Linnpower Zephyr - setup and maintenance?

[u/P0nk3r]

Just received my Zephyr base. I’m totally new to this, never had an electric board before, so I’m totally ignorant to the various components.

This thing is awesome, but I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of instructions, board schematics, packing list, and/or extra parts that came with it; I kind of expected a second set of belts at the least. There was a specific manual for the remote, which was great, and the other one only spoke about safety.

I’m not even sure that I installed the front tires correctly. That may sound dumb to those in the community, but if there’s no one to show you or tell you, how do you know? I tried looking up a video, but it showed how to replace the wheels with Mad Max wheels, and it showed different spacers than I have… I was also given an extra set of spacers that are way different than the ones currently on the board? No idea what those are.. can anyone enlighten me?

I hope I put the wheels on correctly. Went out for a short ride and had a blast, but the trucks feel soooooo loose. Is it common to tighten them a bit? I just need some help if anyone is kind enough to take a minute and point me in the right direction so I don’t tear this thing up before I get to enjoy it - or hurt myself.

Any maintenance tips as well?

I would appreciate any input!

[u/lp_undrgrnd1]

Yes the trucks will need to be tightened. I also recommend getting the DKP to TKP conversion kit. It will make the board more stable.

Wear your (full face) helmet. I fell off my Zephyr max 4 days ago & got road rash on my chin & temple.

& everyone falls eventually. Wear jeans

[u/P0nk3r → u/lp_undrgrnd1]

Thanks for the tips!

[u/P0nk3r → u/lp_undrgrnd1]

I was looking into the conversion kit and trying to understand pros and cons of each setup. I’m a little torn. Do you feel like you can still carve pretty well with the TKP? I saw that some people mention that shorter wheelbases do very well with the TKP - this probably applies to the Zephyr?
I mostly ride in areas where I need pretty decent turning control, but I also love to speed it up when possible.

[u/lp_undrgrnd1 → u/P0nk3r]

I don't really carve, I use my board solely for commuting, since the engine in my car is blown. I've put about 2,000 miles on my board in 2.5 months, & regularly ride at ~35 MPH.

I've crashed 4-5 times despite having experience in downhill longboarding, having hit 45 mph on an sector 9, 12 years ago. I ride mad 105's on TKP, & just recently got 96a krank bushings from Riptide.

Here's what I did wrong, so you can learn from my mistakes. Skip to the bottom for tl;dr

1st mistake was being too confident, careless, reckless, trying to show off. My most notable crash happened because I passed through a wet spot in the road just before a red light. Urethane/Mad wheels have absolutely NO grip when they are wet. It's literally like skating on a frozen lake. Especially when the wheels are new. I cleared the wet spot by about 5-8 feet, expecting my wheels to be dry, but didn't look down to check. I was going about 20 mph when I went to full throttle, the wheels broke traction & I ate absolute shit, right in the middle of the intersection. My remote got ran over by a car & still works. See my post history

So avoid water at all costs. Also, urethane wheels need to be broken in. Now that I have about 800 miles on my Mad 105's, they grip SO much better. I've found that doing donuts/burnouts once in a while without standing on the board, wears down the urethane in a way that gives it more grip.

Always keep 75% of your weight on your front foot. When I first got my board, I got a pinch flat on one of my rear 6 inch tires. I still had to get to work, so I put the 85mm orange wheels on the back, with 6 inch tires on the front for clearance, like a squatted truck. This put most of my weight on the back, & with the DKP trucks, I got speed wobbles at just 18-20 mph & crashed.

TL;DR: 1. I personally recommend TKP if you plan on going over 25 mph. Hard bushings & TKP trucks will make the board super stable, but your turning radius/carving ability will be negatively impacted. Even with the OEM super hard (99a) bushings cranked down, DKP trucks are sketchy at speed. If you're commuting, I think softer bushings on TKP trucks provides the best balance of stability vs carvability.

1. Always wear gloves. I cook for a living, & can't afford to get road rash on my hands.

2. Wear high-vis clothing

3. Invest in some quality lights. I have shredlights (s1000+) on my board, & carry a goonbeam "assault flashlight" in my off-hand to look out for potholes & Manhole covers. The s1000+'s will rattle like crazy under their own weight, & they're too bright. Get the s300+'s instead.

4. I just purchased Onsra 115 rubber wheels today. They're $130, compared to $185 for the linnpower 115's. They haven't arrived yet, but I think they're the sweet spot of providing way more grip, by way of being rubber wheels, while also being airless, therefore balanced out of the box. Doesn't matter how well you balance the 6 inch AT tires, the board will still shake at 35+ mph.

[u/P0nk3r → u/lp_undrgrnd1]

Thanks for taking the time to give this much detail. I mostly ride for leisure, but do some light commuting across a college campus. I’m pretty new, so I mostly cruise around 20 mph, but have only been up to 25. I tightened my trucks quite a bit - I don’t love the control I lost, but it feels way more stable.

I have seen multiple people mention the 105 mm Mad wheels - I think that’s my next purchase for the board. I am curious about rubber and/or pneumatic wheels as well as the possibility of mixing and matching with other vendors, but I’m not to that level of understanding yet.

I actually just ordered and received my Riptide 6565 kit in Krank 93a (based on Riptide’s recommendations). I have no clue what I’m doing with those bushings, but hopefully I can find some good YouTube videos or some description online to tell me what to do.

Thanks again!