u/Ok-Connection9636

I went into a bit of a rabbit hole yesterday, while researching tips on brake maintenance and upgrade, and I noticed that quite a lot of electric scooters have the brake discs on the same side as the motor phase wires.

This looks in every way like a pretty dumb design flaw. Requiring you to open the deck and disconnect the motor phases all the way from the controller just to change a brake disc. Turning a 10 minute disc change anyone can do by themselves into a 2 hour job most would consider paying a professional for.

I first heard about that on some really cheap chinese e scooters which led me to just see it as a typical botched design you'd expect from that price point.

Then, I had a chat with a friend of mine who has the same seemingly stupid design on his 3000€ DUALTRON THUNDER III. Another friend of mine got his hall sensor and motor phases cut off by the disc's rotation on his Angwatt T1. While my T1 Max from the very same OEM is thankfully not designed that way.

That's another feature I'm gonna have to look for while shopping for my next whip, unless on those machines that have external motor phase connectors.

That leads me to ask myself if there's any reason behind OEMs choosing to design their wheel assembly like that. Especially when, within the same brand, some models are designed like that, and others aren't. I don't see any obvious reasons why though. It doesn't seem any more expensive to have the phase wires on one side of the wheel, and the disc on the other.

Cruise control is better kept disabled on most scooters, especially the powerful ones. It terrified me to lift my finger off the accelerator, expecting to slow down, only to realize I was not 😂.

It's however still a useful function to have for maintenance purposes. That's what I thought while realigning my brake caliper to stop it from rubbing against the disc. Just enabled cc and activated it to keep the wheel spinning at constant speed while I diagnosed and solved my caliper's misalignment.

I previously posted pretty enthusiastically about working on my electric scooter. What that post didn't mention is that I had a friend with much more experience helping me. Today, I installed an EXA 291R hydraulic shock completely unsupervised. I feel like a kid going on their first solo bike ride.

Way harder than I expected though. Apart from melting a plastic bushing I actually needed, I learned that this job is definitely better done with four hands than two. But I got it done, and you can see the before/after pictures.

The context is that I originally replaced my squishy stock shock with a 135mm KKE hydraulic. The issue with that initial mod was that it was 10mm taller than stock, so it aggressively tilted the frame forward, basically making it a faceplant machine lol, thus the need to replace that with a 125mm Exa shock absorber. I'll spare you the détails, ranted enough about it in previous posts that I will link down below.

The first ride was catastrophic though 😂.

The EXA Shock preload collar is trash. Its smooth, rounded teeth are impossible to grip with a hook wrench. Instead of doing a few test laps, I trusted the factory preload and rode 5 km to a DIY store to buy the only tool that might work: water pump pliers.

Turns out the preload was far too low. By the time I got there, the suspension had sagged enough for the tire to rub the shock, and I had to walk the last couple hundred meters. Then I had another brilliant idea: tighten the preload in front of the store and ride home. I removed the rear wheel, tightened the collar... then realized I couldn't reinstall the wheel because I didn't have the tools to loosen the swingarms or remove the brake caliper. So I took a taxi home like a loser, then carried the 70 kg beast up to my apartment as punishment for my overconfidence.

I ended up putting the rear wheel back, did a proper test drive and I fully validate the new shock. The level stance allows me to make the shock more rigid which is a dream for acceleration and high speed stability. The scooter no longer tries to make me taste concrete, though As expected I still want a stiffer front fork. Any tips on that?

Thanks a lot for all the valuable advice you guys gave me along that journey.

The issue I'm about to discuss concerns my Angwatt T1 Max, but it may also apply to other scooters with a T-shaped fork, such as the Angwatt T1, Boyueda S5, and Halo Knight T107 series.

Unlike on C-shaped forks, upgrading the front suspension isn't as simple as replacing the shock absorber. I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who dealt with this type of setup.

I recently replaced the stock rear shock with a 10 mm longer hydraulic one. While it improved damping, it also tilted the scooter forward. Reducing the preload helps correct the stance but makes the rear overly soft, causing excessive squat under acceleration and increased forward weight transfer during braking.

