My first eBike

[toolonglegs]

What a freaking monstrosity!
Got given it yesterday, it was for sale at our club organized bike sale. He had €150 on it but with the mudguards and spare batteries hanging off it plus a key broken in the ignition it didn't look very inviting.
Aim is to put it back together and sell it giving the money to the club.
Apparently runs well... Another guy rode it round to my place...pedal assist to 25kmph.
Should I leave it at that or hack it?.
Got to get the key out. Put some smoother tyres on. Will have to give it a good ride with both batteries etc to know the range

[Recycler]

Be careful, you might like it.

[eldavo]

That frame is relatively desirable for the tinkering types because it cradles the battery, so when the battery dies it's easy to drop in your own pack sitting by gravity then fastened down quickly/easily or more elaborate shrouds made. Rear suspension though agricultural is ripe for an upgrade replacement... it's about what you can polish it into, not what it is

[toolonglegs]

Took it for a blast yesterday ... Kids too. Even at 11 they had no problems with its weight. I tried to take it up a steep tiny climb but no go. The battery power drops a lot when in use then goes back up when not... So obviously would fail the load test. Saying that it is pancake flat here and would be no trouble for getting around the shops. The pedal assist is instant.
Wondering what sort of batteries are internal and can they be repacked?
Got to say even though it is 25k Max it is quite fun. I can see what a blast a descent emtb would be.

[geebee]

Most likely would be 3x 12 volt 12 ah SLA batteries, most of the battery cases are easy to open, if you get new batteries make shure they are deep cycle ones or there life will be very short.

[toolonglegs]

Geebee is on the money.


Will do a search on price... Don't know if it is worth it though.
Any recommendations?

[cj7hawk]

Ebay is cheap, and you will have a little trouble with that form factor - If you want something good, look for a Lithium pack - You can get far more from an equivalent Lithium pack. That will give it some serious range if you do that -

Regards
David

[eldavo]

Beware batteries are highest cost of electric and you can instantly overcapitalise if not intending to keep it to use for much of their life.

Get EOI’s for value without new batts, new owner can choose their investment, rather than locking yourself in.

[toolonglegs]

Yeah 3 batteries will be about €100. Suppose it depends what I would get for it... kids could enjoy riding it around for a while to get the moneys worth out of them . No hurry any way as winter isn't far away ... no one will be riding much till March / April.

[silentbutdeadly]

Just polish it up and move it on. Don't worry about replacing the batteries...just use it a few times (discharge/recharge) over the winter and it'll be fine when the sale time comes around. If you make the wheel bearings move like custard on glass and fit low rolling resistance tyre then it'll make the thing feel like it has been turbo charged.

On a side note...that 'suspension' is pitiful. Screwed up spring at the back and an RST Capa at the front. Gawd...I'd take rigid over that!!

[toolonglegs]

The beast is getting some action with my 12 year olds!
New tyres and rear mudguard... Can't mount road type guard on the front as no mounting points on fork.

[eldavo]

Oh no, you have corrupted them now
Congrats on spreading the dark side.
Weight of them still makes light bikes feel even better, so no real chance of spoiling them.

[toolonglegs]

Yeah it is an absolute tank!... You wouldn't ride it without the pedal assist. But my sons average speed is around 25 kmph... His twin sister averages about 10kmph!... So it speeds up our rides a bit when she uses it