Rockstar owners
- Thread starter Taylor57
- Start date
RMK!
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this post. I had been looking to buy a Rockstar and came close several times but the actual utility of the bike due to issues like low gear shifting made me move in another direction.
I did like the @BafangBoy trail ride video above ... lookout Tanner or Jordon or was it Hunter.
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BafangBoy
Member
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- USA
- City
- Mission Viejo
Thanks man! I’ve made better videos since that dayThanks for this post. I had been looking to buy a Rockstar and came close several times but the actual utility of the bike due to issues like low gear shifting made me move in another direction.
I did like the @BafangBoy trail ride video above ... lookout Tanner or Jordon or was it Hunter.
Excellent. Thanks for the update and posting the pic. The kickstand has been treating me well too.
New member, fairly new Rockstar owner. Just thought I'd say "hi" and share the kickstand I adapted. I got it on Amazon. I needed to grind the edges off the internal cutout and did not use the rubber seal. I wrapped about 3 layers of gaffer tape over the frame to protect the paint. I also ground a little off the open stop of the stand to allow the stand to open to a little steeper angle for more stability with it mounted so far back. All that done it works great!
Kickstand:
Kickstand:
Fair enough LOL – here’s my Rockstar:
A little more about me. I am an older guy (66). I am also a big guy at 6’-6”. Long story short, I wanted an e-bike to ride around town and up at our cabin in the Sierras, mostly on paved or fire roads. At my size, most of the step-throughs I demoed were way too small. So I was about to pull the trigger on an overseas, larger-framed full-suspension hub-drive fat tire bike on Amazon, but before I did that, I wanted to at least sit on one. So I started perusing my local Craig’s List offerings and this “like new” Rockstar showed up. I demoed it, it fit me pretty well, and the rest is history.
A little more about this particular bike. The guy selling it bought two of the earlier ones with the Tektro brakes and dropper seat post; a yellow one for him and a gray one for his wife. Out of the gate he replaced the front forks with Rockshock units, replaced the SRAM running gear with Shimano kits, went to a Michelin rear tire, slimed the tubs and had added comfort palm-swell grips. After all of that they apparently went for a few longer rides and realized the bike was just too big for his wife. He ended up liking the gray color better than the yellow one—so did I, but he wouldn’t sell me that one LOL—and so the yellow one became mine.
Setting it up for me. Fortunately the previous owner had not gotten around to cutting the longer Rockshock tube down for his shorter height, so I gained about an inch over the factory fork—a good thing for me. Also fortunate for me, he weighed the same as me and so the fork and shock were already set up quite nicely. I swapped to an adjustable stem so I could get to a bit more comfortable basic ride-position for me. I added fenders, mirror, top-bar bag, rechargeable lights, kickstand and H2O cage. I’ve been experimenting with seats for my old-man butt, though the factory one fits my sit bones pretty well. I do however have a Brooks Cambium on order to try, so I may report back about it. So end of day yes, it is way more bike than I needed, but so far I am quite pleased with it.
Oh, my kickstand referenced above:
My only real nit is a small one. In either the 5 or 9 assist mode, the 1 setting is more than I need for around town. I would love to reprogram it to about half of what it starts at. OTOH, at that setting I’m only using about 3% of battery for every 5 miles, so have a fairly respectable range and really no complaint.
~~~
Some more that might be of interest to other Rockstar owners as I have not seen it discussed in this thread, though admittedly have not closely read all 50 pages so if this is repetition, my apologies. I dug into the Bafang M620 wiring info in an attempt to hard-ware into the existing lighting harness. If you remove the plastic cover above the motor, the two open blue connectors can be found for front and rear lights per this pic:
The front light cable puts out 12v and the rear light cable puts out 3.7v. Moreover, you can order the factory pigtail connectors here for pretty cheap, $7.95 for the harness and about the same for USPS shipping to the states from here: https://www.greenbikekit.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Bafang+MAX+M400/+Ultra+M620/+M420/+M300+mid+motor+headlight/tail+light+cables(a+pair)
The issue is the wires are tiny gauge, I estimate about 22AWG or so, so I’m doubtful the circuit could handle more than about 1 amp (equaling 12 watts) which would only safely power a 500 to 750 lumen LED up front, which isn’t much – I suspect this is why we haven’t seen the promised auxiliary lighting kit from Sondors… On the upside, the rear circuit should be more than adequate to power most any LED rear light, or even tap into a fuller-featured battery or rechargeable unit.
That’s all I have for now.
A little more about me. I am an older guy (66). I am also a big guy at 6’-6”. Long story short, I wanted an e-bike to ride around town and up at our cabin in the Sierras, mostly on paved or fire roads. At my size, most of the step-throughs I demoed were way too small. So I was about to pull the trigger on an overseas, larger-framed full-suspension hub-drive fat tire bike on Amazon, but before I did that, I wanted to at least sit on one. So I started perusing my local Craig’s List offerings and this “like new” Rockstar showed up. I demoed it, it fit me pretty well, and the rest is history.