So I got a shorter EXA 291r shock on order that I hope will solve those issues. But I know the rear suspension is only part of my ride quality problems. The front fork is in fact really soft as well, and there's no straightforward way of upgrading it that I know of. So having a stock height shock That I can finally preload into being more rigid will only solve about 50-75% of the front squatting while braking issues.

That's why I'd like to ask how I can make my front fork stiffer. Are there any aftermarket fork tubes that could be adapted to my scooter, or any way to increase fork stiffness without replacing the tubes?

If not, I'd appreciate your advice on setting the rear hydraulic shock's preload and rebound to achieve the best balance of comfort and performance while keeping the stock, relatively soft front fork.

The issue I'm about to discuss concerns my Angwatt T1 Max, but it may also apply to other scooters with a T-shaped fork, such as the Angwatt T1, Boyueda S5, and Halo Knight T107 series.

Unlike on C-shaped forks, upgrading the front suspension isn't as simple as replacing the shock absorber. I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who dealt with this type of setup.

I recently replaced the stock rear shock with a 10 mm longer hydraulic one. While it improved damping, it also tilted the scooter forward. Reducing the preload helps correct the stance but makes the rear overly soft, causing excessive squat under acceleration and increased forward weight transfer during braking.

So I got a shorter EXA 291r shock on order that I hope will solve those issues. But I know the rear suspension is only part of my ride quality problems. The front fork is in fact really soft as well, and there's no straightforward way of upgrading it that I know of. So having a stock height shock That I can finally preload into being more rigid will only solve about 50-75% of the front squatting while braking issues.

That's why I'd like to ask how I can make my front fork stiffer. Are there any aftermarket fork tubes that could be adapted to my scooter, or any way to increase fork stiffness without replacing the tubes?

If not, I'd appreciate your advice on setting the rear hydraulic shock's preload and rebound to achieve the best balance of comfort and performance while keeping the stock, relatively soft front fork.

I bought a 10mm taller than stock KKE hydraulic shock that made for a pretty mediocre ride quality on my Angwatt T1 Max.

The main issue is that it aggressively tilts the frame forward, putting significantly more weight at the front, so I gotta be extra careful to not end up faceplanted. That characteristic means that I had to make some concessions, setting the preload to the absolute minimum, so the scooter would squat into a more upright stance under my weight. The trade-off here is that it's now extra squishy at the rear. so it squats aggressively under acceleration and throws me forward even more aggressively when I brake.

I got a shorter EXA 291r shock on order that I hope will solve those issues. But I know the rear suspension is only part of my ride quality problems. The front fork is in fact really soft as well, and there's no straightforward way of upgrading it that I know of. So having a stock height shock That I can finally preload into being more rigid will only solve about 50-75% of the front squatting while braking issues.

That's why I would like to ask you first about how I can make my fork more rigid. Are there any aftermarket fork tubes I could adapt to my whip, or any way of doing that without changing the tubes?

Otherwise, I'd love to hear your advice on how I can adjust my rear hydraulic shock's preload and rebound, to have optimal performance and comfort with a soft front fork.

I'm looking forward to reading you guys, as always ✌️.

A couple weeks ago, I was asking you guys about your recommendations for handlebar grips, comfortable enough to not hurt during long rides. I ended up picking one of your recommendations: The Wittkop Premium Comfort, and they feel amazing so far.

I was complaining about the materials being almost hard plastic on my stock grips, making them uncomfortable on long rides, and slippery to gloved hands. All of these issues are solved with my new grips. The material is soft and conforms to the shape of my hands, it is very grippy, And offers great palm support. I love it.

I also bought a new riser handlebar alltogether. With a 90mm rise instead of my stock 20-30mm riser. Haven't tried this one out yet, I installed it and will update you about how it feels, soon.

Thank you all for your advice.

Seems like the Boyueda Apefox frame, also used as the Monorim BT07 has been noticed by Gspace. And they don't seem to appreciate the obvious inspiration taken from Mars.

Gspace threatens to sue Boyueda or whatever factory is making that frame. Though, the Facebook post looks like they care more about the design than the mechanical aspect of the ripoff. In my opinion, the Apefox is indeed a really lazy copy/paste of the Mars. It wouldn't have hurt them to alter the design while keeping the mechanics at play on this frame.

I reached out to angwatt customer service to get a new led controller. That small white box at the bottom of the first image.

