Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha (7 Month 1600 Miles)

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
The original battery, now in its eighth year, and a motor that was replaced when the bike was two years old, under warranty and free of charge. The first motor completed 6,000 miles and the second one is now over 10,000 miles.
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
Range, home on the range....

I had a lovely ride yesterday with my son. He on the Old Nag (Oxygen Emate City of 2011 vintage), and me on my Haibike Yamaha 2015.

We rode 22 miles, mostly off road, but with a little road work to get to the first track. I tend to ride behind my son and find that on the road I can mostly keep up with no motor assistance helped by the slipstream effect.

On the homeward leg I noticed that I had ridden without assistance quite a lot and used very little of my batteries capacity. This made me worry slightly as I did not want to arrive home with an almost full battery to store, as we all know this is bad.

So, although not needing to I started to use more assistance to work the battery down a bit.

Never the less at home after riding 22 miles my battery still had 80% left!

So if I had kept riding in the same parsimonious fashion until my battery was empty, my original 400Wh battery, now in its eighth year, would have had a total range of 110 miles.

The range might have been even more if I had not started using the assistance to work the battery down a bit.

It made me smile remembering pedelec member vfr400's reply to a question about an electric bikes range, asserting that any electric bikes range was infinite if you did not use the motor!

Lies, damn lies and statistics........
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Bearing Play

Note to soundwave. On your advise I did speak to Peter at performance line bearings, and he was generally reassuring, not advising me to get the motor overhauled straight away, he told me to check the play on the main bearing by flexing the chain ring rather than the pedal arm. Peter told me that these motors are used by deliveroo and bike despatch riders in London and he has seen very high mileages on them trouble free. So I will keep a watching brief at the moment, but will get Peter to overhaul my motor when I notice play developing. He said that play only develops very slowly in the Yamaha Motor as the bearing is very robust, while in the Bosch motor once play is felt it can become worn out very quickly there after as the bearing is not as tough. I have been lucky to buy a Yamaha powered bike as their motors seem most able to cope with large mileages.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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well id say you got your moneys worth out of those bearings but the price might have to go up like everything else if you wait.

i had to pump 150 odd miles in to my new cx motor b4 the bearings broke in and could go full wack again.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
Tubeless, Sealant life

On the 12th of October last year I changed the rear tyre from a worn out Vittoria Mota G+ 2.35 to a Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 and added new Muc-Off tyre sealant.

The previous Vittoria tyre was put on in October 2020 and run tubeless (my first experience of a tubeless set up) with Muc-Off sealant. On that tyre I noticed it suddenly starting to lose pressure after riding through the winter, going soft only a couple of days after being pumped up which seemed to coincide with the temperature starting to warm up in the early Spring almost exactly six months after the tyre and sealant had been put on, and I renewed the sealant, after which the tyre stayed up as before.

Although I had no experience of running tubeless, I knew that the sealant needed to be renewed, and advise I had read implied this should be done no later than every six months. My tyre losing pressure after the sealant had been in about six months seemed to support this advise.

With the Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 I have not ever had a problem with it losing pressure and have not changed the sealant and it has continued to work as you would expect. So I have not renewed the sealant in 10 months with no sign of the tyre losing pressure as a result.

I wonder if some tyres seal better than others, the bead of the tyre with the rim of the wheel and need their sealant renewing less frequently. Despite still holding pressure so well, I wonder if the ability to resist a puncture now the sealant is 10 months old is compromised?

I perhaps should temper my love of extracting as much value as I can from parts I fit and sometimes change them before they are completely worn out!
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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it depends on the sealant but when you put it in it seals the rim like glue so if the tyre runs dry it wont go flat unless you brake the seal.

the stuff i use turns in to a rubber layer inside the tyre and after 3 years of topping up via the valve it looks like this.DSC_0183_02.JPG
DSC_0185_03.JPG

144g so it adds up.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,446
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Surrey
I do carry all the things you need to mend a tubeless puncture as well as a spar tube if all else fails, so might just carry on. The Has Dampf gravity tyre seems to tough as old nails anyway!
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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it is what i use and yep nothing has made its way through the tyre, but it could be a pita to brake the seal and get it off to fit a tube.

i just use 50mm every 3-4 months 1l lasts me at least 2 years.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
Exploring the limits of my seven and a half year old bike and battery......

