I showed my last post to my vegan gf in the hopes she would let me sleep in our bed tonight and she swiftly admonished my for being culturally insensitive. My apologies for being overzealous in appropriating the island culture, I mean no harm and if you could text my girlfriend and say what a cultured man I am and how respectful I am being it would be of huge help. I’m stuck in the laundry closet with Frida, my girlfriends’ pet gila monster…
Haibike sDuro HardSeven SL 2015 Yamaha (7 Month 1600 Miles)
- Thread starter georgehenry
- Start date
Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?
Well after a bit of nudging by soundwave and some careful flexing of the chain ring by my good self that was starting to show the beginning of play as well as some noises that I had not heard before and sounded like worn cogs to me I decided the time had arrived for my motor to take a trip to performance line bearings.
I spoke to Peter on the phone and decided that I would take the motor down to him in person. The joys of being retired and having the time to do so.
Peter has an industrial unit in Fordingbridge in the new forest, so not that far for me to travel from Surrey.
I fancied having a look around and Peter was happy to show me a very well equipped work shop with all the tools for refurbishing my motor.
While I was there he opened it up for us to have a look and he said I had judged the time to have it done just right. So a full overhaul and a few new bits was agreed.
Motor out before refurbishment
The turnaround was pretty rapid. I dropped it off on Thursday the 27th of October and it was dispatched back to me the following Thursday the 3rd of November.
It is now fitted back in, with replaced pedal arms as the thread on the non chain ring side one stripped trying to get it off, so I have a spar one for the chain ring side now. I took it for a quick test ride and it felt smooth and tight like when it was new. Then with all the rain there was a gap before I had the chance to go for a longer ride, which I did today, and all worked just as it should.
So this refurbished motor was the motor that was put in free of charge at the end of my first two years of ownership when the first motor developed play in its bearings. It has lasted over 5 and a half years and had been ridden 10,610 miles before its trip to Performance line bearings.
It feels as good as new and hopefully good for another five and a half years of service and another 10,500 odd miles.
It cost £300 to have done.
Well after a bit of nudging by soundwave and some careful flexing of the chain ring by my good self that was starting to show the beginning of play as well as some noises that I had not heard before and sounded like worn cogs to me I decided the time had arrived for my motor to take a trip to performance line bearings.
I spoke to Peter on the phone and decided that I would take the motor down to him in person. The joys of being retired and having the time to do so.
Peter has an industrial unit in Fordingbridge in the new forest, so not that far for me to travel from Surrey.
I fancied having a look around and Peter was happy to show me a very well equipped work shop with all the tools for refurbishing my motor.
While I was there he opened it up for us to have a look and he said I had judged the time to have it done just right. So a full overhaul and a few new bits was agreed.
Motor out before refurbishment
The turnaround was pretty rapid. I dropped it off on Thursday the 27th of October and it was dispatched back to me the following Thursday the 3rd of November.
It is now fitted back in, with replaced pedal arms as the thread on the non chain ring side one stripped trying to get it off, so I have a spar one for the chain ring side now. I took it for a quick test ride and it felt smooth and tight like when it was new. Then with all the rain there was a gap before I had the chance to go for a longer ride, which I did today, and all worked just as it should.
So this refurbished motor was the motor that was put in free of charge at the end of my first two years of ownership when the first motor developed play in its bearings. It has lasted over 5 and a half years and had been ridden 10,610 miles before its trip to Performance line bearings.
It feels as good as new and hopefully good for another five and a half years of service and another 10,500 odd miles.
It cost £300 to have done.
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if you get a new batt you will feel the difference power wise but you got ur moneys worth out of those bearings.
but like my motor as long as nothing gets inside and destroys everything after a service there good as new.
but like my motor as long as nothing gets inside and destroys everything after a service there good as new.
Nice Day for a ride
First bit on the road to The Post Office . I noticed that my display changed from miles per hour to km per hour, and remembered that this is an early sign of the battery in the display needing changing. Then a bit of country lane to get me to the start of my off road route to Farnham.
A lovely late November day and warm enough to ride without a windproof top layer. 22 miles in all. My usual bit of shopping at The Lidl, before back to Farnham Station and a train ride back to Godalming. Another bit of shopping and a blast in middle assist up a quite steep hill back home.
22 miles ridden. 144 miles now ridden on my refurbished motor.
I put a new battery in the display and reset the clock and changed it back to miles per hour. I always bring the battery from my bike into the house but the display stays on the bike in the garage, and just like a car, the lower temperatures of Winter will reveal if the battery is beginning to weaken.
