I doubt that the overall weight had any effect on the balance. I was hoping you could provide some info on how the weight of the motors changed (that would have explained the handle position). Right now it still seems like bad engineering to me. Something he was made aware of and still did not changed 
Not sure if this helps out at all, but I rode/held the R2 when they came to Portland a couple weeks ago and the handle felt nice. Seems to hold the center of balance when I held it towards the back of the handle (closest to the motors). Those handles have been something that Iāve been thinking about trying to recreate on my DIY build.
My little bully Cleo checking out the R2 before we went for a group ride with it. Itās a REALLY nice board. I really didnāt believe that those hubs/urethane would be as comfortable to ride as they were. Glad I purchased it.
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Bad engineering? Thanks for the insult pal.
Apart from making it easy to pick up the board, the handles are a structural part of the deck. Designed to prevent flexibility at wheelbase centre, this reinforcement strengthens the core and prevents the battery from being damaged from everyday stressors that occur when Riding up to 54km/h
Moving the handle 2 - 3 inches to the rear, simply to balance the board when you carry it makes it look wierd/imbalanced. But worse than that it allows the deck to flex more, slightly off centre, directly in the middle of the battery pack, which is VERY BAD engineering.
Any designer or engineer will tell you that most projects have āfunction-over-formā constraints that control what is possible, sometimes sacrifices must be made. In this case board balance, when walking around with it in hand, took 2nd priority over structural, performance, longevity and reliability factors.
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What a weird way to go to gain strength in that direction. I canāt really see how it does that. Do you have some pictures?
If you look back at the posts in the raptor thread I said the same thing last year already. Not an insult in my mind. It is apparently not correctly balanced and that makes it unfit for the job (I donāt have a raptor so I base this completely on the review that was linked). Rest seems like a great board. There are a number of ways you could have taken care of structural integrity of the deck so that is no excuse.
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Jason please, thatās childish. A handle that is not balanced is badly engineered. Thatās the point of a handle, to carry a board without too much stress. Attacking people cause they point out a flaw of the board doesnāt seem very mature, especially taking as example their first diy board. My cousin used to do the same, when somebody criticized him, instead of understanding he criticized back. But he was 3 y/o. If your deck has problems sustaining oneās weight, you shouldnāt rely on the handles to fix this issue. Good engineering means you get working handles and no stress on the battery. Bad engineering means you have handles but can barely use them cause theyāre in a useless spot, and at that point you can just call them āreinforcement metal barsā. Not only you canāt see your (overall good) boardās flaws, but you attack people who try to help you. As we say in Italy, āyou stepped on a shit this timeā. Be more professional please, you arenāt a diyer anymore, Jason. P.s. Jason deleted one comment. The āchildishā refers to the fact that he took a pic of Maxidās first build to make fun of his āengineering skillsā
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Very well written review Micky, thanks! Looking forward to part deux.
Imo, the handles on the Raptor 2 seem to be a solution to a problem that never existed.
Would have looked heaps better with none at all.
If it (Raptor 2) had been specād with an integrated cutout deck for the electronics that couldnāt be swapped easily to another deck, the handles, not the lack of them, would definitely be a deal breaker for me.
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If people are trying to help why not list specific instructions on how to solve the problem? Instead of insults!
Saying āBad engineeringā is not helpful? Itās trolling. My trolling policy is to fire back and be equally insulting.
Furthermore, Saying there are plenty of ways to resolve the problem, without listing them is idiotic, it is not helpful.
A true professional would provide a detailed response on how a problem can be solved. They might also choose to structure their critical thoughts in the form of a question.
Example:
"Hi Jason, love the raptor 2, wish the handle was balanced, wondering why you didnāt:
- Make the handle longer.
- Reposition the handle (not an option)
- Make lighter motors (not an option)
- Remove the kick tail (not an option)
- Make the nose heavier.
- Use heavier battery.
this is called constructive criticism / feedback that deserves a proper response.
Thanks for the uneducated nonsense feedback, You have never held the board have you, what exactly prevents the handles from being usedā¦
I like where the handles are, they are 1000% better than every board without handles, they are there for many reasons which I have clearly explained.
@sirdiff Iāll give respect when itās deserved but you and your freind simply donāt deserve it. You and your trolling freind can go and find some one else to āhelpā
P.s. if you ever need professional enginnering help on a project let me know Iāll gladly help and I wonāt insult you during the process either.
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Calling yourself a professional engineer because you made a skateboard and have no formal qualifications is trolling at its finest.
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This is where youāre mistaken. Youāre not a single scrub on a diy forum, youāre Enertionās face. And I can ensure you that Evolveās face and Boostedās face would NOT act like this. Just say āwe donāt agreeā and stop it there. Nobody cares about small discussions like this, but if you want to play with the big guys you have to act like them, and not waste your time looking at diyersā old builds just to troll. At least not with your main public account.
