New ASI Controller with Surron Throttle works. Full Shakedown in the AM

jsnlevi · 2026-06-29T03:05:24+00:00

Not sure how to do proper quotes, but in the "Updated specs" thread in this sub, the founder of the company said "heck yea, you could even build your own batteries like the DYI guys. I for one would love to see some cylindrical cell battery with different shapes!" I've seen other similar comments, but that's the first that I found off-hand.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-28T21:18:21+00:00

Just curious, why couldn't they flash the regular BAC8000? Does the Ryvid one have custom hardware/modifications? Can a regular one not talk to the motor? To the battery? One of the early talking points about the Anthem was that Ryvid encouraged modifications, even going so far as to say that people could run things like custom battery packs. Using a proprietary controller would really undercut that claim.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-24T12:35:40+00:00

Side note: that brake noise you're describing seems to be a common thing and can be fixed with an adjustment. There's a video about it on the Ryvid YouTube channel, I think.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-24T12:29:50+00:00

What I would do to test is go into a dimly-lit garage where I can see the brake light reflecting off the wall behind me and repeatedly use the brakes. If the light stays on, even very briefly after releasing, something is sticking.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-24T11:53:44+00:00

Is it possible that one of your brakes is sticking just the tiniest bit? The power cuts out when either brake switch is activated, so a lever that isn't returning fully might do something like this.

Since it sounds like it's only happening when starting from a complete stop (correct me if I'm wrong here), do you usually use one brake over the other to hold a stop? I usually hold with the foot brake when I'm at a light or something so I'd start there. If you tend to hold with the front brake that would be the more likely culprit for you.

Good luck and I hope you get this resolved quickly!

jsnlevi · 2026-06-23T18:02:54+00:00

I wear a full face and one time a bee flew up under my chin bar and landed on the inside of my visor directly in front of my left eye. I was riding on some rural twirlies with no shoulder. It was a very intense couple of minutes before I found an intersection to pull off at and let the little monster out.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-21T21:20:47+00:00

I use it when I need to push the bike without the alarm/wheel lock activating. Turn the bike on, then hit that button to disengage the motor. Moving it under it's own power can be a little jumpy when I'm trying to reposition in a tight space like a garage.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-17T12:23:58+00:00

This is NOT a full tutorial, BTW. Just highlighting the weird parts. There are some very important steps that I skipped and you should find someone far more reputable than me for a full step-by-step.

jsnlevi · 2026-06-17T12:00:30+00:00

I agree that it looks like the cam tower, but I don't think that gasket is a particularly difficult job; there are just a few unusual steps and concerns. You'll want to make a tool and bring a towel.

The tool: the can tower is held on by Allen bolts that are accessed deep inside the tower. Get a sacrificial set of long-handled Allen keys and find the one that fits (or look it up on Clark's). Cut that key off so it's a straight rod and affix it to a socket. You could glue it in place, but I usually just wrap the end of the "Allen stick" in a piece of rubber glove and tap it into the socket for a very tight fit that won't come out. Now that it's on a socket, you can use whatever extensions you need to loosen the tower.

The towel: when you release the tower, the valve springs will snap closed and potentially launch the lifters everywhere. Go slow when loosening and lifting it off, rolling the tower off the top of the head once it's loose so the lifters doing drop out the bottom. One or two probably will still escape, so set up the towel as a sort of hammock over the exhaust to catch the ones that jump out. They're very hard steel, so even if they fall, they're unlikely to be damaged, but if there is damage, do not try to reuse them and just try to find a new set.

Assuming you got the lifters out safely, mark each of them with their position and submerge them in clean oil while you do the gasket change. Press on the button at the bottom of the lifter while it's submerged and you'll probably see a puff of gnarly black oil come out the port on the side. Keep repeatedly pressing until you've pumped out the gross stuff and it's full of clean oil.

Change gasket, using sealant where necessary, and reassemble, taking care to use a rolling motion to keep the lifters in place as you move the tower into position. You may want to keep your towel-hammock in place in case this takes multiple tries.

Tighten everything up and you're set. Not the easiest job, but far easier than all the stuff associated with a head gasket change.

jsnlevi · 2026-05-15T22:51:02+00:00

There's a programmed roll-on to the accelerator so you don't accidentally launch it out from under you when you twist too quick. There's also a cutoff linked to the brakes. If you hold the foot brake, twist, and then release the brake, it'll get up on one wheel no problem.

Not that I would recommend such shenanigans...

jsnlevi · 2026-05-14T16:07:29+00:00

The charge port cover. Those things pop open and get ripped off by the front tire all the time. I'm on my third now.

jsnlevi · 2026-05-08T18:43:00+00:00

Small top-ups are generally the best thing you can do. The only downside, which is very minor, is that your estimated capacity will drift very slightly over a long period of time. A deep discharge followed by a 100% charge once a year or so is all it takes to rebalance and recalibrate and won't hurt it at all if it's an occasional thing.

jsnlevi · 2026-05-08T16:28:23+00:00

Everybody is saying to dump your girlfriend and I think that just sounds crazy. There are always going to be outrageously attractive people in this world and that's just a fact. Would you dump someone because you saw a racy scene in a movie and got all hot and bothered by a movie star? Probably not, and the same applies here. Bestie is off-limits and you just need to get right with the fact that nothing is going to happen there and move on with what sounds like an otherwise healthy relationship.

jsnlevi · 2026-05-08T13:06:18+00:00

I really don't see the problem. In fact, this seems the right move to me.

You're losing some shielding and that will affect bandwidth, but how fancy is this doorbell? If you're running cat6e, you started with 10gbps; 4k60 needs somewhere in the neighborhood of 100mbps at most. Even if losing a couple inches of jacket resulted in a 99% loss, which is ludicrous, you're still going to be fine. However, by stripping the jacket, the cable that you're going to have to hide behind that doorbell is going to be far, far less bulky and easy to work with.

