Homebrew Levo Skidplate

[kombos]

I'd seen some of the offerings out there, but wanted to get something on my new bike last week before riding.

I considered using aluminum sheet, but decided to try something a bit different. I knew Kydex was often used to make knife sheaths and pistol holsters by heat-forming to shape. I picked up a a sheet of 1/8" (~3.2mm) thick Kydex and cut to size. I formed it to shape using a heat gun.

For now I'm using a steel flat-head bolt in the battery thread, but will replace soon with an aluminum one. Middle and tail of skid are secured with industrial Velcro. Eats up about 6-8 mm of ground clearance under the motor housing.

Similar to what some others have done, but I thought I'd try this material. Tough stuff. Won't crack, and has a little more give than aluminum.

 

[Chaindog]

Awesome! Kydex is the best. Would you consider selling one?

 

[Zimmerframe]

NICE !

If you did a second one, would you think about making it wider to deflect spray/mud/branches from the charge port ? Or do you think it might catch your foot and other things more than it would help protect.

Then again .. in Arizona ... none of that is probably relevant

 

[Mikerb]

Using the battery bolt thread for fixing seems wrong to me ….especially if the bolt is stronger than the original brass bolt. Damage that bolt housing and you would likely need a new battery!! I also see little point in a bash guard that has no ability to cushion the impact although I appreciate the design above would at least provide a "skid plate" facility deflecting a glancing hit but not absorbing a full on hit.. The Amygos design is a bit bulky but has many of the right design aslects for a bash guard in my opinion. Firstly it is made of the right material..polyprop, which is as strong as old boots. Carbon is not impact resistant and metals will deform..and stay deformed on impact. I am not familiar with Kydex...is it a plastic? The Amygos also spreads the load of any impact whilst also absorbing some of the impact due to the rubber? ( or is it foam) layer between the guard and the battery guard.

 

[kombos]

Awesome! Kydex is the best. Would you consider selling one?

Thanks. Don't know yet. Still playing around a bit with some ideas.

NICE !
If you did a second one, would you think about making it wider to deflect spray/mud/branches from the charge port ? Or do you think it might catch your foot and other things more than it would help protect.
Then again .. in Arizona ... none of that is probably relevant

Thanks. Funny you should mention that. I actually tried yesterday to make one with some "wings" to provide wider side protection. Wasn't too happy with the result so far. Don't want it to stick out too far but I think there may be possibilities. I wasn't keen on actually covering the charge port as that means removing the skid to charge.

Yeah....don't typically ride in much mud in the AZ desert....the biggest hazard being bouncing rocks. But then there is the forest high-country just a few hours north.....

Using the battery bolt thread for fixing seems wrong to me ….especially if the bolt is stronger than the original brass bolt. Damage that bolt housing and you would likely need a new battery!! I also see little point in a bash guard that has no ability to cushion the impact although I appreciate the design above would at least provide a "skid plate" facility deflecting a glancing hit but not absorbing a full on hit.. The Amygos design is a bit bulky but has many of the right design aslects for a bash guard in my opinion. Firstly it is made of the right material..polyprop, which is as strong as old boots. Carbon is not impact resistant and metals will deform..and stay deformed on impact. I am not familiar with Kydex...is it a plastic? The Amygos also spreads the load of any impact whilst also absorbing some of the impact due to the rubber? ( or is it foam) layer between the guard and the battery guard.

I hear ya on using the battery bolt and understand the concern. I'll be replacing the one I have with an aluminum one like the stock piece. There is some air space between the skid and the motor housing so there's a little room there to give, plus the bends in the piece should provide a little give upon impact. Kydex is a thermoplastic material.

It's all an educated guess as to what the forces are and what might give, break, bend, etc. On my dirt bike I have an aluminum tube cradle under the engine and then a 3/16" thick aluminum skid under that. I don't worry about bumping over a log on it. On my Levo, I'm not sure I'd feel much comfort doing that and I don't know if this is really a solution for wanting to do that. I just thought the bottom of the motor was vunerable to a possible case hit or flying rocks, and thought I 'd add some protection. Maybe a false sense of security?