Youāre on a DIY forum, heās not a true professional, and iām not one either. Weāre just pointing out what people believe to be flaws (I did not try it, I read a couple of reviews. I didnāt come here insulting in the first place). His option was āreposition the handleā, which was in your list too. Making the battery or the board heavier would be nonsense, thatās already heavy enough. I appreciate the handles, i think itās a great addition. But theyāre not perfect, and they should be. Itās not rocket engineering, itās handles, and normal boards should work even without their support. Make them longer, if you think itās possible. I donāt have measurements, qualifications nor time to help you, but iām sure your team can do just a bit better, thatās all.
And no, heās not my friend. We havenāt even ever talked to each other. I just see a great potential in the raptor 2 and think it should be as good as it can get. And i wish Enertion the best to compete in this market that is getting flooded with chinese garbage or overpriced hipster stuff.
Iām not very good at engineering, but if you need help for public relations, just let me know. Iāll gladly help you 
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never said i was a professional engineer, believe it or not, i have a team of enginners and we are keen to help people with legitimate esk8 design problems.
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Iām myself an engineer and this kind of conversation is so boring, Iām sure Jason and the team look a millions ways to put the handles before to put as it is right know, Iām sure they had a lot of better solutions, but they need to choose the one donāt add much weight to the board, donāt add much cost to the customers, dont add much complexity to the supplier, because they needed to bring this project to life and not make an utopic board that never see the light.
If the handles adds stiff and longevity to the board and they are cheap to produce, who cares if the balance is a little to the ass?
There are not perfect proyects but you always do as perfect as you can, no one can says Jason had no passion at work, you only attack him because, he is a winner and he is proud of it, he is often right and he is proud of it, he has more money than you, your are fanboys of belt drive system, you are fanboys of carvon or other brands, you are childrenās, you are trolls, yo want your board before your birthday, he speeds up one video, you donāt like his answers, etc, etc, etc.
grow up and stop trolling!
Jason thanks about being a CEO talking to the people and not hiding, please dont change because of loosers and trolls, Iām saying this because this must be the reason behind CEOs never talk to customers.
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tfw jason shows up to a thread that has any criticism of an enertion product
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You are so wrongā¦you are a slave, you have been institutionalised & brainwashed by an Orwellian government propaganda machine. Following is not a viable strategy. Wake UP!
Want my advice? Everyone should be true to themselves, say what they believe, back it up with facts & try to be nice to others.
I donāt highly value those opinions from people who have minimal experience in a particular field, who focus their negative energy and publicly insult & belittle people about what they have perceived to be engineering flaws. Especially when they have no understanding or first-hand experience with the product design or development & when they offer no new ideas to help improve the problem.
If you want to have an engineering debate, be intelligent, bring some evidence and clearly define your arguments.
There is no need for the insults.
http://img.picturequotes.com/2/615/614687/freedom-of-speech-quote-13-picture-quote-1.jpg
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i donāt get why you had to call him a 3yo to make your point. kind of a dick move.
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someone who has actually designed a product right here.
Wow. You do miss a engineer to make those handles functional but most of all you should look for a public relations manager.
Im still holding off on making an order on the raptor since the season is over here anyways and I want to see how the board survives the first customers testing it. It looks good by now but the āIām all knowing superior to youā attitude of the management is frightening. Wonder what happens if a receive a board with problems or get problems with it and enertion just claims itās my error since they never make any mistakes.
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Yeah I canāt wait to see the response when people have issues with the Raptor 2ā¦I wonder if it will be āyou idiots are obviously using it wrong because you donāt even know how to correctly skate.ā
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i got to ride the R2 and can offer some feedback. I use my board every day to do almost everything. Going to the laundromat, getting some groceries, getting to/from work, going to friends houses, going out for coffee or a beerā¦doing this with the R2 would blow. Its like a pickup truck. Tons of fun, super cool, but a painus in the anus as a practical means of transportation. it was heavy and cumbersome, off balance, and the owner was experiencing issues inside both hubs as well as will the urethane breaking apart. Its not that you wont see this issues on a diy board with similar parts, you just wont be paying a premium for the issues.
I watched R2 Videos and really can feel efforts into making and designing. I want to buy one even if handle is not there at all. I donāt give a ef about handle seriously.
but I donāt understand the Jasonās take on āBad Designā as an insult. Cuz it is not. It is true that the board is not balanced when you hold by the handle. itās a valid point. Rather than calling those people āSlaveā, why donāt you man up? you couldāve stoped at āitās part of structural supportā It really sounds like in denial afterwords.
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