ebikebatteries.co.uk update

[soundwave]

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Dear Customer
To all our current, previous and prospective customers,

eBike Batteries will no longer be trading for an indefinite
period. My father Jimmy is in ill-health and without his
guidance I cannot run the company as a solo venture.

In the interests of transparency and candidness, Jimmy had
prostate cancer back in 2017 and although he was able to over-
come that hurdle, unfortunately he has neglected his health in
more recent times and the cancer has re-emerged in a more
aggressive form.

We are hoping with the help of his doctors who will
formulate a course of treatment - and that with time, patience
and a bit of luck - he will overcome this ordeal as well.

For those customers who have recently sent us their batteries
for re-celling, these will be returned to you in due course.

We will regretably also not be able to offer any kind of
assistance for customers whose batteries we have worked on and
have since developed a fault, irrespective of whether or not
there is a warranty.

For those customers whose batteries have developed a fault
within the 12-month warranty period, and depending on how
Jimmmy's recovery progresses, we will seek to backdate and
honour any warranty claims that would have otherwise lapsed.

Please note that I have just returned to work from the summer
break, so if you are awaiting the return of your battery,
please rest assured that this will be dealt with promptly upon
my return to the UK.

I thank you for your patience and understanding during this
difficult time.

Kind regards,

Cem ('Jem')
Company Director

eBike Batteries

ebikebatteries.co.uk

 

[Nealh]

My thoughts are with Jimmy .

 

[saneagle]

Me too. He made a battery for me. As we get older, we're exposed to more and more people getting serious health issues. It always makes me sad and think of my own vulnerability.

 

[Bikes4two]

Jeez, I feel for Jimmy and his family and all those many others in a similar situation.

There's lots of things in life that can come along and bite you in the ass and prostate cancer is one of the meaner ones.

So fellas, narrow the odds and get screened regularly (and gals, nag your man lots n lots).

 

[Nealh]

It's not just prostate but bowel as well, I have a heridtary bad gene in my DNA so have screening annually as I'm in a high risk group as are likely my two brothers .
Both my mum and sister had the gene and both died youngish 52 & 49 respectively, my mum's younger brother died from the C at 44 several years before her.

 

[guerney]

Jimmy has been taken ill

There was a long post about Jimmy with photos, ostensibly written by his son, but it was deleted within minutes of being posted earlier tonight.

 

[cemo330]

I am his son, Cem. I wrote that post. Does the moderator not believe me? Must I produce Jimmy's death certificate or something?

There was a long post about Jimmy with photos, ostensibly written by his son, but it was deleted within minutes of being posted earlier tonight.

 

[guerney]

I am his son, Cem. I wrote that post. Does the moderator not believe me?

I've read new users have long posts automatically flagged and held by this forum's software. As a new user, I'm sure a series of shorter posts wouldn't be flagged.

 

[guerney]

@cemo330 -Many here have spoken very highly of your father. You and I had a phone conversation, when I enquired about a pulse charger about a year and a half/two years ago. Jimmy had moved to Cyprus. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. I can't remember much about your post, it was snatched away by the system too quickly. I recall you saying Jimmy's condition deteriorated rapidly after kidney surgery, post daily dialysis, something about suspected undiagnosed Aspergers due to his ability to hyperfocus for days without food or sleep, consultancy for the government, and that Jimmy was souping up some sort of already high powered Subaru ImpressYa for his motor racing hobby. You mentioned liquidation of the business, and that you had decided not to renew the ebikebatteries.co.uk domain name. I was about to look at the photos you uploaded, but then the system removed your post. If you PM me your long post, I'd be happy to upload it. Alternatively, a series of shorter posts would probably be allowed by the system. Keep a record of them, and if any posts are automatically deleted, you can PM them to me to post.

 

[guerney]

As sent to me by @cemo330 via PM:

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dad Ünver "Jimmy" Rüstem, AKA The Battery Guru/Expert.

Dad finally succumbed to that wretched disease last Friday at UCH surrounded by myself, my mum and my younger brother. He was 75.

