Still need some actual speed reports from the Blade buyers... >hint< >hint<


Dazon wants the bank

 

FIRST BLADE REPORT -

Yeah, yeah, you must be talking to me! It sounds like a cop-out, but I've been soooo freaking sick. I pushed and pushed going into Xmas. I just about cratered.

I really don't have much in the way of "speed" details. I'm reasonably sure the 45-50 is not going to happen, however. My 90 pound daughter may have a shot at 45 under the right conditions, but still don't know. I have limited time in it so far. With me, the speedometer showed 33 with some still left. Honestly, it seemed faster than that. I sold my last dirt bike 15 years back and my last sport bike 10 years back, so I'm a little green. The surface was a flat gravel road. Me and my wife took a spin (450lbs), and it rode solid and well. You won't win any races, but for toting around 50lbs shy of 500lbs, I was very impressed.

Once I got the vacuum hoses straight, it's been solid as a rock. It starts immeditately every time. Sure, it's not lights out ... out of the hole, but with my 210lbs it was better than I expected. I've not spent near the time with it as I should before REPORTING, but I know it's time I reported something. The chain is double, but it seems to be connected. Almost like it's one big fat double chain on a double sproket. Honestly, just bending over to look at the chain is brutal on my infected ears. It's missing the 12V connection and the horn. It seems they didn't come in quite as ordered. After-market is being explored, I understand.

In a nutshell, I'm very happy. Like many of you know, these things really turn heads. My neighbor has already been in touch with Stu about a black 2-seater. I'm at a disadvantage because I can't compare any of the others to this one. It seems well made and very solid. I'd be shocked if it weighed in at 390, but I have no proof it does not. The finishing touches are very nice. The fenders, trailer hitch (no ball), rear view mirror, lights, padded rollbar are all decent. I was shocked to find out that the roll-bars are foam padded, PLUS have the velcro nylon wraps. This is a super touch, though the velcro wraps are tough to install smoothly (picky). If I had to complain about anything, I'd say it was the welds. I'm in the quality assurance industry and am around countless welds, small to huge. They are a little sloppy. I'm sure these frames are coming from the same couple plants, so ugly welds are probably common.

I'm very impressed with the suspension. Again, I didn't know what to expect. I'd never even touched one of these. Front and back, it rides great. Spongy, maybe, but by far better than I expected. They are set soft, so the spongy may improve with other settings.

Blade is a new. New is risky. I was impressed with Stu from the start, so it was worth the risk. Some ironing needs to be done with the 12V and horn options ... some better confirmation of weight and top speed. But over all, if Stu stays at it and continues to strive to make a great machine for a reasonable price, Blade will do well. Ironing out the wrinkles shouldn't be too tough.

As for the performance kits, I would still like to add one to my Blade. But I'm not unhappy without. I'd do it in a second, but the closest riding area is directly behind my house and close to neighboring homes. If I could LISTEN to a Blade with a performance kit installed, and was convinced the increased noise was minimal, I'd do it. For now, I'll wait.

So, keeping in mind that I am VERY early in reporting, here is a summary using a 1-10 scale. The scale is not comparing it to others, but rather to what I expected in combination with what I hoped for ...

9.5 - Looks
8 - finish
9 - seats
9 - tires
8- wheels (chrome, but average quality ... for a kart, probably good)
7 - frame (welds??)
9 - engine
8 - performance
8 - top speed
8 - accelleration
10 - tail light (very bright ... well placed)
8 - headlights (halogen, but could be brighter)
8 - speedometer (nice, even lighted ... accurate?? seems close)
8 - handling (great, but some oversteer at slow speeds)
9 - overall durability (obviously early, but seems to be VERY solid)
8 - transmission (hard to get use to for me, but works well. reverse hits a bit too hard)
9 - brakes (work very well ... not spongy and not touchy)
0 - no drink holder!

We've got about 15 hours on it so far, but you really must watch the nuts and bolts. I had quite a few working loose. The fenders should be locknuts. I lost a couple first day. If you tighten too much, they dig into the plastic. I've since switched all out for locknuts. We have some hills behind us, but we've not tested it because of wet conditions. Most of our riding has been easy to moderate. Tough riding may change the ratings, but this is the report for now. I'm working on pictures, but being sick, plus cloudy, rainy weather have made it tough.

Joe

 

joe

i just got off the phone with stu, we were talking about you. just wondering where you been.
just read you report, sounds very good. i'm in the process of trying to work out a deal with stu, so hopefully
i can post a report soon also. he wants someone to really test these blade's. i have the area to do that. so,
maybe we can get thing together. hope you're feeling better. glad the blades working out for ya. cant wait to see the pics.

ben

 

Hi Stu-

If you are still in need, I'm interested. I have both the KPX Xterro (2 seater based on the same chasis as your 150 DX) and the Carter Talon XTV single seater to compare against. We ride all week long, and winter hasn't stopped us yet. I'm lucky to have a riding area a few hundred feet down my road which allows riding at the drop of a hat.