First bit on the road to The Post Office . I noticed that my display changed from miles per hour to km per hour, and remembered that this is an early sign of the battery in the display needing changing. Then a bit of country lane to get me to the start of my off road route to Farnham.
A lovely late November day and warm enough to ride without a windproof top layer. 22 miles in all. My usual bit of shopping at The Lidl, before back to Farnham Station and a train ride back to Godalming. Another bit of shopping and a blast in middle assist up a quite steep hill back home.
22 miles ridden. 144 miles now ridden on my refurbished motor.
I put a new battery in the display and reset the clock and changed it back to miles per hour. I always bring the battery from my bike into the house but the display stays on the bike in the garage, and just like a car, the lower temperatures of Winter will reveal if the battery is beginning to weaken.
Icy Frosty Ride on a beautiful sunny day.....
With a time agreed to meet at a friends house in a village outside Alton for a walk I decided I would ride the Haibike there using a combination of an off road riding route and a section by train. It might have been possible to ride the whole way but with a pass for free rail travel as a retired rail worker combining riding one section and travelling by train on the other seemed best.
First a beautiful frosty sunny ride from my home to Farnham Railway Station on a great mostly off road route. Then a train to Alton. Then a bike ride to my friends house in a close by village. An eight mile round trip walk with a halfway stop for a pub lunch. Then a ride back to Alton Station from my friends house and three changes of train over a 50 minute journey to get back to my home town. A ride to the supermarket and then a blast in middle assist up the steep hill back to my house.
A frost laden field at the start of the off road route. In places the frozen ground under my wheels made a marvelous cracking sound, but off road there was good grip. The small sections of tarmac between off road tracks were the places to be cautious on back road country lanes.
Three photographs of a partially frozen lake
One of my regular field crossings on my route with brown cows.
22 miles ridden. 8 miles walked. Pub lunch with friends. A good day in retirement land.
With a time agreed to meet at a friends house in a village outside Alton for a walk I decided I would ride the Haibike there using a combination of an off road riding route and a section by train. It might have been possible to ride the whole way but with a pass for free rail travel as a retired rail worker combining riding one section and travelling by train on the other seemed best.
First a beautiful frosty sunny ride from my home to Farnham Railway Station on a great mostly off road route. Then a train to Alton. Then a bike ride to my friends house in a close by village. An eight mile round trip walk with a halfway stop for a pub lunch. Then a ride back to Alton Station from my friends house and three changes of train over a 50 minute journey to get back to my home town. A ride to the supermarket and then a blast in middle assist up the steep hill back to my house.
A frost laden field at the start of the off road route. In places the frozen ground under my wheels made a marvelous cracking sound, but off road there was good grip. The small sections of tarmac between off road tracks were the places to be cautious on back road country lanes.
Three photographs of a partially frozen lake
One of my regular field crossings on my route with brown cows.
22 miles ridden. 8 miles walked. Pub lunch with friends. A good day in retirement land.
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Sub Zero Ride
I did a great Sub Zero ride of 22 miles yesterday setting off in -4.
From my commuting to work days I keep things simple in the cold. Thicker wind proof gloves, wind proof jacket and trousers, thermal long sleeved top, cheap crew neck jumper over it if really cold, Long riding trousers tucked into socks, balaclava tucked in to the top of your coat, beanie style hat over it, more robust/warm walking style shoes/boots with two pairs of socks, one thick one thin. Not yesterday but occasionally when commuting I would add a thermal long john thermal layer under my riding trousers. I started with all that on yesterday except the long johns.
I activated my own built in electric blanket yesterday by having the assist off for the first level bit of road before dropping down into a valley and then low assist with plenty of effort from me to keep speed around 12mph up a steep hill to climb up the opposite side of the valley and get me to the start of my off road route.
My temperature gauge on my display was still stubbornly showing -4 where I get off my bike to open a gate to access a track around a farmers field at the start of my off road route, but I had already warmed up enough to need to take some stuff off rather than sweat.
Jumper off, balaclava off, thick gloves replaced with woolen style ones which give better rider control.
That was it for the 14 or so miles of great off road tracks through the beautiful frozen countryside. In places my tyres (normal mountain bike ones) made a great cracking noise over the frozen ground. The lake I pass had frozen completely over which is very unusual.
I did my normal bit of shopping at Farnham and then got the train back home. A lovely ride. Off road I am used to many different levels of grip and ride accordingly but found the grip off road over the frozen ground surprisingly good. The bits of road I used had been salted and were fine. One lesser road used needed much more care with frozen sections.