As many of you know, Jimmy started re-celling and repairing ebike batteries sometime in the early to mid-'10s, right up until the beginning of this year before he went to Cyprus for his prostate cancer treatment. Unfortunately on the day he was supposed to have his second nuclear treatment sometime in June, his blood test came back showing one of his kidneys was immanently failing. Long story short, following numerous bouts of dialysis, dad had to have a permanent nephrostomy tube fitted to his working kidney and sadly this signalled the beginning of the end; from that day on he was permanently in acute pain, lost his appetite (he was never a good eater anyway) and subsequently started to lose weight.

With the ensuing weight loss he could no longer be treated (he had Stage 4 prostate cancer before going to Cyprus anyway) and he then returned to the UK in September, barely able to walk.

It's been absolutely crushing witnessing the slow, tortured demise of a man who was so full of life and still had so much to give.

Jimmy LOVED his work - he was grounded in electronics since his youth, and I actually believe he had undiagnosed Asperger's/autism: he could work for hours on a PCB - in a state of complete, uninterrupted hyper-focus - no food, no drink. He would barely eat unless I, my uncle or my aunt fed him. When he was on his own (Covid, weekends), God only knows what little sustenance he got by on. For him, it was a case of "man against machine". He had amazingly steady hands and could work under a microscope for long periods of time.

That technical gene must have skipped a generation with my brother and I - the cursory knowledge of batteries I accumulated over the years working with dad was purely from listening to the countless hours of phone calls, whereby he'd deliver one of his infamously lengthy "tech lectures" to the poor, unsuspecting sod on the other end!

Sadly, I never had the gift or passion for electronics that Jimmy had - he didn't have the patience to teach me and I didn't have the disposition nor constitution to be brow-beaten into learning.

But dad was old school - he believed he was part of a dying breed (admittedly not the best turn of phrase under the circumstances); he resented the cynical, modern-day trend of disposing of a part just to sell a whole new part. Instead, he believed in diagnosing the fault down to component level and fixing it, so the end user didn't have to spend their hard-earned unnecessarily. Oftentimes he said he was giving back to the community and was proud of his moral stance and business ethics.

I loved the rapport he built up with so many customers over the years, and the reverence in which he was held. It filled - and still fills me - with immense pride. It was something I became accustomed to as far back as my childhood when dad had a TV/VCR repair shop, then a satellite installation business (where he'd also repair Sky digiboxes) and then BGA re-working where he trained numerous High-Tech Police Forensic Crime Units, who would travel from far and wide. Whatever he turned his hand to, he did it with finesse, aplomb and to the very highest level.

The business has obviously been wound down and in due course I will officially liquidate the company (I've not renewed the website domain and I've terminated the phone number and email). I'm afraid any outstanding warranties/repairs cannot be honoured as I quite simply do not have the skillset or expertise - sorry.

I've taken the liberty of uploading some shots of dad down the years. Despite being a battery expert, Jimmy was ironically an avid petrolhead: he enjoyed moderate success throughout the '70s and '80s in his native North Cyprus, where he was part of the club-level rally scene. He was too much of a workaholic to ever make a career of it, but even into his 70s he ALWAYS drove it like he stole it and was an absolute menace on the roads!

One of the saddest aspects of dad's untimely passing is that he never managed to fulfil his final, automotive wish - to compete in the WRC of Cyprus. A few years ago he purchased a Subaru Impreza WRX STi project rally car that was halfway through being converted into Group N spec before the owner ran into health issues (oh the irony) and had to sell. Dad subsequently spent thousands to complete the car but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

As for me - in a bid to change career path as I approach my mid-40s, I've been volunteering in the British Superbike Championship as a social media/PR person for the last two years. It's a tough nut to crack finding a paid position in such a cliquey industry, but I'm determined to succeed.

I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to all our customers down the years - it was a blast while it lasted."

Cem ('Jem')

 

[Nealh]

How very sad to hear of Jimmy's passing , condolences to you Cem and the extended family of a much loved one.
There will be many of us who have met Jimmy and spoken to him thru his work on batteries.
From my part I still remember my two visits to see Jimmy , his knowledge and expertise was captivating . He had an endless ability to keep any interested audience listening without ant tedium attached.

RIP
Jimmy.