I kinda like how the RockGaurdz wrap on the frame for mounting, but don't particularly care for the choice of a brittle material from what I've seen.

 

[Mikerb]

If you are still formulating ideas why not try a larger format with some high impact foam between it and the bike, extend the shape to be more wraparound and specifically to cover the charging point and use velcro straps to secure it rather than the battery bolt. It would be easy to remove for charging, battery removal and cleaning. As a bonus it would also protect the battery bolt.

 

[kombos]

If you are still formulating ideas why not try a larger format with some high impact foam between it and the bike, extend the shape to be more wraparound and specifically to cover the charging point and use velcro straps to secure it rather than the battery bolt. It would be easy to remove for charging, battery removal and cleaning. As a bonus it would also protect the battery bolt.

All good ideas....thanks.

 

[Chris6]

The Amygos one uses high density foam the same as in this levo down tube guard:

 

[DetailsMonster]

Thanks for the bash guard idea Kombos. I opted to go with thinner Kydex (0.7 mm) which resulted in a really close fit although it may not stand up to a big hit. Here are a few pictures of the end result.

 

[STK]

Thanks for the bash guard idea Kombos. I opted to go with thinner Kydex (0.7 mm) which resulted in a really close fit although it may not stand up to a big hit. Here are a few pictures of the end result.
View attachment 28252
View attachment 28253
View attachment 28254

Thanks! Never heard of Kidex and got a 12 x 12” sheet of .6mm and this seems like enough to provide some protection while being easy enough to cut and shape. Used industrial Velcro and almost too strong. Had to super glue the backing to the guard.

Thanks for the bash guard idea Kombos. I opted to go with thinner Kydex (0.7 mm) which resulted in a really close fit although it may not stand up to a big hit. Here are a few pictures of the end result.
View attachment 28252
View attachment 28253
View attachment 28254

 

[DetailsMonster]

Thanks! Never heard of Kidex and got a 12 x 12” sheet of .6mm and this seems like enough to provide some protection while being easy enough to cut and shape. Used industrial Velcro and almost too strong. Had to super glue the backing to the guard.

Been using the skid plate for several months with zero issues. Not sure if I mentioned it but you should drill a small hole at the low point for draining out any water that might get behind the guard.

 

[aklemm]

I would buy one!

I ran a plastic bash guard similar to this on my acoustic Niner RIP 9 for 4+ years. The lower rear pivot sat below the bottom bracket and is exposed on the Niner. The plastic bash guard took a few hits and it has quite a few scratches on it, but it held up fine and never cracked. This was a plastic material about the same thickness as yours. It definitely wasn't Kydex.

You can see the plastic hanging down below the linkage in this picture:

 

[Ripping g]

Bash gaurd fitted bash gaurd removerd

 

[bombing4x]

Not a bad looking plate.

If you're interested in one already cooked up, I like my AirPro Skid plates a lot E-Bike Skid Plate — AirPro Fork

They work great and look nice too.

 

[Miru]

Bash gaurd fitted bash gaurd removerd

View attachment 46642

Could you please elaborate on what exactly happened and are you suggesting that the skid plate is not good?(bought a ProtectMTB also but haven’t put it on yet)

 

[STK]

Been using the skid plate for several months with zero issues. Not sure if I mentioned it but you should drill a small hole at the low point for draining out any water that might get behind the guard.

First draft. Not pretty but so far giving some protection to the charge cable on the 1.3 Kenevo motor.