I can see why climate change is a better term than global warming by comparing the photo I took of my display in July showing 41 degrees compared with yesterday's showing -4. 45 degrees difference.
My bike trundles on, now with 16,832 total miles ridden.
My original battery used 32% of its capacity getting me cross country to Farnham. It had dropped to about 60% by the time I left my last shopping stop in my home town. It dropped much more quickly when I upped the assist to zoom up the steep hill home from town with overfull panniers and ended with 49% left when I got home. The weakening of my original battery is most apparent when using higher assist up a hill. My performance line bearing refurbished motor has now done 222 miles.
My cassette continues to break my personal cassette longevity record now standing at 2,513 miles, despite my very sporadic care of the drivetrain.
This is due I am sure to the end of my commuting days where I spent much longer riding in the upper two gears of the cassette riding home at the end of my shift.
I did a great Sub Zero ride of 22 miles yesterday setting off in -4.
From my commuting to work days I keep things simple in the cold. Thicker wind proof gloves, wind proof jacket and trousers, thermal long sleeved top, cheap crew neck jumper over it if really cold, Long riding trousers tucked into socks, balaclava tucked in to the top of your coat, beanie style hat over it, more robust/warm walking style shoes/boots with two pairs of socks, one thick one thin. Not yesterday but occasionally when commuting I would add a thermal long john thermal layer under my riding trousers. I started with all that on yesterday except the long johns.
I activated my own built in electric blanket yesterday by having the assist off for the first level bit of road before dropping down into a valley and then low assist with plenty of effort from me to keep speed around 12mph up a steep hill to climb up the opposite side of the valley and get me to the start of my off road route.
My temperature gauge on my display was still stubbornly showing -4 where I get off my bike to open a gate to access a track around a farmers field at the start of my off road route, but I had already warmed up enough to need to take some stuff off rather than sweat.
Jumper off, balaclava off, thick gloves replaced with woolen style ones which give better rider control.
That was it for the 14 or so miles of great off road tracks through the beautiful frozen countryside. In places my tyres (normal mountain bike ones) made a great cracking noise over the frozen ground. The lake I pass had frozen completely over which is very unusual.
I did my normal bit of shopping at Farnham and then got the train back home. A lovely ride. Off road I am used to many different levels of grip and ride accordingly but found the grip off road over the frozen ground surprisingly good. The bits of road I used had been salted and were fine. One lesser road used needed much more care with frozen sections.
I can see why climate change is a better term than global warming by comparing the photo I took of my display in July showing 41 degrees compared with yesterday's showing -4. 45 degrees difference.
My bike trundles on, now with 16,832 total miles ridden.
My original battery used 32% of its capacity getting me cross country to Farnham. It had dropped to about 60% by the time I left my last shopping stop in my home town. It dropped much more quickly when I upped the assist to zoom up the steep hill home from town with overfull panniers and ended with 49% left when I got home. The weakening of my original battery is most apparent when using higher assist up a hill. My performance line bearing refurbished motor has now done 222 miles.
My cassette continues to break my personal cassette longevity record now standing at 2,513 miles, despite my very sporadic care of the drivetrain.
This is due I am sure to the end of my commuting days where I spent much longer riding in the upper two gears of the cassette riding home at the end of my shift.
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Pre Christmas delivery ride
I had a great fitness ride in mild sunny weather to deliver a present and card to a friend, and also a bit of pre Christmas shopping. I rode from my home in Godalming in Surrey, with a large chunk of off road tracks but also some road work to Aldershot in Hampshire and back again.
At a junction of tracks I bumped into a group of older mountain bikers I had previously ridden with and had a chat and promised I would ride out with them on my acoustic mountain bike in The New Year.
I locked up my bike to some railings outside the Aldershot Lidl and typically found in stock quite a few things that had been missing in the other stores I had visited and bought as much as I thought I could carry in my two panniers. There was a chance I could get a sneaky charge at my friends house if they were in and I had packed my charger but alas they were not in so it was battery management time on the return home.
I did a bit more road work on the homeward journey as I was carrying a lot of weight in the panniers and thought it best not to chance my arm off road with all that weight over the back wheel, strong though it is.
I made it back to Godalming and rode to my last shop stop with an indicated 43% left in the battery. I only needed to buy some burger buns and a red onion but the panniers were so full there probably was no room for anything else!.
