Originally Posted by Lizardracer

with a new product you will get teething issues and a manufacturer can do all the "inhouse" testing they like and they will never get a good understanding of how durable something is until it is in the end users hands.

the pastic gears combined with the settings the bike has from the factory didnt work. venom have been pretty quick to design/develop, tool and manufacture the replacement gears in a very timely manner and also offered their customers replacement at no cost. thats pretty good IMO and they get a smiley stamp from me for this :0)

i pull thinhs apart and rebuild coz i believe i will do a better job than a factroy worker that is under pressure to do "X" per hour.
pre assembled kits are always missing loctite, things arent greased, etc.. always good to pull it apart and check the night before coz you usually cant run it at that time anyway!!

i have many models from junkers to top shelf gear and they ALL need maintenence and repair on an ongoing basis. Big horsepower on small parts is going to mean they wear that much faster

dont be discouraged and sucked in by some of the "bad press" its a solid machine

I really liked the bike, I did notice the replacement metal gears did not feel as smoothe as the plastic ones, I wonder if the mesh between the "new" gears and the big ring gear in the wheel are causnig yet another issue? It's a pretty simple mechanism so I am stumped as to why it wont operate correctly. I need new screws for the idler gears and they don't list them as replacements, so it will probably be a while to work on it again. When I get the wheel assembled, when you hold the axles, should it roll pretty freely?, with those new metal gears mine had some resistance from the gyro weight. Also I noticed you cannot tighten the idler gear screws to tight, or it binds the gear bearings. Something is definitely off with one or more of the parts or fit-up on mine. I probably have an early unit with new production problems as well, I see they have a better frame and battery compartment model out now as well.

if the gear binds it may need a shim

im still runnng the plastic gears so i dont have 1st hand experience with the metal ones.
i have read on previuos pages in this forum that they do not run as smooth, but once they "bed in" they are fine.

i dont have the manual with me so i cant look up the bolt size, but i would assume they are a standard metric size. you should be able to pick up a pack from DUBRO or similar

mick.

Rich, the idler screws come in the "8:1 gyro gear set" package on parts page. You said you paid for the steel gears. What happened when you called customer service for replacements? Either way, call again and see what they can do about the screws. If they cant get anything out soon and if you want, PM me and I'll send you the spare set I have from when venom sent me replacement plastic idle gears - they sent the 8:1 gyro set. You can always spend time detailing the bike with stickers paint, thats what I did.

As for me, I finished preping the rider before I paint him: performed all Topdave's rider mods along with lobatamy, leg liposuctions, and cosmetics grinding to remove most of the chest protector. My rider can now stand balanced on his own. I'll take a pic. I also bought some rods to test out rounded shape crashguards to see how/if they handle differently. Almost ready for the track!

Originally Posted by JohnnyMc

Rich, the idler screws come in the "8:1 gyro gear set" package on parts page. You said you paid for the steel gears. What happened when you called customer service for replacements? Either way, call again and see what they can do about the screws. If they cant get anything out soon and if you want, PM me and I'll send you the spare set I have from when venom sent me replacement plastic idle gears - they sent the 8:1 gyro set. You can always spend time detailing the bike with stickers paint, thats what I did.

As for me, I finished preping the rider before I paint him: performed all Topdave's rider mods along with lobatamy, leg liposuctions, and cosmetics grinding to remove most of the chest protector. My rider can now stand balanced on his own. I'll take a pic. I also bought some rods to test out rounded shape crashguards to see how/if they handle differently. Almost ready for the track!

cant wait to see your pics

Originally Posted by JohnnyMc

Rich, the idler screws come in the "8:1 gyro gear set" package on parts page. You said you paid for the steel gears. What happened when you called customer service for replacements? Either way, call again and see what they can do about the screws. If they cant get anything out soon and if you want, PM me and I'll send you the spare set I have from when venom sent me replacement plastic idle gears - they sent the 8:1 gyro set. You can always spend time detailing the bike with stickers paint, thats what I did.

As for me, I finished preping the rider before I paint him: performed all Topdave's rider mods along with lobatamy, leg liposuctions, and cosmetics grinding to remove most of the chest protector. My rider can now stand balanced on his own. I'll take a pic. I also bought some rods to test out rounded shape crashguards to see how/if they handle differently. Almost ready for the track!

Thanks,

I think I almost need a whole new functioning wheel assembly, one of the components is off. When I put the new gears in, it ran great for about 10 minutes, then the 2 of the idler gears sheared off and got the axle red hot and melted the spacer set ,and swing arm.

Hi Rich,

Please PM with your info (name and email) and I'll get you in touch with our CS guys to help you out.

