Flourman’s Grand Design Momentum 21g Build

[Cire]

What are you guys seeing for propane use with the furnace during desert season?

I haven't ran this one long enough to find out, but my previous campers I typically got about 4-5 days out of a 20lbs tank. This included running the fridge and furnace.

 

[Flourman]

Another successful run for us. We stayed off Willow Springs road, north of Moab. Boondocked for 6 days. I filled up with 85 gallons of fresh before we left (out of the 100 gallons available) and we had about 15 gallons left at the end of the week. We didn’t fill the black either but I was prepared with out ‘honey wagon’ in case it filled up.

It got below freezing all of the nights and we kept the thermostat at 64 when sleeping. Ran through one 20-pound propane tank.

I picked up a second suitcase 200W Renogy just to ease my battery anxiety and it was perfect. We had two cloud covered days and managed to charge back fully every day. On the sunny days, we were fully charged by noon. We were charging a lot of devices, watching TV on the inverter for a couple hours at night plus running the new 12v fridge.

Got 7.5MPG round trip I70 Denver-Moab-Denver. Funny thing, setting the cruise at 70 didn’t change the mileage from setting the cruise at 78. Also, for anyone traveling west to east on I70, right after Silverthorne and coming up to the Eisenhower Tunnel, stay in the middle lane. The right lane has a HUGE and HARD dip on one of the last turns prior to the tunnel. Felt like I left an axle on it.

And a shot from a run through Metal Masher on the dirt bike.

 

[NickinColorado]

Thanks! We leave tomorrow for a week. Moto all week and Moab rocks stage mtb race next weekend. I'm going to fill the tank in fruita to see if I can manage better mileage. How crazy was willow springs?

 

[Flourman]

Thanks! We leave tomorrow for a week. Moto all week and Moab rocks stage mtb race next weekend. I'm going to fill the tank in fruita to see if I can manage better mileage. How crazy was willow springs?

We pulled in on a Saturday and it wasn’t too bad. It cleared out by Monday afternoon and then was FULL when we left on Friday.

 

[4B11TX]

How do you like your Momentum? I am looking at getting a 25G.

 

[Flourman]

How do you like your Momentum? I am looking at getting a 25G.

Love it. Just got back from spending seven days in it at Moab. If there’s anything I’d change, it would be increasing the width of the living room which a 25G would do.

 

[Flourman]

A few updates:

Added a Cummins EC-AGS+ to the generator. This is a plug and play set up and allows the generator to automatically run to both charge batteries or manage cabin temp (with the AC). It won’t work with lithium batteries. The app is fairly new and quite clunky with some issues right now. After the first time running the cabin temp, it would only turn on the generator for 30 minutes and shutdown without reaching cabin temp. The first time it ran, it would cycle the generator on and off with the cabin temp. One degree above the cabin temp set point ,the generator would turn on. When it reached the cabin temp, it would turn back off. The app looked to be updating a few times through the week so I still have hope.

 

[Flourman]

Update on camping trips as well. After our week in Moab, we got out for a quick weekend at the 4-mile Recreation area.

Colorado weather and our schedule has been pretty funky with us getting like 6 inches of snow in late May.

This past week, we spent 7 days in Moab. Saw everything from just above freezing temps to 95 and 25mph winds to rain and hail, classic desert weather. This trip was not nearly as trouble free as the last trip out to Utah. I had the slide out window swing open while going through Glenwood Canyon. Luckily it just popped out of the latch (emergency exit window). Also ran about 6.8mpg with the set-up. I may have been carrying a few extra gallons of water but it could be the extra ethanol in the fuel. Didn’t seem to matter with the camper being full of water or empty.

When I got to Moab, I noticed the hair clip was missing from the receiver hitch pin. Again, luckily the pin had wedged itself and didn’t come out going down the road. The first day at Moab, the wind blew over one of my solar panels and shattered the glass.

After all of that BS, it turned out to be a great week. Rode A LOT of dirt bikes.

 

[4B11TX]

Love it. Just got back from spending seven days in it at Moab. If there’s anything I’d change, it would be increasing the width of the living room which a 25G would do.

You are lucky to be in the most beautiful part of the country. I need to make it out that way someday.

 

[NickinColorado]

@Flourman Did you buy a cover for your Momentum? Trying to find a decent quality one now to protect it from the Colorado sun when not in use.

 

[Flourman]

@Flourman Did you buy a cover for your Momentum? Trying to find a decent quality one now to protect it from the Colorado sun when not in use.

We are a bit “anti-cover” camp. I think covers are ok to prevent sun fading but they also act like a solar blanket and be a bit more detrimental to roof seems and things inside the camper.

Also it helps that our driveway is shaded. So the answer is “no”

 

[4B11TX]

@Flourman Did you buy a cover for your Momentum? Trying to find a decent quality one now to protect it from the Colorado sun when not in use.

I you want the best look at Calmark covers.

 

[Flourman]

No updates but just a camping shot….

 

[Arps]

Nice build!

 

[Flourman]

Updates from last weekend. I picked up an E-dirt bike to compliment the ICE ones. I charged the battery off of our lithium house batteries which worked well but ate up a lot of juice. It was the perfect kick to get my roof solar installed. I put in a total of 350W on the roof using the T-track method and to a Renogy Wanderer 40A controller. I actually changed my mind and ran these in series as it should be better in partial shade plus the controller can take the higher voltage.

