STEEM Cycle Update: Kickstand and Relay Installed

Finally got the kickstand installed! It was a bitch, too. I bought a pair of M8 bolts, 1.25mm from Home Depot only for both of them to be too short. I underestimated the thickness of the kickstand mounting bracket. So I bought another two of the longest two lengths in stock. Only the absolute longest was sufficient, and then only barely.

Boy is it nice to have a kickstand, however. Now I don't always have to be on the lookout for something to lean this big, heavy beast up against when I want to stop somewhere. It conflicts very slightly with the left pedal at one point in its rotation but does not prevent full rotation from taking place, there's just a moment of plastic brushing on plastic.

I've also got the relay passthru installed. This is the high current switch that allows me to use a low current ignition dealie to connect or disconnect the battery pack from the motor controller. Of course there's nothing to actually "ignite", so ignition switch sounds funny, but the gist is that it will soon only be possible to use if you have the right key.

[Imgur](

here is the illuminated two position clicky button dealie it came with. Shame I won't be using this, but it does nothing to secure my bike. I might reuse it elsewhere, like as a disconnect between the charger and the battery so I can safely use an advanced charger.

I can't leave one permanently connected as they're a parasitic load (the simple one it came with isn't) but the button could fix that, and with an advanced charger onboard I could do stuff like fast charge, or charge only to 80% each time (which prolongs the lifespan of the battery).

Anyways that's all for now. The next step is to connect the relay to the ignition switch. It seems like there' always, always, always more left to do on this fuckin' thing. But it's fun now that the bike is usable, like an ongoing hobby project.