Viper motors
 

Just curious, who makes them? They look a lot like Tekin motors to me.

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...less-Motor-75T

Surprisingly, the company is based in Washington.
http://www.viper-rc.com
Looks like a Tekin clone to me, but based in the US? They have to have some sort of affiliation or deal with Tekin or I see lawsuit, they are way too similar to me. Not only the same can design but also the same colors? People need to get more original these days, all it is is copy copy copy.. :no:

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see it as such a big deal since Tekin's are 1/8 and these are 1/10 (and don't look anything like Tekin 1/10). Maybe they can be accused of being unoriginal and trying to ride on Tekin's coattails, but not steal their 1/8 motor customers. I think Leopard is worse since they look exactly the same AND are competing with Castle for the same 1/8 motor market.

Viper R/C is supposed to be releasing a 1/8 ESC and motors soon though. I'll reserve my judgment for when those come out. If the 1/8 look like a Tekin clone then I'll take issue.

I don't see the big deal either. Those are 1/10 motors and I like the beefy look. I'm waiting on the dual fet board 1/10 ESC's to mess around with. I too am waiting for the 1/8 stuff.

I saw you posting on the RC Tech threads. The amount of copper in the solder tabs does look impressive, hopefully the 1/8 motors will follow suit with. I do hope the 1/8 motors have their own styling different from the 1/10 though, so there aren't any issues with being accused of cloning Tekin for the 1/8 market.

In the newest A-main promo email Viper R/C was the headline item. Big picture with slogan that reads "THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING" I think they are nice looking motors, but unless they have some serious tricks up their sleeve I think that's some marketing exaggeration.

The copper is one of the things that got me interested in their stuff. The ESC metal casing is nice as is the multifunctional programmer. I just need one of them to do a burnout and see if it holds up. My other buddies can play around with the other features and compare it against the other 1/10 ESC's on the market.

Tekin also makes 1/10 motors and they look identical to these motors. But for a company that has pretty much never been heard of these motors aren't cheap. I seen them on AMain for about $83, You can pick up a Tekin or Novak for about $5 more and at least those are known companies.

Personally I can't wait for a Castle spec class motor line!

I know Tekin makes 1/10 motors, but none I've seen look anything like the Viper 1/10. Can you post a link or pic?

Castle and Tekin were unknown newcomer companies at one time too. If people never gave new companies a chance they wouldn't be where they are today.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVDA6&P=7

Viper cans are black instead of silver other that how much of a difference is there?

Well, they probably have their motors licensed like what Castle did to the Neu motors. This is actually good for hobbyists since there will be more choices and prices will come down significantly.

Copy or not, it's up to the compannies to win their customers with other things such as excellent customer service like Castle does.

You could say that about a ton of different 1/10 motors, including accepted names like Novak and Trinity. They are a spec'd to fit the rules, they can only do so much to change things. Any differences are generally subtle, like the Viper has different endbell design and different solder tabs, and that's without seeing the backplate or sensor package to see if there are any differences there.

When I look at these two pics I don't see how a Viper 1/10 is trying to copy a Tekin 1/10 motor

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...vipermotor.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...nredlinebl.jpg

the viper doesnt even look that much like tekins off road motors, i think people are just seeing a reslimblance between the color law out and jumping the shark

personaly, i going to buy one for my onroad and see for my self if they are worth the $80

so far from what i have seen they look great and i have spent more for bad motors, ie orion and speed pasion

Are there any pics of the 1/8 scale motors and esc floating around? I tried searching, didn't find anything. The 1/10 scale stuff looks good enough though..

Thomas G

I am comparing their looks more to the Tekin 1/8th scale motors. (don't want to link directly in the forums due to the image size). The endbell is almost identical IMO and the engraving is in the same color in the same area of the motor. Maybe I'm just being overzealous. :oops:

Tekin:
http://www.teamtekin.com/product%20p...in-T8-1002.jpg

I agree they do look like a Tekin 1/8, but since they are 1/10 they aren't trying to steal Tekin's 1/8 business. If you can accuse them of anything it's trying to ride on Tekin's coattails (although the big "VIPER" with pic on the side of the motor clearly shows it's not a Tekin), but I don't see that as bad as directly competing and copying like the Leopard Hobby vs. Castle thing.