The stock T1 Max only has permanent amber DRLs as you can see in the second pic, while its more recent sister, the F1 Max comes with rgb leds in the frame and stem.

I simply plan to install the F1 Max led controller into my T1 Max, as both models share ALL of their other electronics. So I expect this mod to be mostly plug and play.

I also asked for the two black rectangles in the first pic. They're actually handlebar mounted turn signals (image 4) . I want them as they're mounted higher, so more visible than the stock turn signals. They're also much more repairable. Their connectors are exposed, as opposed to the stock ones that take opening up the chassis to unplug them directly off the led controller.

Finally, I asked for all of the F1 Max's led strips, as I don't know whether the stock strips are compatible with the new dynamic controller, and I also plan on adding the F1Max's stem strip in other parts of my whip.

About that one, I'm hesitant. I originally wanted a plexi sheet between the frame and the mat to run the stem strip into. But I also have the idea of making a plexiglass piece and mount it on my stem. Though, I'm currently leaning more towards the later option since it'll be cheaper. I won't need to pay a professional to make a structural piece that'll take significant stress. What would you recommend?

I reached out to angwatt customer service to get a new led controller.

The stock T1 Max only has permanent amber DRLs as you can see in the second pic, while its more recent sister, the F1 Max comes with rgb leds in the frame and stem.

I simply plan to install the F1 Max led control board into my T1 Max, as both models share ALL of their other electronics. So I expect this mod to be mostly plug and play.

I also asked for the two black rectangles in the first pic. They're actually handlebar mounted turn signals. I want them as they're mounted higher, so more visible than the stock turn signals. They're also much more repairable. Their 3pin connectors are exposed, as opposed to the stock ones that take opening up the chassis to unplug them directly off the led controller.

Finally, I asked for all of the F1 Max's led strips, as I don't know whether the stock strips are compatible with the new dynamic controller, and I also plan on adding the F1Max stem strip in other parts of my whip.

About that one, I'm hesitant. I originally wanted a plexi sheet between the frame and the mat to run the stem strip into. But I also have the idea of making a plexiglass piece and mount it on my stem. Though, I'm currently leaning more towards the later option since it'll be cheaper. I won't need to pay a professional to make a structural piece that'll take significant stress. What would you recommend?

I'm in the very early stages of starting to think about doing heavy performance mods on my Angwatt T1 Max. And I'm currently trying to gather as much info as I can about VESC mods on electric scooter

My requirements for a build would be

- Keeping all of my functional lightings (headlamp, brake light, turn signals) + the horn

- Why not some purely aesthetic RBGW LED strips.

- 72v 140A combined

- relatively slow acceleration while still having access to full power

- keeping the 13inch tyres, not necessarily the motors.

- a "police mode" allowing me to quickly put it in legal settings.

I plan on doing mods on the frame such as this really sick laotie Ti40 pro build (last pic) with kaabo/gspace style dual stem. It has the exact same frame as my Angwatt T1 Max. I'll have the controllers in the stem just like this build if I can achieve that.

What controller do you recommend for a 72v 10.000w nominal build? Anything about led controllers compatible with vesc? Anything about motors, how to check whether they're compatible with my frame? Anything about structural mods of scooter frames? Like how do I make a custom case with heat dissipation for the controllers? Anything else I need to know about VESC mods?

I'm looking forward to reading you guys.

I got an Angwatt T1 Max that I'm looking to mod. And one of the things I'm the most interested in is the deck.

The Angwatt shares its frame with the Laotie Ti40 pro (picture 1) and the Zsnake/Vreom T116plus (picture 2). Both have plexiglass decks with lights fitted into them, so these plexi decks would fit just like a glove on my frame with some longer screws.

Let me share my detailed plans for this build.

My Angwatt T1 Max has almost the exact same electronics as its sister, the F1 Max. The only difference is the lights controller, the F1Max's being compatible with RGB lights on the steering column and in the chassis as visible in picture 4, while the T1Max's only got full time amber side DRLs as visible in picture 5.

I plan on fitting an F1Max's light controller into my T1 Max to get that functionality, and using the F1 Max's steering column led strip to illuminate the plexiglass deck.

The issue is that I've been looking for these plexi decks as standalone parts without success until now, and I'd really like to be sure that I won't ever be able to get my hands on those before investing into a custom built part for my mod.