Thanks for the carburetor information. Confirms that you are running a different carb than the KPX is (keihin), but both are of the 24mm variety.

The KPX Xterro is mild in take off and top speed, while the XTV is quicker to start and a higher top end of approximately 40mph.

If the Blade is closer to the XTV in terms of engine peformance than the Xterro is, I think it would be a winner.


-Steve

 

Joe,

Good job on that report. My initial impression is that the weld quality is about the same among the carts. While the welds are functional, they are not exactly a work of art. I don't recall hearing of many failing, so at least they are holding together. From what I have heard, they are much better than the kind of welds found on carts such as the Yerf Dog models. On many of those carts I've heard reports of incomplete welds where dirt and water can actually get into the tubing!! Crazy... But to be sure, these chinese carts aren't fished off to the standards of the big 3 motorcycle manufacturers. That's fine with me though, because if they were, they would likely cost a whole lot more. Maybe with time and feedback that is something that can be worked on at the factories with minimal price impact. If you are able to get some close ups of particularly ugly welds (in your mind) I'll see what I can find on my Xterro as well for comparison. As a side note... the welds on my KPX Xterro seem about the same as those found on the Carter XTV. While my Suzuki Katana and Kawasaki ZX-11 have some very gorgeous welds to show off if you get close enough to see them [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Top speed, well, it sounds like you are a tad bit faster than the average chinese buggy. I had a pretty strong feeling we weren't going ot be talking about 50mph... but glad to see that 40 is a possibility. A head to head run against an Xterro or Twister Hammerhead would be great to arrange. I think I'm going ot have to pick up one of those little GPS thingys and verify the XTV and Xterro speeds soon on smooth level ground.


I really do like the look of the foam and fabric covered roll cage... I can only imagine the work it would take to put something like that together myself on the Xterro.

If you think the reverse is hitting particularly hard, try adjusting the cable. It's very possible that reverse is not fully engaged. It's pretty common for reverse cable adjustments to be needed right out of the box on the other brands of these carts.

The lights I've seen on these carts, as well as the XTV are on the dim side. Honestly, it seems when you are running two lights or more, there just aren't enough watts coming out of the generator to really drive the lights hard. I wired up some automobile halogen driving lights to the XTV and saw the same thing, then dropped it down to a single light, and VOILA... that single light is extremely bright... actually brigther than it was when I had both lights strung up together!




Happy carting!

-Steve

 

...Me and my wife took a spin (450lbs), and it rode solid and well. You won't win any races, but for toting around 50lbs shy of 500lbs, I was very impressed...

Above, taken from my last post.

OHHHH crappp!! Sorry for the HUGE math blonde moment ... my wife does not weigh 240lbs!! Make my weight estimation 350, not 450. Thank the Lord my wife does not read this board. Like I said, I've been really sick with some winter muck. All the medication has had me in a constant cloud. Gee, how much credibility does my Blade report have if I miss our combined, married weight est by a 100lbs. Talk about rounding up!!

I agree on the welds. They seem very sound. Not pretty, but they do the job. How picky can one be considering the price.

It's great to see the action Stu's got cooking. Stu has the power and resources to make things happen. I sincerely believe he's making a constant effort to improve his product and to stay ahead of the competition. As it's obviously important that refinement and improvement are ongoing as new karts are produced, I believe it's profoundly important that aftermarket improvements and after-the-sale service are given just as much attention.

You think Stu would have voided my warranty thinking I was tooling around with a 500 lb load, not including the ice chest full of beer, milk shakes and twinkies? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Haha... I've seen drug abuse... it isn't pretty. Please step away from the pills!

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Just kidding, I'm a pharmacist. I must kid about these things.

Get better soon!

-Steve

 

Joseph,
think you could look under the cart and check out the engine code?
It should be lasered onto the engine case above the serial number.
very easy to find, I think it is on the drivers side of the cart.
Kell

 

Whoops. Stu's message is missing. Guess it got squashed.

Time to get some better pictures of the XTV and Xterro tomorrow if the weather permits. I'm sick of looking at those muddy
pics I have up there, and apparantly others are as well [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Heard through the grape vine that an official drop in 250cc replacement is being looked at for these carts. Something that can be plopped into place inside an existing 150cc buggy. Doesn't _that_ sound intersting!

-Steve

 

Get any pictures at Glamis? I need to get more shots of my flogging expeditions, but I'm usually too busy driving around on these things to stop and shoot. That Roadster mod sounds cool.... I'd love to see some pics of that.

Is the charging circuit on the KPX carts weak or something? If you run around with the lights on for some time you may find yourself with a drained battery on mine. I've checked most wires and can't see anything grossly wrong. The kart runs great otherwise. I have some great chargers in the garage, but that's a bit annoying, and could be a real bummer deep in the woods.

A few times I've had the engine not want to shut down when switching off the ignition with the key. The kill button did the trick, but that was a bit strange. It's done it twice now out of very many engine starts and stops. Perhaps this is why the 2005s had an updated ignition switch.

-Steve