Chris

I followed Topdaves approach for body (see mid thread for his write up pics). At that point I was like, oh what the h@ll and cut a circle in the back of riders head and removed his brains. Couple days later when I decided to paint the body I grabbed small scissors and started snipping stuff like the little rivets on chest protector and little bit off the shoulder pads (sorry Chris lol). Next thing I knew I had the dremel in my hand and went crazy lol. To top it off, I was looking at his legs and noticed where on the sides you cant see in the back and when I saw this post, it sealed the deal on what to do http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...5&postcount=10

Im gonna buy a scale to see his weight now after joining weightwatchers. I have no idea how rider will handle after taking a beating on the track so I guess I better not crash.

Yikes! A bit extreme but OK go man go!
Stock rider figure = 200g (on average)

I cut one up too and did a tummy tuck to hunch him over the bars more. I used thin CA to glue the parts and it works fast and strong. Usually the foam breaks around the glue joint.

Now you have sanded away the natural skin the foam has, how do you plan to replace it?

I would try a skim coat of urethane rubber or similar.....NO! on second thought you should bust out the ol'sewing machine and make a cool new micro Vilopoto jersey with silk screened on graphics!!! OR - You could buy iron-ons and print that out from some image online and have the only Vilopoto micro jersey! LOL

Just be sure to make 2, one for me!

Yeah this is turning into as big a deal as the bike dangit. Plan to replace the skin, what plan? lol, working on a foam rider is as new as working on an rc bike for first time. Fabric paint is current plan. Will it hold to foam without that skin? If not then hmmm, if you look, I filled some gaps with just a bit of paintable siliconized acrylic caulk. If Im screwed without a skin, maybe a tiny bit soaked into top of foam would help bind the paint better.

Im considering buying an airbrush do you have one to recommend?

Back up about 3 wks and the original plan was to make full gear. It was taking long to get the right fit, sew or glue seems, how to get it on, etc. Im not a seemstriss! Yes setting up graphics on iron on's or fabric paint were the two options though iron ons would allow for realistic possibilities. I decided I better wait until riders shape was finalized, then experiment with painting the foam rider and if that doesnt go well, I'll be back to working on the gear. If it works, I'll hook you up. You got specific gear you like? lol

The paintable silicone caulk might be good just test it for your particular paint first. The Createx paint should stick to it but I have no experience with that combo.

Airbrush-wise I just bought a Grex airbrush recently and I really like it. Ive used many brands, Pasche, Iwata, Badger, Aztek, and tried several models. I really like this new style Grex. Iwata would be my next choice in brands. It just depends on your budget and application. There are two kinds; double action and single action. Single action airbrushes are usually easier to use but if you have good dexterity and some experience then get a double action. I suggest you look into Grex and Iwata and then Badger. Ive been using Badger for 17+ years and its great for produciton work, very tough and durable. I loved my Iwata HPSB but it was stolen, that is one of the top brands around and Grex is trying to compete against them. I learned about Grex at a hobby shop in SoCal one day then about 6 months later I bought a new set and tried it. Its a little different to use and get used to because its a trigger type brush but the control and action is great. Its like a mini touch up gun. I like it so much I shelved my other brushes lets put it that way and the first project Im using it on is a turbine powered F-16 jet.

As for gear Im fine with a RV set up like your doing. Your making individual gear for the rider? All separate parts?

Those Grex airbrushes are excellent. I've been tempted to buy one every year at RCX, but I still have a good classic Badger dual-action that works just fine. Plus, I don't even do my own airbrush work anymore. However, Jimmy couldn't resist and bought one last year.

I'm not sure where I went wrong but I replaced my chewed up plastic gears and now the bike wont stay up at all. The gyro seemed ok when I rebuilt it... I have no idea where I went wrong and because of that... this sucks.

Originally Posted by johnnyh66

I'm not sure where I went wrong but I replaced my chewed up plastic gears and now the bike wont stay up at all. The gyro seemed ok when I rebuilt it... I have no idea where I went wrong and because of that... this sucks.

Take the wheel apart, mine did the same thing and the new metal gears sheared the bolts off. Mine actually bound up and melted the spacers and swing arm, that axle got HOT. I put the gears and gyro in per instructions, had every thing aligned etc. and it did the same thing. Their customer service is addressing it, so we'll see how it goes. It almost seems like the new gears are the wrong pitch for the big ring, I was surprised same as you, I took my time, put everything back together per the instructions and on my second run the gyro failed and by the time I drove it back the damage was done. I paid $359 for mine so it must have been an earlier version, I see they're up to $449, hope the new ones have the bugs worked out

Here are some parts in the works - spy shots!

There are some more really cool parts coming soon so stay tuned for updates!

Chris

wiil their be a rear spring (only) up grade to cut out so much pre load on the shock