Fully laden I waited until I had begun the last hill home and used middle assist to blast up it at up to 17mph. That burnt through a chunk of battery and I had 30% left when I got home.
I put the battery on charge for half and hour to bring it up just over 50% for storage.
34 miles ridden, mostly in eco and off. My legs were feeling it by the time I got home!
Total mileage 16,866 miles. This cassette 2,547 miles. Brake pads 1,568 miles.
I had a great fitness ride in mild sunny weather to deliver a present and card to a friend, and also a bit of pre Christmas shopping. I rode from my home in Godalming in Surrey, with a large chunk of off road tracks but also some road work to Aldershot in Hampshire and back again.
At a junction of tracks I bumped into a group of older mountain bikers I had previously ridden with and had a chat and promised I would ride out with them on my acoustic mountain bike in The New Year.
I locked up my bike to some railings outside the Aldershot Lidl and typically found in stock quite a few things that had been missing in the other stores I had visited and bought as much as I thought I could carry in my two panniers. There was a chance I could get a sneaky charge at my friends house if they were in and I had packed my charger but alas they were not in so it was battery management time on the return home.
I did a bit more road work on the homeward journey as I was carrying a lot of weight in the panniers and thought it best not to chance my arm off road with all that weight over the back wheel, strong though it is.
I made it back to Godalming and rode to my last shop stop with an indicated 43% left in the battery. I only needed to buy some burger buns and a red onion but the panniers were so full there probably was no room for anything else!.
Fully laden I waited until I had begun the last hill home and used middle assist to blast up it at up to 17mph. That burnt through a chunk of battery and I had 30% left when I got home.
I put the battery on charge for half and hour to bring it up just over 50% for storage.
34 miles ridden, mostly in eco and off. My legs were feeling it by the time I got home!
Total mileage 16,866 miles. This cassette 2,547 miles. Brake pads 1,568 miles.
That is interesting soundwave. I hate to think what my own batteries capacity is now close to 3 months away from its eighth birthday.
I will look up the Yamaha workshop manual I had a link to which includes a fairly crude way of checking battery capacity to see whether my battery has slipped below 75% capacity.
I think for me the simplest solution would be to change the battery and charger connectors to ones that are compatible with my original connectors. I think they are now available where as they were not when I was forced to change mine when they broke.
Then buy a new 500Wh capacity battery from ebike shop where I bought my bike originally. That would instantly give me much more capacity than I had when the bike was new, allowing me to go on really long rides, and/or if I wanted to or use higher assistance levels and still have decent range.
Now I have retired I have gone on a few longer rides than I did when I used the bike only to commute to work and back.
However developing the riding skills to extend the range of your battery are very useful skills to have anyway. I have used the 14 mile cross country route that I used when I was commuting to work and back and my battery still only uses around 35% of its capacity. This is all down to how I ride and use the battery.
Yesterdays ride of 34 miles with 30% capacity left at the end was further than a ride I did soon after I got the bike new and rode it in nice weather using very demanding off road routes where I ran the battery down to 9%, basically empty power saver stage in from memory a few miles shy of 30 miles.
Also now retired I am using the bike to maintain fitness and the best way to do that is to ride it with no assistance to make yourself work physically hard where you can.
Let me know if the man in Holland makes his gadget available again that would allow me to re cell the battery.
I will look up the Yamaha workshop manual I had a link to which includes a fairly crude way of checking battery capacity to see whether my battery has slipped below 75% capacity.
I think for me the simplest solution would be to change the battery and charger connectors to ones that are compatible with my original connectors. I think they are now available where as they were not when I was forced to change mine when they broke.
Then buy a new 500Wh capacity battery from ebike shop where I bought my bike originally. That would instantly give me much more capacity than I had when the bike was new, allowing me to go on really long rides, and/or if I wanted to or use higher assistance levels and still have decent range.
Now I have retired I have gone on a few longer rides than I did when I used the bike only to commute to work and back.
However developing the riding skills to extend the range of your battery are very useful skills to have anyway. I have used the 14 mile cross country route that I used when I was commuting to work and back and my battery still only uses around 35% of its capacity. This is all down to how I ride and use the battery.
Yesterdays ride of 34 miles with 30% capacity left at the end was further than a ride I did soon after I got the bike new and rode it in nice weather using very demanding off road routes where I ran the battery down to 9%, basically empty power saver stage in from memory a few miles shy of 30 miles.
Also now retired I am using the bike to maintain fitness and the best way to do that is to ride it with no assistance to make yourself work physically hard where you can.