Does anyone know where I can find a plexi deck compatible with that chassis please ?

See how tilted forward this thing is? I made it that way by upgrading the rear shock absorber on my Angwatt T1 Max, with a 10mm longer KKE hydraulic shock.

The original shock length was 125mm. I originally looked for shocks of the exact same length, but some guys who upgraded their thing before me told me that the KKE was worth having a tilted scooter.

Except it's not, this thing is a faceplant waiting to happen.

I first tried to unscrew the preload nut to the absolute minimum for the shock not to throw me forward as soon as I lifted my finger off the throttle. The good news is that it does make it a bit more manageable. The bad one is that the spring is now very soft for a 10kw scooter, It squats aggressively under acceleration, making the front prone to wheel spin.

The single most concerning issue though is that braking became way too tricky. The loosened preload allows the spring to be kinda permanently compressed under my weight, slightly tilting the scooter back upright, but it springs back to its original position during the weight transfer that occurs when I apply the brakes, again, setting me up for a flip.

I already flipped over once because of that. By taking a bump that transferred my weight all the way to the front fork. It compressed to the point of the tyre rubbing against the chassis. Acting like a sudden front brake I wasn't prepared for.

All that brought me to order a 125mm EXA 291r hydraulic shock, that I hope will solve everything.

I'm also looking into ways to stiffen the fork so that it doesn't collapse as much under my weight.

The stock grips on my Angwatt T1 Max are kinda trash. They're almost hard plastic/TPU and are slippery when you hold them with gloved hands.

So I ordered grips from an AliExpress link someone sent me. At first it was looking pretty good, they had more grip on my gloves, and were made out of squishier silicone.

And then I actually rode with em to work this morning and they're just painful to hold. They're thinner than the stock ones so it kinda feels to me like when riding with no handlebar grip at all. You have to clench your hand harder to grip the bar secured. And with a scooter as powerful as the Angwatt T1 Max, accelerating becomes a chore. I'm actually writing this while taking a break in the middle of my usual ride home because my fingers are that sore.

So I wanted to know your top picks aftermarket handlebar grips that provide you the most comfort with powerful scooters.

This is the single most popular upgrade on every Angwatt scooter. And it speaks volumes about the appalling quality of the original suspension, just simple springs with no way to even adjust the preload.

​

The friction on the original spring had become unbearable. The only thing preventing the scooter from sinking even further under my weight was the tire wedged onto the spring.

I'm only noticing now that riding with that issue was worse than with a flat tire.

​

Expect 2-3 hours of work for two people on this model. You will need 17, 18, 19, and 20mm open-end wrenches. A set of hex keys, a flathead screwdriver or pin punch, a heat gun to heat and remove the pins on the original shock absorber, a 300-500g mallet to tap on the stuck axles without damaging them, and WD-40.

​

You can see the final result in the last pic. The KKE135mm shocks raise the rear quite a bit.

Do keep in mind to set the rebound to the minimum setting (S) before testing. Because combined with the chassis leaning forward, a spring set to maximum rebound will throw you over the handlebar.

​

I tried it properly today during a long ride with friends.

The rubbing entirely disappeared and that obviously comes with significant range and performance improvements. I rode 40km today and came back with 69v left in the tank. I'll share a better assessment of how much better it got, soon.

On the other hand, the forward leaning thing makes it really uncomfortable to stand on for long distances, and braking on this thing feels like it's gonna do a stoppie and throw you off. Thus is borderline unsafe because I can't safely access full braking power.

​

My final verdict is that I ordered a shorter 125mm shock to replace it. More updates to come

This is about 3 weeks after my initial complaint about my T1Max's rear tyre rubbing on the coil, due to a really soft shock absorber.

I was expecting a new coil and a turn signal since the rubbing pinched those cables as well. But I gotta admit I am pleasantly surprised by everything they sent.

In addition to the new suspension coil, I received SWING ARMS!! I never complained about em, And I don't even know if they are modified yet, but if they're even half a centimeter longer, that can make quite a difference.

Another thing I didn't expect is the steering damper mount. I destroyed the threads on the original one by screwing too hard, and I only briefly mentioned that to them. Since the steering is already really firm without It, and I considered that one issue to be my fault, I deemed it less urgent than the other complaints I had, and never mentioned it again. But they remembered and sent me the new mount.

