Chapter Seven: The Blast is a blast (first test ride)

The good weather and my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to give the Blast a test after getting the motor mounted and the drive chain sized. Went out and attached the throttle, slapped on the battery and put the rest of the controls in a plastic shopping bag hung from the handlebars. Figured I should try it before I took it in to get the new Albatross bars installed and fitted with cabling. Man, it was quite an enjoyable experience to finally try it under power.

The performance was better than I expected from that little motor and I am pleased with the decision to purchase this kit. However a few more issues popped up, no surprises there though.

1. The controller / headlight won't fit on the center of my bars due to interference with the stem clamp.

One more thing to buy, a Minoura space grip will get it mounted on center.

2. My car top bike rack rear clamp won't fit around the Continental fat boy 2.10 x 26 Town and Country tires.

I wanted a hitch and hitch mount bike rack anyway so one of those will be in my future.

3. The headlight came with a cracked lens.

Allan says he'll ship another but wants me to finish the installation and see if anything else needs replacing and he'll ship it all at once. Due I'm sure to the long distance postal rates from Oz to the US. Thanks Allan, good customer support is what I like.

4. The battery charger wouldn't charge the battery pack.

Looked closer at it and there is a switch that switches it from 115 to 240 volts. Took the back off of the charger and flipped the switch to 115. Replaced the back and it charged up the pack no problem.

I just got back from dropping off the Blast at Revolution Cycles, the LBS, and it should be ready to pick up on Wednesday the 31st along with the space bar. Yippie.

Short list of issues this post. The finish line is in sight and we'll be good to go by Spring including upgrades.

I just can't bring myself to use the supplied plastic brake levers and give up my Avid single digits. I'll have to work up a usable substitution as this will be used in Vancouver Canada from time to time and brake cut outs are required. Electric bikes are more common up there and some of the Politi know what to look for. Last time I was riding up there the Coppers had a roadblock set up on the bike lane and they were writing tickets for the helmetless riders. The cage drivers were whizzing along well above the speed limit, no roadblock for them though. Go figure........

Allan also sent me a basic digital camera to help with the posting of pictures.

A technical question has been sent a couple of times to the powers that be here but no answer yet. Can anyone tell me if I can delete the files from the upload area without having them disappear from my previous posts or do we have the 500 kb limit in total?????