Let me know if the man in Holland makes his gadget available again that would allow me to re cell the battery.
Once again prompted by soundwave I have checked the number of charge cycles and current capacity of my 400Wh battery using the Yamaha workshop manual button pressing procedure on my battery .
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/975488/Yamaha-X94-Series.html?page=18#manual
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/975488/Yamaha-X94-Series.html?page=19#manual
It is a fairly crude method however using the two tests for my battery.
It shows that I have charged my battery for 701 times or more.
It also shows that the capacity of my battery is still in the 75% to 100% range. If correct this does indeed confirm that my battery is holding up remarkably well as it approaches its eighth birthday in March 2023.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/975488/Yamaha-X94-Series.html?page=18#manual
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/975488/Yamaha-X94-Series.html?page=19#manual
It is a fairly crude method however using the two tests for my battery.
It shows that I have charged my battery for 701 times or more.
It also shows that the capacity of my battery is still in the 75% to 100% range. If correct this does indeed confirm that my battery is holding up remarkably well as it approaches its eighth birthday in March 2023.
Yamaha ebike dongle to use any 3rd party battery by Albert van Dalen on Tindie
Yamaha mid-drive motor hacking dongle to use any 3rd party battery instead of the expensive Yamaha battery
www.tindie.com
What needs to happen is for somebody to build and market a replacement battery with the dongle built in.
The best laid plans of mice and men...........
After a week away I decided to ride The Haibike cross country to Farnham to catch a train to Alton and ride to meet friends at a friends house before a walk.
I have been remarkably lucky not to be stranded by The Haibike too often, but I do use it as intended in unforgiving off road environments.
Anyway my display was showing -5 and I was panting a bit after a week of no cycling. The ground was frozen and cracked as I road across it.
I was out of the country for my holiday and had not appreciated how much rain the country had while I was away.
Before my mechanical tragedy struck I was confronted by a sight on one of my single track / bridle ways I had never seen before. A section of track of around 50 meters was filled with frozen water. I could bypass it by accessing a farmers field through an unlocked 5 bar gate and then rode alongside the track a little worried I would not be able to get back on it. I got into the next field by another unlocked gate and fortunately back onto the track by another unlocked gate. There was still a full width large frozen puddle to get around carefully.
Approaching the end of the track my gear cable broke and I was stuck in the highest gear. At the end of the track the route crosses a country lane and the bridle way continues up the driveway of a private estate. The entrance to the driveway was thick ice across its whole width and I nearly came a cropper pushing my bike across it.
I rang my friends and arranged for one of them to pick me up from a pub car park about quarter of a mile further on at the end of the next track. I had contemplated bodging it but decided against it. As I prepared to ride on a landrover approached and I flagged it down to warn the driver about the ice.
He knew about it as he had been dispatched to sprinkle some salt grit over it.
I upped my assist level and was impressed how the bike pulled me smoothly up to speed before a great technical sandy rooty rocky descent to a unmade road leading to my B road across which was The Pub.
I had to wait a good thirty minutes plus in the car park for my friend to turn up in his very clean Honda CRV. My bike was very muddy. Anyway he had a boot cover thing and I took the front wheel off to make it slide in more easily.
I had got quite cold waiting. I was absolutely fine while riding but waiting for my friend in -5 I started to get cold, probably not helped by my sweating under my layers while riding.
We met our friends on time and had a lovely 7 mile walk through the frozen Hampshire landscape to a garden centre cafe to just catch the end of their breakfast serving. Very tasty, before the walk back. I was very grateful to my friend dropping me back at my house.
Up until my gear cable breaking I was having the best fun riding through the frozen countryside over rigid ruts and sparkly frozen ground and some wet Plasticine like mud. Quite hard going but marvelous.
Incidentally if I had not been meeting friends The Haibike would have been able to be ridden back home although not ideal.
After a week away I decided to ride The Haibike cross country to Farnham to catch a train to Alton and ride to meet friends at a friends house before a walk.
I have been remarkably lucky not to be stranded by The Haibike too often, but I do use it as intended in unforgiving off road environments.
Anyway my display was showing -5 and I was panting a bit after a week of no cycling. The ground was frozen and cracked as I road across it.
I was out of the country for my holiday and had not appreciated how much rain the country had while I was away.
Before my mechanical tragedy struck I was confronted by a sight on one of my single track / bridle ways I had never seen before. A section of track of around 50 meters was filled with frozen water. I could bypass it by accessing a farmers field through an unlocked 5 bar gate and then rode alongside the track a little worried I would not be able to get back on it. I got into the next field by another unlocked gate and fortunately back onto the track by another unlocked gate. There was still a full width large frozen puddle to get around carefully.
