Hey eSkaters, Nate from eSkate Hub here and today I've got my review of the BKB
DIY electric skateboard kit. BKB is an acronym for build kit boards and they've
been selling DIY eskate parts on their website for a few years now and this is
actually their first kit that they put together so when they ship it to you it all
comes in pieces and you get to build the thing yourself. I've already done a
tutorial video on how to build this electric skateboard so if you want to
see all the inside parts and electronics of it head over there and
check it out, the link is in the description. This is going to be a video
of the finished product, how it rides, all of the specs and all of the tests that I
usually do. So the deck on the BKB electric skateboard is 31 inches long
and 9.5 inches wide. Because of the length to width ratio it feels like a
massive platform to stand on which is comforting. It's really stiff, there's
zero flex in it whatsoever which is kind of expected on a short board because it
still needs to house all of the electronics underneath so any flex would
cause some serious issues to the enclosure. It has a concave deck and
slightly raised shoulders above the wheels. So, these are two things. They
create more space between the wheels and the deck to reduce the risk of getting
wheel bite and they give your feet more leverage to make turning easier. There is
a little bit of a kick tail which is great for tic-tacking around even
tighter corners, dropping off curbs, doing some manuals but it's probably not big
enough to do any real tricks with it. The grip tape is nice and coarse it comes in
these hexagonal pieces. You don't get enough to cover the entire deck so make
sure you get creative and put them in the most important places. As you can see
the top of the deck is red the bottom is completely black. Red's not for
everybody but I think it looks really cool with the contrast between the grip
tape and with those red wheels. The wheels are 97mm 78A
which on a shortboard field huge. It kind of feels like you're standing
really high off the ground but you're not really it's the same height as most
longboards with the same size wheels. Again that's just the short deck that
makes you feel like that. They are a little bit spongy but not quite as much
as I would have liked. When you're riding you feel everything that comes
off the ground all of the vibrations. But that's not really unique to the BKB
board that's pretty much the same across all shortboards.
It has 10" trucks with a wheelbase of 21". This makes turning really
easy and you can hang a u-turn in the tightest of spots and let's not forget
that the kick tail helps assist with this too. The BKB electric
skateboard has dual 6354 motors which are incredibly powerful. You need to be a
really experienced rider to go from standstill to full acceleration without
falling off the back. It has a sharp low-end curve which helps you to take
off fast and get up to cruising speed in no time
from there it's a more gradual climb to the top speed. In my tests I managed to
hit a top speed of 29.5mph which is 47.5kmh
and that's a tad over what the specs say the BKB
electric skateboard is capable of on their website. I had my sister help me
out with the hill climb because it's really hard to film so let's go back and
watch that.
Alright this is where we're gonna do the hill test. Come around, have a look
it's 21.2% incline and we're about halfway up the hill. My sister is going
to be on the Meepo v1.5 so it's a fair few years old and it's hub motors. I'll
be on the BKB with the dual belt motors. I'm definitely gonna run her off
but it'll be good fun, let's go. So we're at the bottom of the hill I hope you can
see how steep that hill really is, I'll see it the top.
It's got some power that's for sure. 20% hill grade that was and I wasn't
even full throttle so I've got no doubts that this thing will be able to do 30%
maybe something a little bit more but needless to say it's gonna do literally
any hill that you throw at it. This thing completely destroys hills. I don't think
you'll be able to find a slope that this board cannot handle but once it gets
down to 10% of its battery it loses a lot of power and virtually cannot climb
any hills so make sure you keep that in mind if you've got any hills coming up
towards the end of your ride. The battery is a 10S3P array of 18650 30Q
Samsung cells which i think is quite massive for a short board and you can
really feel the weight in it, it's heavier than a lot of long boards I've
ridden before but it also has a bigger battery than most too. I did a range test
along the Great Ocean Road and if anyone knows it, it's really windy and has lots
of up-and-downs. I weight 83kg and I rode pretty hard.
I actually hit my top speed on this ride and I ended up getting a range of
13.18 miles which is 21.22km. Now that's actually a bit
lower than what they say the range is on their website but remember this is a DIY
eboard and I had to put it together myself so there is every chance that my
ability to build this electric skateboard has adversely affected its
range capabilities. I'm almost certain of it. I don't have the remote on me right
now I think I left it in the car but take a look at this up close footage the
remote is really basic there's no display it's just a couple of
buttons and some LED lights to indicate the battery level. I never knew what
speed I was doing which was a little bit worrying at the beginning but then I
realized that I should just ride at a comfortable pace anyway and my ride
became a lot more enjoyable. You do get haptic feedback from the
remote as the board starts near the end of its battery but one thing I
couldn't figure out was the speed modes I don't actually
think there is more than one mode but if you do opt to get the Bluetooth receiver
and you can play around with all those settings on the app and if you savvy
enough you can plug the ESC into the computer and play around with all the
settings in there. The throttle is really responsive so you
need to focus on staying in control of that thumb wheel. Any movement on the throttle
that is more than necessary you will feel the feedback from the motors and
for inexperienced riders this might cause you to lose a little bit of
balance. The best approach here is to ease on and ease off the accelerator
when you want to change speeds whether going faster or slowing down. Now I'm not
saying this is a bad thing there are a lot of riders that will love the amount
of control they get with this ESC. The motors are just as strong at braking as
they are accelerating so if you're not ready and braced for it you'll be on
your ass before you can say Build Kit Boards DIY electric skateboard kit.
So here's an aerial view of me applying the brakes. I come in from the right hand
side doing a pace a little bit faster than cruising speed and I apply the
brakes just about here. The first time I did it I slammed on the brakes and they
locked up and I skidded quite a bit almost losing control. The second time
around I applied the brakes in a more controlled manner and I found that I
came to a stop much faster and safer. Overall the BKB DIY electric
skateboard is a great project that produces you a solid eboard that you
can either ride as is or continue to tinker with to turn it into something that
is truly unique to you. Everything is modular so you can literally change out
any component or part that you don't like with something that is more fitting
to your riding style. I think it really is the perfect place to start if you're
wanting to get into the DIY eskate scene but are feeling a little bit
overwhelmed by everything that you need to know in order to build an electric
skateboard. The price of the dual motor version of the BKB electric skateboard
which is this one is US$800 and there is also an option to
get a single motor version which is only $600.
If I've helped you make a decision to buy the BKB DIY eskate kit then that's awesome
I've done my job. If you want to thank me the best thing you can do is make it
purchase through the link in my description. If you do BKB pays me a tiny
bit of money to say thanks for recommending their great products to you.
And I want to say thank you to you for supporting this channel and helping me
bring awesome eskate content to new and aspiring eskaters. If I've happen to
miss anything and you've got a question please ask in the comments below I will
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making eskate reviews, Alright eSkaters, ride safe out there and I'll see
you soon.