I’ve been wanting to bite the bullet on Starlink for a while and finally did it. We went with the RV package that allows you to pause your service when you aren’t using it. I’ve been paying $130/month for my verizon hotspot with 30Gb of data and not using it. Plus Verizon is junk for service in the CO mountains. Starlink is unlimited data. Haven’t had a chance to try it out in the mountains yet but in the “waitlisted” Denver, I’m getting 25-27Mbps download and 10-16Mbps upload. Pretty darn good for a “slow” area.

 

[NickinColorado]

Nice! The Starlink addition is bad ass! We just got back from 3 weeks in British Columbia. 4000 miles round trip and the truck/trailer did awesome.

 

[Flourman]

Nice! The Starlink addition is bad ass! We just got back from 3 weeks in British Columbia. 4000 miles round trip and the truck/trailer did awesome.

That’s awesome. We are headed out to the Bronco Super Celebration next week in BV for 4 days.

 

[Flourman]

Didn’t get any pictures of the camper at Buena Vista for Bronco Super Celebration there but I sure did of the Bronco and E-bike. If any of you moto guys are wanting to take the jump, it’s well worth it iMHO but don’t expect it to be cheap.

I’ll start with the recent addition to the camper. After charging the E-bike while camping, I realized a few things:

• I ride the E-bike during the day (duh)
• Solar charges during the day (another duh)
• I have to charge the E-bike battery at night when there is no sun and solely rely on battery storage
• My current 750W of solar charge my current house batteries very quickly, leaving “wasted energy” that could be used for something else.

My solution:

• Install a 50A DC-DC/MPPT charger to maximize any generator battery charging needed.
• Install another 200Ah of battery (waiting on some cables so it’s not fully connected yet)
• Get a second, high capacity E-bike battery
• Also add Bluetooth connectivity to the DC-DC charger and the battery came with it

Totals for my camper now:

• 750W solar charging
• 470Ah of battery
• 4K W of generator power

Pictures of e-bike and the Bronco for good measure

 

[Modman]

Didn’t get any pictures of the camper at Buena Vista for Bronco Super Celebration there but I sure did of the Bronco and E-bike. If any of you moto guys are wanting to take the jump, it’s well worth it iMHO but don’t expect it to be cheap.

I’ll start with the recent addition to the camper. After charging the E-bike while camping, I realized a few things:

• I ride the E-bike during the day (duh)
• Solar charges during the day (another duh)
• I have to charge the E-bike battery at night when there is no sun and solely rely on battery storage
• My current 750W of solar charge my current house batteries very quickly, leaving “wasted energy” that could be used for something else.

My solution:

• Install a 50A DC-DC/MPPT charger to maximize any generator battery charging needed.
• Install another 200Ah of battery (waiting on some cables so it’s not fully connected yet)
• Get a second, high capacity E-bike battery
• Also add Bluetooth connectivity to the DC-DC charger and the battery came with it

Totals for my camper now:

• 750W solar charging
• 470Ah of battery
• 4K W of generator power

View attachment 61391
Pictures of e-bike and the Bronco for good measure

View attachment 61392
View attachment 61393View attachment 61394

Curious to hear you thoughts on the Segway E-bike!

 

[Flourman]

Curious to hear you thoughts on the Segway E-bike!

Short answer is that I love it.

Here’s the long answer:

Last summer I rented one because I’ve been a long time fan of electric motors and the availability of instant torque, specifically while dirt bike trail riding. The bike I rented last year had an upgraded controller, ran a 19” front wheel and 16” rear wheel. It was fun and “neat” but wasn’t ready to replace a dirt bike yet.

Fast forward to this spring. My wife had decided she was not going to ride her dirt bike any longer after breaking her leg. I found a local person that wanted to trade straight across. It already came with some upgrades so that was cool. Just like everything I own, I dumped way more money into it and now have a REALLY fun bike that almost takes the place of a regular dirt bike. What I also found is that e-bike technology and industry knowledge has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year.

I’m running a 21/18 combo on wheel/tire with a big rear sprocket and upgraded brakes. I’m running a BAC8000 controller and a pair of high output batteries to enable me to swap back and forth. I can safely run up to 11k watts with one battery and 11.5k watts with the other battery. This thing is truly a single track weapon. It’s light (maybe 150 lbs), lots of torque and VERY easy to control. Where this thing doesn’t do well is where once needs a lot of power to the ground like in a sand wash or dunes. While it has the power, it drains the battery FAST. Which is no different than a regular dirt bike in those scenarios.

In single track, it sips battery. Downhills, it is set to regen so I can get battery back and I have the regen set to where it’s gives the same reaction as just barely dragging the rear brake. In single track, one doesn’t need all the power available, just the torque and a bit after that so power levels can be dropped and battery saved. The controller I have, I can have up to 20 different power/speed settings set up and if I want to change those, I just connect with Bluetooth and do it. I’ve got a custom tune done on the controller as well so that helps apply power. The super neat thing, is that I can get custom tunes downloaded through a remote connection.

The other neat thing is that I can set up the tune where my son and wife can ride it without having it rip their arms off. A quick 20 seconds and I can limit power and speed so it’s completely manageable for them.

I can more or less lay this in the back of the Tremor with the topper on and not worry about gas spilling all over.

I won’t get rid of a traditional dirt bike because the e-bike can’t do the high speed desert stuff yet. I think they’ll get there but I LOVE 6th gear sand whoop blasting on a dirt bike. Plus the extra weigh of the dirt bike helps keep it controllable in those situations.