A little more about this particular bike. The guy selling it bought two of the earlier ones with the Tektro brakes and dropper seat post; a yellow one for him and a gray one for his wife. Out of the gate he replaced the front forks with Rockshock units, replaced the SRAM running gear with Shimano kits, went to a Michelin rear tire, slimed the tubs and had added comfort palm-swell grips. After all of that they apparently went for a few longer rides and realized the bike was just too big for his wife. He ended up liking the gray color better than the yellow one—so did I, but he wouldn’t sell me that one LOL—and so the yellow one became mine.
Setting it up for me. Fortunately the previous owner had not gotten around to cutting the longer Rockshock tube down for his shorter height, so I gained about an inch over the factory fork—a good thing for me. Also fortunate for me, he weighed the same as me and so the fork and shock were already set up quite nicely. I swapped to an adjustable stem so I could get to a bit more comfortable basic ride-position for me. I added fenders, mirror, top-bar bag, rechargeable lights, kickstand and H2O cage. I’ve been experimenting with seats for my old-man butt, though the factory one fits my sit bones pretty well. I do however have a Brooks Cambium on order to try, so I may report back about it. So end of day yes, it is way more bike than I needed, but so far I am quite pleased with it.
Oh, my kickstand referenced above:
My only real nit is a small one. In either the 5 or 9 assist mode, the 1 setting is more than I need for around town. I would love to reprogram it to about half of what it starts at. OTOH, at that setting I’m only using about 3% of battery for every 5 miles, so have a fairly respectable range and really no complaint.
~~~
Some more that might be of interest to other Rockstar owners as I have not seen it discussed in this thread, though admittedly have not closely read all 50 pages so if this is repetition, my apologies. I dug into the Bafang M620 wiring info in an attempt to hard-ware into the existing lighting harness. If you remove the plastic cover above the motor, the two open blue connectors can be found for front and rear lights per this pic:
The front light cable puts out 12v and the rear light cable puts out 3.7v. Moreover, you can order the factory pigtail connectors here for pretty cheap, $7.95 for the harness and about the same for USPS shipping to the states from here: https://www.greenbikekit.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Bafang+MAX+M400/+Ultra+M620/+M420/+M300+mid+motor+headlight/tail+light+cables(a+pair)
The issue is the wires are tiny gauge, I estimate about 22AWG or so, so I’m doubtful the circuit could handle more than about 1 amp (equaling 12 watts) which would only safely power a 500 to 750 lumen LED up front, which isn’t much – I suspect this is why we haven’t seen the promised auxiliary lighting kit from Sondors… On the upside, the rear circuit should be more than adequate to power most any LED rear light, or even tap into a fuller-featured battery or rechargeable unit.
That’s all I have for now.
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You scored a fine bike right there. Looks good with all the mods. Congrats on your RockstarFair enough LOL – here’s my Rockstar:
A little more about me. I am an older guy (66). I am also a big guy at 6’-6”. Long story short, I wanted an e-bike to ride around town and up at our cabin in the Sierras, mostly on paved or fire roads. At my size, most of the step-throughs I demoed were way too small. So I was about to pull the trigger on an overseas, larger-framed full-suspension hub-drive fat tire bike on Amazon, but before I did that, I wanted to at least sit on one. So I started perusing my local Craig’s List offerings and this “like new” Rockstar showed up. I demoed it, it fit me pretty well, and the rest is history.
A little more about this particular bike. The guy selling it bought two of the earlier ones with the Tektro brakes and dropper seat post; a yellow one for him and a gray one for his wife. Out of the gate he replaced the front forks with Rockshock units, replaced the SRAM running gear with Shimano kits, went to a Michelin rear tire, slimed the tubs and had added comfort palm-swell grips. After all of that they apparently went for a few longer rides and realized the bike was just too big for his wife. He ended up liking the gray color better than the yellow one—so did I, but he wouldn’t sell me that one LOL—and so the yellow one became mine.
Setting it up for me. Fortunately the previous owner had not gotten around to cutting the longer Rockshock tube down for his shorter height, so I gained about an inch over the factory fork—a good thing for me. Also fortunate for me, he weighed the same as me and so the fork and shock were already set up quite nicely. I swapped to an adjustable stem so I could get to a bit more comfortable basic ride-position for me. I added fenders, mirror, top-bar bag, rechargeable lights, kickstand and H2O cage. I’ve been experimenting with seats for my old-man butt, though the factory one fits my sit bones pretty well. I do however have a Brooks Cambium on order to try, so I may report back about it. So end of day yes, it is way more bike than I needed, but so far I am quite pleased with it.