 

[Mikerb]

I think most of these so called "bash" guards completely miss the point. There is a difference between a skid plate and a "bash" guard. As the name infers a skid plate is a glancing low angle blow or scrape and any protection merely preserves the integrity of the material underneath it...in this case the bash guard attached to the bottom of the battery. It will do nothing to protect the bike from a hard hit against a log or a rock etc since the force is immediately transferred to the original battery bash guard underneath it. Worse still if the brass screw used to secure the original battery bash guard is used as a fixing point there is every chance both the screw and the thread in the battery will be damaged. The original battery bash guard is at least both shaped and reinforced on its underside with a grid moulding to withstand some hits. For a bash guard to be effective there needs to be space between the bash guard and the original battery bash guard, preferable filled with a high density foam, and the material used to fashion the bash guard needs to both strong but also deformable. Poly propylene is the ideal material, carbon is a very silly idea. The Amygos is the only design I have seen that makes any practical sense. Its downsides ( almost inevitable) are that it reduces ground clearance quite a bit and is bulky and not very attractive.............but as least it looks like it might actually work!!

 

[Flatslide]

I initially considered creating a guard for the Altitude, but after riding many miles over the last 15 months I can see it doesn't really require one. The chain-ring bash guard takes any rollover and unplanned hits, and the motor although looking exposed out front, has only one small scrape mark on it which is little more than paint removal.

 

[francesco_16]

Not a bad looking plate.

If you're interested in one already cooked up, I like my AirPro Skid plates a lot E-Bike Skid Plate — AirPro Fork

They work great and look nice too.

Hi, from what material is this plate made from?? thanks

 

[kombos]

UPDATE: Have been running this skidplate for a bit over two years now and it's worked well.
No issues with the battery bolt and the skidplate has held up just fine. I ride a lot in the rocks
and boulders, and case it pretty good on occasion. The small air space (with the velcro) helps
provide an impact buffer so not all the force gets transferred to the battery housing. I've
replaced the industrial velcro a couple of times due to hard hits that eventually disrupt the adhesive.

There have been about three occasions when I've hit something and popped the battery connector lose
from the motor. I'm going to try this second skid with a small added wing near the connector.

 

[Topi]

UPDATE: Have been running this skidplate for a bit over two years now and it's worked well.
No issues with the battery bolt and the skidplate has held up just fine. I ride a lot in the rocks
and boulders, and case it pretty good on occasion. The small air space (with the velcro) helps
provide an impact buffer so not all the force gets transferred to the battery housing. I've
replaced the industrial velcro a couple of times due to hard hits that eventually disrupt the adhesive.

There have been about three occasions when I've hit something and popped the battery connector lose
from the motor. I'm going to try this second skid with a small added wing near the connector.

View attachment 83176

Would you make a template of this?

 

[brigcampbell]

There have been about three occasions when I've hit something and popped the battery connector lose
from the motor.

Wow... I don't want to think what that must have felt like. Pedal strike like that is really bad news.

 

[Alexbn921]

I smashed and broke my guard for the second time. Epoxied it back together good as new.

 

[kombos]

Would you make a template of this?

Here is a simple, dimensioned drawing of the skid.

Can taper the front "tonque" however you desire and round the outside corners as well.
Have the drain hole on here, but probably not even needed as there is a gap under the plate when using the industrial velcro.
Side tab roughly 1/2" wide to turn up at about 45 degrees to protect battery connector.

Bolt I've been using....
M12x1.25mm Thread Metric Brake Banjo Bolt

 

[kombos]

Wow... I don't want to think what that must have felt like. Pedal strike like that is really bad news.

Happens when you ride in a lot of rocks....no such issues so far with the added little side guard.

I smashed and broke my guard for the second time. Epoxied it back together good as new.

No issues like that with Kydex. It won't shatter....

 

[RickBullotta]

I had this on my Pivot Shuttle - it worked surprisingly well, and is very flexible so was easy to form/shape however I wanted it. Technically both sides are adhesive, but after a dusty ride or two the exposed side was no longer sticky. It's 1/8" thick.

3M Scotch-Seal Mastic Tape Compound 2229, 3-3/4 in x 10 ft, 1 roll/carton, Black: Adhesive Tapes: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[Topi]

Here's my version of TS's plate. Thank you for this perfect idea.