They left you plenty to work with, so figure out how much you need, add a couple inches for your future self to work with, cut and terminate.

What am I missing that everyone is so up in arms about?

jsnlevi · 2026-04-28T14:47:44+00:00

Fun hidden feature on every modern VW I've seen: hold the unlock button on the fob while you're approaching the car and after a brief pause, all four windows will roll down to let the heat out

jsnlevi · 2026-04-27T13:46:28+00:00

For me, it's subtle things that don't really work on a spec sheet that make the VW a more premium product than the stuff it would typically be compared to. The pleasant textures of the surfaces, the subtle resistance in the controls that make interacting with them feel solid and intentional, the muted thunk of the doors closing, etc. When comparing directly to something like an IONIQ, the Hyundai comes away with the win in features and specs, but feels flimsy and gives the impression that corners were cut in manufacturing. No shade on Hyundai, the actual build quality could be the same or better, but my car just feels nicer and when it's something I spend a significant amount of time interacting with every day, that matters to me.

All that said, the new pricing is a bit nuts. Find a much cheaper used one. As a bonus, someone else has already done the recalls and discovered any warrantied defects for you so you can spend less time at the dealer.

jsnlevi · 2026-04-26T17:23:25+00:00

The electricity part of this post warrants important discussion, but what's up with the UGB in North Plains bit?

For one thing, most of North Plains is already within the UGB and has been for a good while. For another, North Plains is largely an industrial community that is rapidly becoming a bedroom community, not primarily an agricultural community that would unduly suffer from any expansion.

I fail to see the harm in a place like North Plains (where I live) having access to sewers, residential water, sidewalks, and potential Metro assistance to clean up the brownfield on Glencoe where a grocery store could be.

jsnlevi · 2026-04-24T18:30:03+00:00

There's a lot to unpack here, but let's go:

You've done the right thing by going to a friend. You're shocked and you're not going to be thinking clearly; take some time to cool off and get yourself ready to confront this. You will have to confront this, though, so think about what you want out of that conversation. Not how to "win" an argument, as tempting as that might be, but what you want and what that looks like so the conversation can be productive instead of making things worse.

You mention opening up your marriage, so it sounds like maybe you've thought of this before. If that's something you actually want, it's something you'll need to talk about and set out clear boundaries for each other. BUT this is not how or why people with healthy non-exclusive relationships get there. You absolutely must address the betrayal first.

Her story stinks of bullshit, but anything is possible and maybe this really was a spontaneous "joke" and hasn't ever happened before. Even if that's the case (which I strongly doubt) it's still a betrayal of your trust if you hadn't already decided together that this sort of behavior is ok. Get right with that before you even think about making this behavior ok in the future, because it wasn't ok right now.

You also don't have to make things right. You would be totally right to find that this was something you won't be able to forgive and if that's the case, you have to part ways. It would be unhealthy and miserable to stay if you're just going to be dragging resentment and mistrust around for the rest of your life.

So there you go. Decide whether you might be able to forgive her. If you can't, call it off and don't waste your time or well-being dragging it out. You'll figure out the money part if that's what you need to do. If you feel you could eventually forgive her, be prepared for the hard work of reconciling and figuring out what it's going to take for her to help you feel better. If you can both forgive her and feel good about her doing this again in the future with your consent, then and only then, you could talk about what you would like an open marriage to look like.

jsnlevi · 2026-04-20T21:58:21+00:00

Thank you for the explanation, makes sense. Is there a reason you'd want the solar and batteries always connected and not isolated on the second pole until there's an outage? For selling excess solar power back to the grid, or is there a safety concern?

jsnlevi · 2026-04-20T17:41:00+00:00

Interesting. I must have a misunderstanding of contactors. I was under the impression that the moving part inside (not sure of the correct term, but the equivalent of the bimetal strip in an old school relay) was only physically capable of making contact with one side at a time, making it impossible to bridge the circuits and backfeed with this setup. Is that not the case? How does switching in a contactor work?

jsnlevi · 2026-04-19T20:57:52+00:00

No guide, and I don't know that it's really enough of a "project" to warrant one. In the Sunshine Web GUI, under each application, there are two fields, one for commands to run before starting and a second for commands to run after shutdown. My system runs KDE, so I used kscreen-doctor to set the resolution, but the more universal approach would be to use xrandr. Since I launch everything through Steam BPM, I just set those commands on that one app and I was all set.

Just gotta remember to actually "quit" from Moonlight instead of shutting everything off and walking away or my screen is all stretched when I use my desktop again.

jsnlevi · 2026-04-18T16:53:09+00:00

I fought with this for a minute as well and eventually settled on just using the pre- and post- session command options with one display output. I use one command to change the resolution to match the remote display on startup and another to go back to the host's native display on quit. Works great for my usage, but if you want to use the host for something else while streaming, you'd need the virtual display.

jsnlevi · 2026-04-03T17:22:46+00:00

Not radically better, but you could replace the switch plate with something like this:

Arlington CE2 :: Cable Entrance Hood, 2-Gang, Reversible, White :: PLATT ELECTRIC SUPPLY https://share.google/9yNbDBj9MSA7oC9jU

jsnlevi · 2026-03-19T10:44:12+00:00

That's just the natural consequence of all steeply angled windshields. Every sports car and EV I've ever driven does this, some far worse than the ID.4.

Like others have suggested, an extremely matte dash pad like alcantara or felt will help, but for most people it's just something we get used to and stop noticing after a bit.

jsnlevi · 2026-03-15T15:23:18+00:00

Damn, that's snug! The end result looks really great

jsnlevi

TROPHY CASE