Ride to Mike and back 001.JPG

I woke up this morning feeling the need for some exercise. I had an excuse, wanting to drop of a birthday present and card to a mate's house, and rather than post it, decided to drop it at his house by bike.

Ride to Mike and back 002.JPG

This would also allow me to see how well my bike and battery would cope with a long round trip. I estimated my mileage might approach 50 miles . Would I make it, or would I run out!

Ride to Mike and back 003.JPG

The trip was basically 774 feet of climbing from Godalming to Gibbet Hill at Hindhead, the second highest point in Surrey, roughly the halfway point to my friends house, then 617 ft of descending to his house. A bit of shopping and then the return trip. 617ft of climbing followed by 774 ft of descending, a bit more shopping and then finally the 241 ft of climbing back to where my house is. Phew!

Ride to Mike and back 004.JPG

I planned to conserve as much of my battery as possible to my friends house so I hopefully had a good chunk left for the ride home.

Ride to Mike and back 005.JPG

Riding very conservatively got me to my friends house with 80% of my battery remaining. I started to get a bit nervous when my battery dipped below 50% on the homeward leg. However, after my bit of shopping I still had 35% left for the 241 ft climb home.

Ride to Mike and back 006.JPG

I upped the assist level for the last hill, lovely, and arrived home with 25% left.

So, 48 miles ridden, including a lot of climbing, and 25% of my battery left when I got home, and a total range forecast of 64 miles if I had carried on. I used all my experience of using gradients where possible to ride with no assist, and only using the lowest assist, eco elsewhere.

Total mileage now stands at 16,356 miles.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,446
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Surrey
Being honest in respect of the post above, riding that far with very few breaks in eco and off and with a lot of climbing and off road meant I was pretty knackered afterwards. So yes it is possible, but for me it would only be something to do occasionally, or when needs must. nice to know you can but not something I would want to do too often.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
Anniversary of my retirement.....

Looking back through this in effect online dairy I noticed that the 12th of October 2021 was the last time I rode my Haibike to work and back.

How has my retirement effected my riding.

Initially I left The Haibike in the garage. But a check of my mileage recorded a year after that last commuting ride to work and back and my mileage had reached 16,540 on the 11th of October 2022. So I did not leave The Haibike in the garage too long, and have ridden 2,228 miles in the following year after I retired.

One thing I did after retiring was lower my gearing as I no longer needed to travel as fast on the road to get me home from work late at night. I did this simply by replacing the 42 tooth chain ring I had used while commuting to a 38 tooth one after I retired.

One happy consequence of this has been that my current rear cassette is starting to set a longevity record, as it has completed 2221 miles after the previous cassette expired at 1,810 miles. I have renewed chains a couple of times but am now letting the current chain completely wear out, to then change the whole transmission.

The longevity of the cassette is influenced by me stopping commuting, meaning less time pounding the miles in top gear.

All the rides I do are orientated to include a majority of off road riding. Though I will also often include a food shopping stop in the route.

I had a fantastic though tiring day on Tuesday when I rode to my friends house using a high proportion of off road tracks. I parked my bike in his garage and put it on charge and then my friend, two other friends and myself drove to Bosham and did a splendid walk around Chichester harbour with a nice pub stop for lunch. The walk ended up being in excess of 11 miles. Then back to my friends house and almost a repeat of the mostly off road ride home, with the anxiety of racing the setting sun and impending darkness. I just about made it as the light faded. So 36 miles on my bike and over 11 miles walked. They say it is good to keep active as you get older!
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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Autumnal

Another mostly cross country ride to my friends house, for a lovely walk to Alice Holt for a bite of lunch and walk back, and ride home.

Ride to Mike 18 10 2022 001.JPG

I am lucky that my friend lives in a great location for an up to 20 mile very beautiful and scenic mostly off road ride to his house where I can leave my bike on charge while we go for a walk, this time a walk of seven to eight miles.

Ride to Mike 18 10 2022 004.JPG

Then a return almost identical ride home with a large majority of off road.



Ride to Mike 18 10 2022 006.JPG

Forty miles ridden in total, with the bike now having completed 16,610 miles as of yesterday.
 
