you go over a speed bump?

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Speedbumps are fine, curbs not so much.
It handles sand really well!

It’s nature is to be a lowrider style eskate.
My kaly/lacroix can’t take curbs either, so i feel like this is still a win.

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This is a win for sure dude.
Most epic!!!

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Well, i just did my first Metr log, it showed i was somehow only set to 40a battery and 40a for the front hub.
Also only 1 hub had field weakening…
I guess my CAN settings needed to be done individually.
The speed was completely off too, i had my wheel size at 115, when it should have been 280.

Already loving the Metr, since the board is riding so well, I’ll probably have to grab a MEGAN for it. Also 37wh/m isn’t bad for AWD!

Next log should look a lot better!

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Penis confirmed.

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