Leansteer coupling

[Jendrik]

Hello,
I wonder if someone of you ever had to repair the leanstear-coupling. I recognized that my leanstear feels a bit softer to push to the left and the right as at the beginning when I bought it. I rode about 450 miles with ist.

Jendrik

[Sal]

Can you elaborate by what you mean by "softer"? Because there have been several times, when I have had to adjust and retighten my leansteer at the base because the brass couplings slipped.

Please do fill us in because we'd all like to see you continue to glide safely without incident.

-Sal

[Jendrik]

...when I´m talking of softer I mean that the leanStear is not as stiff as at the beginning. The brass couplings did not slip.

[safety1st]

...when I´m talking of softer I mean that the leanStear is not as stiff as at the beginning. The brass couplings did not slip.

We find the springs are not as "stiff" after some use too. This seems to be normal and does not effect the steering. The only thing we have noticed is when on a slope side ways the lean steer leans by it self a little more but that's even hard to detect because if you do not hold it perpendicular the earth level it will turn anyway. I do not believe it is anything to be concerned with. I just went out on the floor and test news ones vs our demo and the demos are little softer but that is to be expected with use.

David Ford
Texas Segway

[Jendrik]

...I am curious what you find out when you compare the new ones with the used ones.
I found out that there is no spring in the leanstear. It´s a kind of elastomere :
http://www.designnews.com/contents/images/CA6368834_SWF.swf
I have been told that this is made in Britain.

Jendrik

[hellphish]

I would imagine a rubbery spring would wear faster than a metal one.

[Sal]

...I am curious what you find out when you compare the new ones with the used ones.
I found out that there is no spring in the leanstear. It´s a kind of elastomere :
http://www.designnews.com/contents/images/CA6368834_SWF.swf
I have been told that this is made in Britain.

Jendrik

You're right in that there isn't a classic spring in the coupling, it is a rubber bushing fused to the metal coupler and the interior assembly. I'd imagine that different kinds of usage levels would make the "break in" period shorter than other use times. I have ridden on machines whose leansteer were much less "stiff" than others, and it's just like anything, much control, easier steering.

These gen 2's have a different break in than the gen 1's, whose broken in machines had a different feel altogether (both in ride as well as steering).

-Sal

[KSagal]

I agree that I have always been under the impression that the "springiness" is not a spring at all.

There is a rubber like cone, that is electrically aware of the stresses on it when twisted. THe springiness is basically the memory of the shape of that cone. If you remove the force applied when you push one side of the leansteer handlebar, the memory of that cone shape returns the leansteer to perpenticular to the platform.

I also beleive the amount of turn presented to the circuit boards is determined by this cone and it's changes of resistance on the different sides of that cone.

I know I have oversimplified the situation, but that is why there are no metal springs. It does seem that some softening of that rubber memory may be expected, as long as it does not affect the electronic characteristics.

[PeteInLongBeach]

My recollection of the engineering description of the leansteer design is that it is a torsion rubber coupling (kind of like a suspension arm bushing on cars only bigger). The engineers preferred the feel and response of rubber over that of a metal spring. I would expect the rubber to soften a bit with age and use, resulting in a bit less resistence.

The rubber coupling has nothing to do with the electronic steering input, it's only a spring medium. The electronic input is a sensor in the coupling, much like the sensor in the gen1 twist grip. Conceptually, they just moved the twist grip sensor to the base.

[Jendrik]

..I heard that the factory which produces this torsion rubber coupling has much experience in manufacturing rubber-dampers.
Well, until there are no complaints yet about defective leanstear-rubbers and nobody had them to be replaced by now it should be ok.

[terryp]

I also beleive the amount of turn presented to the circuit boards is determined by this cone and it's changes of resistance on the different sides of that cone.
Actually, tilt is determined by a precision dual potentiometer. It's completely separate from the elastomer spring.

[KSagal]

It seems my understanding of the hardware of the leansteer controls is not the same as many others...

I have no reason to believe that those who have posted that my understanding of the components was wrong are not accurate, so I stand corrected. I did not mean to express that which is not so...