Varg rider considering YZ conversion for less weight

[40hp]

Been lurking a bit and think I want to go down the DIY route to replace my Varg due to it's weight. I think I want to stick with electric after seeing how much more seat time I can get riding a woods loop from my house next to a sub division so instead of going back to gas to lighten it up I might DIY a YZ chassis or similar.

Rolling chassis/donor bike -
If you've gone through this, where did you search for one and how long/hard did you have to look until you found one? What should I expect to pay for a clean chassis (no engine or blown engine)?

E parts -
I've seen the predone conversion kits but if I can save a little money and possibly have a better setup for me then I'd go that route. I have a M.E. background and would be able to design my own mounts/brackets and get them made. I think I just need some help on component selection. It seems everyone uses the same QS138 motor, but there are several controllers and new ones/versions popping up all the time. I'd figure out the battery as a last step but would buy a pre made one. Not interested in battery building. I ride my Varg in 40hp so I figure any of the popular controller/battery setups would be work for me. Would this be a good setup? -

EBMX X9000 controller ($1200)
EBMX harness ($139)
QS138 70h v3 - buy from a US vendor or how much can I save buying overseas like alibaba?
Battery ($2500 to be determined)

So besides the donor bike and some customer mounts, am I looking at roughly $4500?

I love riding the Varg on the OHV trails but I'm starting to think it is too much to handle in tighter woods. Since I started riding a few years ago I pretty much only rode fast and flowy OHV trails where I average 25+mph, sometimes 28mph over a 20 minute loop. At those speeds I think the extra weight helps. It handled fine when I occasionally rode MX too.

Now I'm looking at doing some hare scrambles so I started practicing on those type of trails. Besides needing to practice more, I did drop the bike a few times coming out of muddy rutted turns and eventually threw out my lower back pretty bad when picking the bike up on an awkward muddy uphill section. I have pretty good arm strength but the awkward angle and terrain made me use poor technique picking it up. I pretty much never have to pick it up riding OHV trails. I imagine I'll be picking up the bike a few times in a 90+ minute hare scramble.

Just putting this thread out there to motivate me to find a rolling chassis and get started on this project. If I learn enough from it I will probably build an 85 conversoin for me son whose on a E5 now.

 

[Theo]

You may also wait some months and see whether Donut Lab really has solid state batteries. In that case, maybe some months from now it will be possible to use them instead of the more traditional ones with liquid electrolyte.

 

[VINSANITY]

I do really similar riding, ironically also an M.E. - I had an Alta and it was just too heavy - when the Stark came out it is the same weight so that drove me to a build.

I got a lot of help from Don during the process and if you like to build things it’s actually pretty interesting.

You are right about the formula for the build and the cost $4,500 (depending on battery and controller.

Red the QS138 H70 V3 motor. For motor mounts you really can’t beat Lithium King, $150 and he already has designs for the newer bikes YZF, KTM etc.

I just got the EBMX X9000 V3 controller (after many issues with FarDriver) and recommend 100% to pay the extra $$ and go for it, it is easy to set up and after a couple hundred miles zero issues. Another benefit of the EBMX is it can run any voltage up to 96.

The Amorge batteries are well built, nice battery case and really the only option unless you build your own.

I have a 96 volt x 45 amp/hr battery (molicel P45 cells). For me the power is perfect but max range with aggressive trail riding is around 20 miles. I think you may be able to get a little bigger battery in a YZF frame. I really need about 5 more miles range for my typical riding.

The bike is 235 pounds and I think it is a huge difference in how tired I get, I can ride my conversion all day versus the Alta.

I’d say go for it - one other benefit is you can tune your bike exactly how you like real easy with the EBMX app.

Good luck and if you need help reach out.

 

[40hp]

I do really similar riding, ironically also an M.E. - I had an Alta and it was just too heavy - when the Stark came out it is the same weight so that drove me to a build.

I got a lot of help from Don during the process and if you like to build things it’s actually pretty interesting.

You are right about the formula for the build and the cost $4,500 (depending on battery and controller.

Red the QS138 H70 V3 motor. For motor mounts you really can’t beat Lithium King, $150 and he already has designs for the newer bikes YZF, KTM etc.

I just got the EBMX X9000 V3 controller (after many issues with FarDriver) and recommend 100% to pay the extra $$ and go for it, it is easy to set up and after a couple hundred miles zero issues. Another benefit of the EBMX is it can run any voltage up to 96.

The Amorge batteries are well built, nice battery case and really the only option unless you build your own.

I have a 96 volt x 45 amp/hr battery (molicel P45 cells). For me the power is perfect but max range with aggressive trail riding is around 20 miles. I think you may be able to get a little bigger battery in a YZF frame. I really need about 5 more miles range for my typical riding.

The bike is 235 pounds and I think it is a huge difference in how tired I get, I can ride my conversion all day versus the Alta.

I’d say go for it - one other benefit is you can tune your bike exactly how you like real easy with the EBMX app.

Good luck and if you need help reach out.

Appreciate that. Definitely love to build/modify things. The only trouble I have is finding spare time to do it. Sounds like I'm sorta on the right track. Didn't know mounts from Lithium King were that cheap. I might as well go that route to save some time and prototyping.

On the hunt for a chassis.