Has anyone bought or used a motor from D&D motors ??? They say they are the only makers of the “Blue motor” American made.
Their Prices are a lot better than R4F, Just Curious. $699.00 and that includes programing the controller.
D&D makes the R4F with out the R4F sticker. D&D sells motors direct, but dosent offer controller programming. If your more of s plug and play guy I recommend getting all your stuff from R4F but if you don’t mind programming yourself and trouble shooting if needed then you can save a few bucks and learn things here. Rodney sometimes has used R4F motors for sale check with him.
Will a new blue motor maintain up hill speed without controller changes.
I have a 02 2 seater with 14" wheels, and 23" tires with an original magic magnet.
Stock 5hp on flat ground I have seen 31mph on gps, but slows way down on uphill climbs.
My goal is to see 35 on flat ground and a minimum of 25 on long hills.
With out disc brakes 35 is all I want to push it.
At 31mph it just’s flattens out.
Ok here is the “100” That’s Urban Talk for the The Truth 
a new High HP motor WILL NOT make your car go faster.
I will put a BEAT DOWN 3 or 5 Hp motor with a Lithium Battery Up against a 7.5 R4F or 9.6 Hp or 15 Hp motor with flooded lead acid ANY DAY.
You wanna go faster up hill Get rid of the 370 lbs extra pounds of flooded lead acid battery’s you have and buy a 96 lb Lithium battery for $1300 and you will smoke anything up hill
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Was about to post the same thing.
Grant and I just had a long talk about motor/controller upgrades.
More voltage and less weight is money well spent.
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I totally agree with the lithium change makes the car lighter and much better up hills. No regrets going lithium for me too.
However, I don’t believe a lithium conversion will help to meet your other goal of 35mph on flat ground. You’ll probably hit the electric governor in the controller before you reach that speed without reprogramming the controller, using the magic magnet, or something like that. You reaching 31mph with your GPS is a result of using over sized tires (i.e., you’re fooling the controller a bit).
I can go 35 because I had my controller reprogrammed but, imho, don’t think it is that totally necessary when you gain the up hill speed. It is an individual preference. I reprogrammed primarily to remove the surging aspect when you hit that controller governor. But, in general, I drive around 32mph rather than stomping the accelerator to the floor. Again, probably a preference. thing.
RWD
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The magic Magnet killed that 28mph power reverse, it cut the speed o in 1/2 so now at 28 on the speed o the car would have to be going well over 56 mph in real speed to hit that. I am nut’s but not that crazy. I have the LX Handset and can change program settings if needed.
One of these days I will to convert to lithium.
Now how about lithium with controller program, extra voltage, and a bigger motor, are we at nirvana yet ???
Only need stock programming. Run 20-24 cells 74-89 volts nominal.
New version MM Doesn’t increase the speed as radical. It can be set to 30-35 mph rather than 50. (double 25)
Can your speedometer be set to KPH?
Anyone know how f17 works?
FUNCTION 17
CARD TYPE SELECTION
( Push CONT 2 )
This function allows for the selection of the card type for
this vehicle’s application. This function should be set
between:
50 – 54 when speed is measured in MPH
55 – 60 when speed is measured in KPH
I have not connected the ge handset to it yet, all settings are factory original as far as I know.
New Blue motor sitting at front door tonight when I got home, Install was easy. I did hook the MM 1/2 to the new motor and set the gps in the cup holder and went for a ride. 33mph on flat ground. It did have better pull on uphills but not as much as I want. we have a long uphill side street here almost 1/2 mile full throttle all the way up to the top 20mph, stopped and checked motor temp, cool enough to put my hand on so no overheating, big worry I did not want to fry the motor. I did notice no regain drifting down the hill, had to use the brakes all the way, tomorrow night I will try it with out the MM and see what happen and report back.
I think I will have to start changing controller settings for more speed flat and uphill. on road mode. Maybe even get the turf mode up some too for the wife.
I may need to buy a MM with the tach.
Had to work late thurs, and fri. so no testing, today the sun is out and we need to make this thing fast.
14" wheels, 23" tall tires, 73" radius, new blue motor.
What do I need to change to go from MPH to KPH, I like that idea, and what new controller settings will i need to make this thing fast.
Lith/ion conversion will have to wait until next year.
Help Please.
Ken.
Rodney is the Man when it comes to figuring out the Re calibration of the speedo.
You will also need to know what the gear ratio of your transmission is Once he has all that info he will come up with a number that you program into the controller threw you ge LX handset or Sentry software threw a laptop
But not to try a deRail this conversation and of corse this is just my opinion. I think company’s like ride for fun are Way behind the times. Selling motors and Controllers that people DONT NEED.
If they were to switch over and put lithium kits together for sale instead of pushing motors and controllers I think they would be doing the industry a big help.
I think selling someone a motor for $800 and a $500 rebuilt controller is a complete waste of money. And let’s face it you get ZERO come resale for your motor and controller. But if you would have spent that money on a lithium kit you would have the speed and extend range that no flooded lead acid battery pack can deliver. The one advantage I think you get with a aftermarket blue motor is The ability to handle higher RPMS
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Hi Ken,
Well, I don’t want to encourage you too much on making your GEM “fast” because it sounds to me you’re mighty fast on flat roads already. But, that’s up to you.
One thing I will say is that it sounds like you have quite a hill to climb and are unsatisfied with the speed up that long hill, even with your blue motor. I don’t think the MM or controller settings will help you with that because it sounds like you are not reaching the electric governor speed of the controller when going up hill. I think that is why myself and others were suggesting earlier in this post to lighten your load with lithium. It not only helps you up hills but makes the GEM lighter and easier to brake going downhill (i.e., a little safer, especially if you have the stock brakes)…
So, my only other suggestion for improving your speed up your long hill goes against what you’ll typically read in this forum. Your large diameter tires are helping your level road speed but probably sacrificing your up hill speed. If you reduced your wheel diameter you should see improved speed up the hill and may keep your motor cooler.
My .02 cents.
RWD
I agree large wheels look great but they do hurt you going uphill. It would be interesting for me to do a test with my large size wheels and tires to do a timed hill climb and then switch over to stock wheels and see how much faster if any it was
Large diameter tires reduce braking ability and acceleration
To go from standard 21" to 23" you lose 9.5% Torque and braking capability. Significant in hilly terrain.
Rodney
I understand the torque loss with bigger tires, thats why I upgraded the motor with 50% more torque and hp.
The blue motor should be able to take more power supply, and produce a higher rpm and not fry or overheat like the stock motors, am I correct on that ???
I like the idea of kmh to compensate for the 1/2 MM I have on it, that way the speed o" is close, then work on adjustments to get the speed o" almost perfect.
I just need some numbers to get started, the car has more potential than the stock controller settings will allow.
Any help on this will be grateful. “Rodney is the controller Guru.”
Ok #17 to change it to KPH setting between 55-60 (57) worked the best and almost matched the GPS speed.
#1 at 25
#3 at 55 it’s funny anything under 55 makes it hick-up on take off.
#7 at 55
#8 at 251
It has ok power off the line, it won’t smoke the tires or anything like that, but top speed now is right at 36 on flat ground.
Any other settings that may help overall performance ??? I would like a little more take off speed.
After a full charge last night I did just drive it and the off the line acell is slow, it lost some of it’s umph from take off, full throttle and it takes off slow and starts to build speed over a few seconds.
I did not change any turf settings, and it still has fast acell in turf.
Where did I screw up.
I did see 29 on that long hill, so very happy about that, it has all the top speed I want right now with the stock brakes, but I need my take off back.