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esuark

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 23, 2019
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kent
Very reminiscent of the Peaslake Leith Hill area where I took part in some mountain bike events years ago, looks wonderful.
 
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georgehenry

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Nov 7, 2015
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Surrey
Your right. I live in Surrey not that far from Peaslake and the photographs are of the countryside between Godalming and Lindford in Hampshire. The mostly off road riding route includes Witley Common/ Thursley Common, with the second picture on a single track route beside Forked Pond, Warren Mere, Pond Bay and Silkmill Pond, popping out of the top of Thursley Common briefly onto a country lane to ride through the picturesque village of Thursley and up a narrow lane to connect to the bottom of The Devils Punch Bowl and Headley Common riding up a byway open to all traffic but only passable by a four wheel drive, tractor or dirt bike as a normal car would quickly get stuck. Steadily climbing through The Devils Punch Bowl, my last picture, before coming out at the top by the National Trust car park. Then a bit of road to start descending from Hindhead, through Grayshott to access Ludshott common for another large chunk of off road fun before popping out onto the road for about a mile to my friends house in Lindford. By road the journey is 15 miles but you add a few by staying off road as much as possible. A lot of terrain very similar to Peaslake.
 

josh42ad

Just Joined
Oct 22, 2022
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You’re an absolute legend, George. I’m across the pond in Iowa, US and your battery connector thread has given me hope I can resurrect my battery, which only has a busted pin in the battery. Your updates and thorough posts are valued across the world!

I’ve got the part I need, the M12 4 Pin (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0877YG7KZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) and I’m trying to figure out exactly how to go about figuring what wire goes where. If you know anyone or if you have any pics/info about color coding and matching the wires to pins I will pay for this info, I’m just looking for a bit of a confidence boost by knowing thoroughly what the process is before opening the battery.

Sorry for off topic, just saw a recent thread with you in it and wanted to thank you and pick your brain a bit.

Thanks, again you’re an absolute legend, unreal how Haibike/Yamaha takes green technology and throws all the environmental benefits out the window completely with their absurd policies.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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West Sx RH
GH had better be careful :eek:, I thought folks have to be dead to be a leg end :D.
 

georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
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1,264
Surrey
Thanks Nealh, I am definitely getting old enough to be a leg end!

josh42ad, we did not take any pictures when we opened up the battery.

A fellow American posted on my Yamaha Battery/Charger Problem thread, spiwrx, who made a neater repair than my friend and I, and also took some pictures, and noted;

"In case its helpful my (US) charger wire color codes / pinout:
Charger | Battery
Yellow | Blue
Black | Black
Red | Red
Blue | White"

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/yamaha-battery-charger-problem.31092/page-4

Nealh is a far more technically able repairer than me, I am more a bodge it man, and too tight not to have a go at repairing my battery/charger connectors rather than lay down £800 to buy new ones.

My battery and charger have now powered my bike and I for over 7,500 miles since the repair!

If I manage to ride the bike another 1,500 miles it will have done as many miles after the repair as before!
 

josh42ad

Just Joined
Oct 22, 2022
4
0
Thanks Nealh, I am definitely getting old enough to be a leg end!

josh42ad, we did not take any pictures when we opened up the battery.

A fellow American posted on my Yamaha Battery/Charger Problem thread, spiwrx, who made a neater repair than my friend and I, and also took some pictures, and noted;

"In case its helpful my (US) charger wire color codes / pinout:
Charger | Battery
Yellow | Blue
Black | Black
Red | Red
Blue | White"

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/yamaha-battery-charger-problem.31092/page-4

Nealh is a far more technically able repairer than me, I am more a bodge it man, and too tight not to have a go at repairing my battery/charger connectors rather than lay down £800 to buy new ones.

My battery and charger have now powered my bike and I for over 7,500 miles since the repair!

If I manage to ride the bike another 1,500 miles it will have done as many miles after the repair as before!
Thanks for the reply and the info, that should do it!

Also, thanks to soundwave for the info in that link. More proof you guys really are on another level. Let’s put another shrimp on the barbie, ol’ chap! I like to ingratiate myself into exotic cultures. And my vegan girlfriend (who has a bugger of a gluten sensitivity and rides a fixie) told me I need to engage with a more diverse crowd, so I’m knackered to bits to pop nangs with y’all islanders!
 

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