Approaching the end of the track my gear cable broke and I was stuck in the highest gear. At the end of the track the route crosses a country lane and the bridle way continues up the driveway of a private estate. The entrance to the driveway was thick ice across its whole width and I nearly came a cropper pushing my bike across it.
I rang my friends and arranged for one of them to pick me up from a pub car park about quarter of a mile further on at the end of the next track. I had contemplated bodging it but decided against it. As I prepared to ride on a landrover approached and I flagged it down to warn the driver about the ice.
He knew about it as he had been dispatched to sprinkle some salt grit over it.
I upped my assist level and was impressed how the bike pulled me smoothly up to speed before a great technical sandy rooty rocky descent to a unmade road leading to my B road across which was The Pub.
I had to wait a good thirty minutes plus in the car park for my friend to turn up in his very clean Honda CRV. My bike was very muddy. Anyway he had a boot cover thing and I took the front wheel off to make it slide in more easily.
I had got quite cold waiting. I was absolutely fine while riding but waiting for my friend in -5 I started to get cold, probably not helped by my sweating under my layers while riding.
We met our friends on time and had a lovely 7 mile walk through the frozen Hampshire landscape to a garden centre cafe to just catch the end of their breakfast serving. Very tasty, before the walk back. I was very grateful to my friend dropping me back at my house.
Up until my gear cable breaking I was having the best fun riding through the frozen countryside over rigid ruts and sparkly frozen ground and some wet Plasticine like mud. Quite hard going but marvelous.
Incidentally if I had not been meeting friends The Haibike would have been able to be ridden back home although not ideal.
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I pack away a space blanket somewhere, for times like that. I sometimes forget I have one, when I need one.
Ride, Dinner at Friends, Music Concert, Wild Return Ride Home...30 miles in total
17.0000 miles now under the wheels.....
An epic evening started with a ride on my Haibike to my friends house, with the first half off road, and then with time running out to get to my friends house at the agreed time, a whizz on the road that unfortunately meant missing out on a lovely portion of off road, but I wanted to be on time. My friend and I put my bike in the garage and I plugged in the charger.
I got changed into my glad rags and enjoyed the company of my friends and a very nice bit of supper. Then into my friends car to drive to Basingstoke to see The Simon & Garfunkel story. A very good show, worth seeing if it comes close to you.
Then back to my friends house and an epic ride back home with 1 degree showing on my display. Worrying amounts of frost on the roads but no mishaps. There was also a large chunk of off road which was atmospheric in the cold darkness.
I got home at 11:30PM.
I was quite tired the next day, but a really good night out.
I only noticed I had reached a total of 17,000 miles ridden a day or so later.
17.0000 miles now under the wheels.....
An epic evening started with a ride on my Haibike to my friends house, with the first half off road, and then with time running out to get to my friends house at the agreed time, a whizz on the road that unfortunately meant missing out on a lovely portion of off road, but I wanted to be on time. My friend and I put my bike in the garage and I plugged in the charger.
I got changed into my glad rags and enjoyed the company of my friends and a very nice bit of supper. Then into my friends car to drive to Basingstoke to see The Simon & Garfunkel story. A very good show, worth seeing if it comes close to you.
Then back to my friends house and an epic ride back home with 1 degree showing on my display. Worrying amounts of frost on the roads but no mishaps. There was also a large chunk of off road which was atmospheric in the cold darkness.
I got home at 11:30PM.
I was quite tired the next day, but a really good night out.
I only noticed I had reached a total of 17,000 miles ridden a day or so later.
Snow ride in March
Quite a lot of exercise as I rode 15 miles to my friends house mostly off road cross country in the snow, and then home again on the road, with a 8 ish mile walk in between with my friends. Though a nice pub lunch in the middle of the walk as well.
Lovely ride in the snow. Only a couple of pictures as I set off a bit late and with the conditions had no time to stop and take too many pictures.
I could charge my bike at my friends house, and on the road ride home used higher assistance levels to get me home quicker and also because I had less energy after the ride there and the walk. But that is the beauty of electric bikes, you can just up the assist if you are feeling tired.
My hydraulic Tektro back brake leaked fluid and I had pretty much lost any effective braking by the time I got home. It was an easy fix as the hydraulic cable just needed nipping up, and then more fluid added and all was well again.
