Fitting a Bafang (or other) motor into Bosch designed frame

[Eddy Swindell]

Dear all,
I have a beautiful Riesse and Muller ebike with a Bosch motor. It's out of warranty and broken and I have the option to buy another Bosch motor for £600ish. I'm a bit / lot vexed about not being able to replace a torque sensor, a job that seems to me should be fairly simple - not a £600 job. With this vexed-ness (sp) I would love to consider keeping my bike but being free from Bosch. I see Bafang are now making motors that require frames to be built around the motor - like this: https://www.bafang-e.com/en/components/component/motor/mm-g530200.html . This seems to be a mounting bracket: https://www.bafang-e.com/en/components/component/accessoires/fp-g530.html

Has anyone thought about how these motors could be fitted to Bosch designed frames. It strikes me that as these bikes age there are going to be many more vexed bike owners like me with bikes out of waranty that with problems that currently require a new motor at £600ish.

Also in the light of warranties being invalidated as the latest Bosch software detects the use of "tampering" devices, there must be potential huge interest in fitting "open source" motors to Bosch designed frames. (please no discussion on ethics / law as many people, like me have fitted such devices just for off road fun).

I really appreciate any help working out if this is possible.

Can anyone help create an adapter?

Best

Eddy

 

[soundwave]

it can be done but a custom bracket will be needed to be made but you then might have problems with the chain line ect.

www.performancelinebearings.com


he maybe able to help but imo depends if he has parts motors do come up now and then but mostly on the german ebay.

 

[Eddy Swindell]

Thank you. I will contact them asap.

 

[wheeliepete]

I've had that exact thought myself of fitting that motor into a Bosch motor frame. If I had the cash to spare I would deff. give it a go. I think in the nearish future out of warranty quality bikes like your R+M will appear with broken motors and it may become a cheaper option. I think the main problem will be keeping enough of the original Bosch mounting to maintain frame integrity and avoiding needing to heat treat it, which would be expensive.
As SW said, give Pete a call, he may well be able to get your Bosch up and running again.

 

[Eddy Swindell]

Thanks. An adapter would be ideal but at the moment I dont know enough about the dimensions to work out if it is a viable option. How far did you get with your thoughts / research? I think it would be a very smart move by Bafang to make this transition easy.

I'm in contact with Pete now about spares.

 

[wheeliepete]

How far did you get with your thoughts / research?

Not that far really, I work better with stuff in front of me, but certainly worth looking at the dimensions of both motors. My initial thoughts on an adapter is that it would throw the motor too low to be viable, plus I don't think Bafang would entertain such a thing, but I get your point. Now if they had developed their new range of mid motors with the same mounting points as Bosch, well.........

 

[soundwave]

i have seen a shimano motor on a bosch frame lapp carbon think it was on embn and a pro riders bike but the chain was cutting in to the chain stay like a saw.

imo unless you have the machines to make the parts yourself it wont be viable cost wise.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I am another who has thought about the bracket thing - I want a 48v motor for a cargo trike and my own choice of battery.

The easy way is to go to a top end welding shop and have them cut the Bosch bracket out and weld the Bafang one in. My second idea being that as cargo trikes are not high volume series to convince the manufacturer to weld in a Bafang bracket from new.

 

[wheeliepete]

You still have the problem of re-heat treating the frame to put strength back into the re welded area if you go with aluminum. This process is expensive, esp. if done on a one off basis. It could be an easier and cheaper option to go with a steel frame and fabricate a mounting plate to suit.

 

[Eddy Swindell]

Thanks all. I'm going to measure up dimensions and chain line at the weekend. I'll post my thoughts on viability of the creation of a bracket.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Here you go:

https://lunacycle.com/bafang-ultra-magnesium-motor-ebike-mid-drive/

 

[Eddy Swindell]

Pete at https://www.performancelinebearings.com got my bike running again today.

What a fantastic, super helpful chap. I 110% recommend Pete for any ebike motor repairs. I'll continue to investigate fitting a different motor.... But in a more relaxed manner

 

[wheeliepete]

That's great news Eddy, he has certainly come across as a very helpful guy on the forum, albeit in a business manner, and has obviously put a lot of time, money and effort into providing a service that the manufacturers have no interest in at present. I certainly wish him all the best.

 

[thebear1496]

Hey Eddy,

Did you manage to make an adaptor to fit the ultra into the cx mountings?

 

[Eddy Swindell]

Hi there. No I didn't take this any further. I found a brand new motor for sale on ebay. The German seller seems to have an inexhaustible supply of new motors with small defects i. E. One mount slightly damaged but not so damaged that it isn't useable. Now I have a new motor and my old one as a spare.

 

[soundwave]

Hi there. No I didn't take this any further. I found a brand new motor for sale on ebay. The German seller seems to have an inexhaustible supply of new motors with small defects i. E. One mount slightly damaged but not so damaged that it isn't useable. Now I have a new motor and my old one as a spare.

https://www.performancelinebearings.com/

he now sells motors and can also fix them if needed

 

[Bearing Man]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Just to let you know Bosch will be supporting the Performance Line range of motors for the next 10 years. And we certainly have enough parts and motors to keep going for a few years yet!
For those of you looking for open source motors, we may have a solution for your current motors in the pipeline. Bit top secret at the moment though

 

[soundwave]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Just to let you know Bosch will be supporting the Performance Line range of motors for the next 10 years. And we certainly have enough parts and motors to keep going for a few years yet!
For those of you looking for open source motors, we may have a solution for your current motors in the pipeline. Bit top secret at the moment though

 

[xander02]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Just to let you know Bosch will be supporting the Performance Line range of motors for the next 10 years. And we certainly have enough parts and motors to keep going for a few years yet!
For those of you looking for open source motors, we may have a solution for your current motors in the pipeline. Bit top secret at the moment though

Did you manage to get any further with this? I would love to swap out my Bosch active line plus on my commuter and change to the Bafang ultra but I expect I’ll need a mount that works with the new Bafang motor? I reluctant to go down the welding route

thanks

 

[Bearing Man]

Not yet, my tame electronics guru wasn't as tame as I thought