Angwatt seems to be one of the very few Chinese OEMs to provide pretty good after sale support.

Next weekend, I'll be installing everything except that OEM coil. I have a slightly taller hydraulic shock I think will be better anyway. Then, I'll share updates as soon as possible about my first kilometers with the full potential of my Angwatt T1 Max finally unleashed.

I expect really significant gains in both range and speed, because that's just how bad the constant rubbing has been, causing literal smoke to come outta the tire at high speeds.

Went for my first night ride yesterday. A good occasion to test and adjust the lighting on my new Angwatt T1 Max. And it's only then that I noticed how good looking these stock lights are.

I originally wanted to replace the permanent amber side lights with RGBs but the almost utilitarian look of them has its charm, and I like it. I'm still gonna add some lights like underglows and some RGBs all over the stem, I'm only reconsidering the internal light controller upgrade I originally wanted.

The stock main headlights are really bright and that's pretty rare on electric scooters to come stock with good headlights.

Unfortunately, the rubbing between my rear tyre and suspension coil pinched the turn indicators. I'm fixing that after validating a suspension upgrade that's rigid enough to not collapse like the stock one.

Angwatt customer service sent me a 'custom made' coil that's supposed to be stiffer but I'll try my KKE hydraulic shock first.

I missed hearing that sweet sound this past week.

Unleashing a small part of those 72v-120Amps while testing my throttle lever fix, earlier today.

​

Drove it a couple miles to validate the repair and immediately ordered the OEM part 😅. That 300x is literally an ON-OFF switch and I hate that 😂.

That's too bad, I like everything else about it if only it could have a bit of that OEM smoothness in the output curve... But I guess we can't have everything.

​

A fully successful repair that very well could've been definitive if I wasn't a snowflake.

At least, my whip ain't just gonna take more downtime for the 10-15 days the OEM lever will take to arrive.

About a week ago, I posted about my first accident with the Angwatt T1 Max. I myself walked out without a single scratch, but it absolutely destroyed the display (see picture 1).

I immediately ordered a new one (picture 2), received it yesterday and I initially thought i'd plug it in and all of my issues would be resolved.

Mounting the new display was pretty straightforward, (pic 3, 4,5) but It was not the end of my issues.

The throttle lever was busted as well (throttle error in pic6), despite being the least visibly damaged of my external electronics. Guess I had to replace the display first to figure out the real extent of the damages. I hate uncertainty

The thing is, Angwatt has a really stupid throttle connector, a 6pin (see pic7) there is NO available aftermarket throttle with that kinda connector, even those with integrated displays or buttons are 4-5pins. Except on Angwatt's own website.

After figuring that out, I slowly gave up on any hopes of being able to comfortably go to work anytime next week, thinking I'd have to order the thing from the OEM's Chinese warehouses, and wait 10-15 more days to receive it.

Then I had a call with a friend of mine, discussed the issue, and we decided to open up the busted throttle to find out what's inside. We quickly found out that there were only 3 wires inside the cable: +, - and hall effect just like every regular 3 pin trigger.

He brought with him a 300x thumb lever (pic8), we cut it, and attached it to the connector (pic9). And it worked as you can see on pic10. What a frigging relief 😮‍💨, my Angwatt comes back to life after a week of downtime. We properly soldered the wires together and isolated them with heat shrinks.

Another thing we found out is that angwatt display mounts make the display protrude far in front of the handlebar.

It's the reason why I absolutely annihilated the original one with that small fall. It's literally the very first thing that hit the ground. The solution is to just screw the display mounts in reverse so it's nicely tucked behind the handlebar (pic 14 and 15), limiting risks of turning it into e-waste at the slightest impact again 😂.

I carefully checked and it was not an individual assembly issue on my specific unit. That protruding display is the production standard of Angwatt electric scooters for some reason. Picture 13 shows the way it was before my tweaks, and it's an official picture of the t1max from their own website.

I may be acting smart not knowing whether there's a hidden design behind that overhanging display. Maybe I'll dearly pay for my arrogance sooner rather than later. But for now, I really don't see any reason why that easy tweak isn't the way it's done from the factory.