30 miles ridden and my total mileage on the bike has now risen to 17,926. I am now very close to this bikes 8th anniversary.
Quite a lot of exercise as I rode 15 miles to my friends house mostly off road cross country in the snow, and then home again on the road, with a 8 ish mile walk in between with my friends. Though a nice pub lunch in the middle of the walk as well.
Lovely ride in the snow. Only a couple of pictures as I set off a bit late and with the conditions had no time to stop and take too many pictures.
I could charge my bike at my friends house, and on the road ride home used higher assistance levels to get me home quicker and also because I had less energy after the ride there and the walk. But that is the beauty of electric bikes, you can just up the assist if you are feeling tired.
My hydraulic Tektro back brake leaked fluid and I had pretty much lost any effective braking by the time I got home. It was an easy fix as the hydraulic cable just needed nipping up, and then more fluid added and all was well again.
30 miles ridden and my total mileage on the bike has now risen to 17,926. I am now very close to this bikes 8th anniversary.
17,344 mile, 8 Year Update
Another great year riding my 2015 Haibike suro Hardseven SL Yamaha. The 21st of March marked the end of my eighth year of ownership. I recorded 2,046 miles for the year, and ended with a total recorded mileage for the bike of 17,344. It is no longer my ride to work bike now I have retired, but instead fulfills a very useful role as a leisure vehicle that helps to keep me active and fit as well as carting a fair bit of shopping.
Transmission
One highlight for me this year is that the cassette and chain ring lasted for the whole year as well as half of last year after initially being fitted back on the 30th of September 2021. That was my last big transmission TLC overhaul with at the same time also fitted a new chain and jockey wheels as well as a thorough cleaning and un-gumming of the rear Mech.
This is further than I have previously managed out of a rear cassette, and the cassette and chain ring together completed 2,728 miles. This is probably because now I am retired I do less higher speed road miles that used to wear out my top gear 12 tooth cog.
From the start I kept an eye on chain wear and changed the first chain at the .5 wear limit, putting another new chain on and keeping the part worn chain, repeating the process when the second chain got to the .5 wear limit.
After that it was a matter of swapping back on part worn chains that had been taken off. The last part worn chain I put on made it through the Winter but broke on a ride on Friday the 15th of March. That told me it was time to change everything and that was done on Friday the 17th of March, with new Cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, .as well as a thorough clean of the rear Mech. I have to admit that a new transmission feels very good.
My new rear wheel that I had built in October 2020 has been brilliant so far soaking up all the punishment I can throw at it as well as on occasion overloaded Panniers.
Also lasting very well is the Schwalbe Hans Dampf gravity 2.35 tyre, run tubeless and fitted on the 14th October 2021. I have been really impressed by it, very tough, good grip of road, and wearing surprisingly well.
Battery
Still the original 400Wh battery that came with the bike. I have been very pleasantly surprised my the longevity of the original battery.
On a recent ride to a friends house which is 70/80% off road with a lot of climbing including a long demanding climb which dominates the first half of the ride. Then at the end, after the last section of off road, there is a mile or so of road work to my friends house, and as I knew I could charge the battery when I got there I upped the assist to dispatch the remaining hills and blast along on the road at a good lick. By the time I reached my friends house I had ridden 15.1 miles and had just over half of my batteries capacity remaining according to my Yamaha display.
As I said last year, not quite the resilience it had when it was new. However the performance is certainly not collapsing at all.
Although the range you get out of any battery depends on a lot of variable factors I think that my assisted range is now around 35 to 40 miles.
Motor
This was the year that I started to feel a little bit of play beginning to developing when I flexed the chain ring. I spoke to Peter at Performance line bearings, who told me to keep an eye on it as play develops very slowly in the Yamaha motor where the bearings are much more robust than the Bosch motor of the same era.
I eventually bit the bullet and got my motor overhauled by Peter. I spoke to Peter on the phone and decided that I would take the motor down to him in person. The joys of being retired and having the time to do so.
Peter has an industrial unit in Fordingbridge in the new forest, so not that far for me to travel from Surrey. I fancied having a look around and Peter was happy to show me a very well equipped work shop with all the tools for refurbishing my motor.
While I was there he opened it up for us to have a look and he said I had judged the time to have it done just right. So a full overhaul and a few new bits was agreed.
The turnaround was pretty rapid. I dropped it off on Thursday the 27th of October and it was dispatched back to me the following Thursday the 3rd of November.