Oh, my kickstand referenced above:
My only real nit is a small one. In either the 5 or 9 assist mode, the 1 setting is more than I need for around town. I would love to reprogram it to about half of what it starts at. OTOH, at that setting I’m only using about 3% of battery for every 5 miles, so have a fairly respectable range and really no complaint.
~~~
Some more that might be of interest to other Rockstar owners as I have not seen it discussed in this thread, though admittedly have not closely read all 50 pages so if this is repetition, my apologies. I dug into the Bafang M620 wiring info in an attempt to hard-ware into the existing lighting harness. If you remove the plastic cover above the motor, the two open blue connectors can be found for front and rear lights per this pic:
The front light cable puts out 12v and the rear light cable puts out 3.7v. Moreover, you can order the factory pigtail connectors here for pretty cheap, $7.95 for the harness and about the same for USPS shipping to the states from here: https://www.greenbikekit.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Bafang+MAX+M400/+Ultra+M620/+M420/+M300+mid+motor+headlight/tail+light+cables(a+pair)
The issue is the wires are tiny gauge, I estimate about 22AWG or so, so I’m doubtful the circuit could handle more than about 1 amp (equaling 12 watts) which would only safely power a 500 to 750 lumen LED up front, which isn’t much – I suspect this is why we haven’t seen the promised auxiliary lighting kit from Sondors… On the upside, the rear circuit should be more than adequate to power most any LED rear light, or even tap into a fuller-featured battery or rechargeable unit.
That’s all I have for now.
You need to check out these YouTube channels for some great info
BafangBoy
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Mission Viejo
That’s a great review and your bike is up to speed with most of ours. The previous owner did the right modifications. The front and rear lights are new information to me, so that is appreciated. This bike should serve you well. I think most of us watch Simple Pleasures MTB on YouTube for technical knowledge so check him out. I’d consider upgrading the rear shock (if you need/want) it’s fairly inexpensive and worth every penny. I make YouTube videos but just for entertainment, soon I’ll have 1000 miles on my bike and I plan on a 1000 mile review extravaganza. I beat my bike on my local trails so I have a different experience with breaking stuff and all. As far as campgrounds, commutes and a few trails this is easily plenty of bike and should hold up without any issue. I’m 51y.o. 6’1” and 225 lbs. since Christmas break and the time change I’m getting fat again! Can’t ride after work. Thanks for the info and enjoy, welcome to the RS squad. Mine is black I like the yellow, and I like the grey the most now. The YouTube link CrossUp posted is how to find our stuff.
BafangBoy
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Mission Viejo
BafangBoy
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Mission Viejo
Mentalist
Member
- Region
- USA
I’m still interested in a front and back light. I looked at the motor and it has headlight and taillight connectors
Bafang Ultra M620 G510 barebone motor-greenbikekit.com BBS, ebike batteries, Bafang M620, Bafang M600, Bafang M500, Bafang M510, KT controller with display-GreenBikeKit.com
Bafang Ultra M620 G510 bare bone motor for replacement;
www.greenbikekit.com
theres lights on the site but I also realized the motor has canbus and uart protocol..canbus is a newer, more proprietary one to keep people from tuning the controller...and I bet people are getting mixed versions. Uart you can customize everything. I have no clue which one I’m getting
If you look at my post directly above, you will see at the end where I show those connectors under the cover of my Rockstar and give you a link where you can buy the pigtails. I also explain voltage output potential limitations and why I don't think it's a great option, at least for the front.
In my research, I only found a few wired front light options that would not overload the circuit, and they were pretty lame options at 500 lumens or so -- but they would work. Rear should be no issues, but... Almost every rechargeable battery pack front option has multiple power or strobe modes and are a lot more powerful overall and many are relatively inexpensive; and this is the same with the rear lights where the small rechargeable options have features the hard-wired lights don't, like auto brake light and strobe or continuous modes. In the end it's why I went with a USB rechargeable battery pack option up front and small USB recharge rear, but totally respect YMMV...
Mentalist
Member
- Region
- USA
Can you link to what light and pack you got?
i wasn’t looking at the motor for the lights, but for the protocol (the newer canbus) is proprietary and won’t let me tweak with the firmware
This is the front light I went with. So far I like it a lot. https://amzn.to/3qTKeKY
This is the smart rear I chose — I think it’s only so-so https://amzn.to/3KAhizd
This is the bar pack I ordered, but I needed to add about 8” of double-sided velcro strapping to extend the lower strap: https://amzn.to/3KBbdmc
This is the smart rear I chose — I think it’s only so-so https://amzn.to/3KAhizd
This is the bar pack I ordered, but I needed to add about 8” of double-sided velcro strapping to extend the lower strap: https://amzn.to/3KBbdmc
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