So this refurbished motor was actually my second motor, the one that was put in free of charge at the end of my first two years of ownership when the first motor developed play in its bearings. This second motor has lasted over 5 and a half years and been ridden 10,610 miles before its trip to Performance line bearings. It felt good as new once it was fitted back in the bike. From my experience I would highly recommend Peter and Performance Line Bearings.
Breakages
Probably in my case this should be called neglect, the parts that have given up the ghost because I have not kept an eye on them enough.
So on one snowy, wet and muddy but great fun ride my gear cable broke. This was probably not helped by a dirty gummed up partly seized rear mech.
On another, snowy again ride, my rear brake lever came back to the handle bars. That was a brake fluid leak at the handlebars and easily fixed with more brake fluid and a nipping up of of the nut that secures the brake line to the lever.
I broke a probably very worn out drive chain very recently on a ride on the 15th of March that led to a probably much needed transmission overhaul with a new cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, as well as a thoroughly cleaned rear Mech on the 17th of March.
The cassette that was put on was the last of a batch of Cassettes I bought for £8.50 delivered from Amazon. I have bought a replacement, again of Amazon but this time for £21.19 delivered. I guess not too bad, certainly compared to the ones soundwave buys. I did however have a stoke of luck after coming across some high quality narrow wide chain rings in a sale that only cost £10 each. I stocked up on those.
Conclusion
Well over this year I have ridden in 41 degrees of heat and minus 4 degrees of cold. I have really enjoyed a new 30 mile minimum round trip to a friends house, that has allowed me to explore some new off road territory. I think in this next year I want to explore more off road areas, probably by incorporating a train journey into my trips. Will I wear out before the bike, I am beginning to think that is becoming ever more likely. Hopefully still lots of fun to be had.
Another great year riding my 2015 Haibike suro Hardseven SL Yamaha. The 21st of March marked the end of my eighth year of ownership. I recorded 2,046 miles for the year, and ended with a total recorded mileage for the bike of 17,344. It is no longer my ride to work bike now I have retired, but instead fulfills a very useful role as a leisure vehicle that helps to keep me active and fit as well as carting a fair bit of shopping.
Transmission
One highlight for me this year is that the cassette and chain ring lasted for the whole year as well as half of last year after initially being fitted back on the 30th of September 2021. That was my last big transmission TLC overhaul with at the same time also fitted a new chain and jockey wheels as well as a thorough cleaning and un-gumming of the rear Mech.
This is further than I have previously managed out of a rear cassette, and the cassette and chain ring together completed 2,728 miles. This is probably because now I am retired I do less higher speed road miles that used to wear out my top gear 12 tooth cog.
From the start I kept an eye on chain wear and changed the first chain at the .5 wear limit, putting another new chain on and keeping the part worn chain, repeating the process when the second chain got to the .5 wear limit.
After that it was a matter of swapping back on part worn chains that had been taken off. The last part worn chain I put on made it through the Winter but broke on a ride on Friday the 15th of March. That told me it was time to change everything and that was done on Friday the 17th of March, with new Cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, .as well as a thorough clean of the rear Mech. I have to admit that a new transmission feels very good.
My new rear wheel that I had built in October 2020 has been brilliant so far soaking up all the punishment I can throw at it as well as on occasion overloaded Panniers.
Also lasting very well is the Schwalbe Hans Dampf gravity 2.35 tyre, run tubeless and fitted on the 14th October 2021. I have been really impressed by it, very tough, good grip of road, and wearing surprisingly well.
Battery
Still the original 400Wh battery that came with the bike. I have been very pleasantly surprised my the longevity of the original battery.
On a recent ride to a friends house which is 70/80% off road with a lot of climbing including a long demanding climb which dominates the first half of the ride. Then at the end, after the last section of off road, there is a mile or so of road work to my friends house, and as I knew I could charge the battery when I got there I upped the assist to dispatch the remaining hills and blast along on the road at a good lick. By the time I reached my friends house I had ridden 15.1 miles and had just over half of my batteries capacity remaining according to my Yamaha display.
As I said last year, not quite the resilience it had when it was new. However the performance is certainly not collapsing at all.
Although the range you get out of any battery depends on a lot of variable factors I think that my assisted range is now around 35 to 40 miles.
Motor
This was the year that I started to feel a little bit of play beginning to developing when I flexed the chain ring. I spoke to Peter at Performance line bearings, who told me to keep an eye on it as play develops very slowly in the Yamaha motor where the bearings are much more robust than the Bosch motor of the same era.
I eventually bit the bullet and got my motor overhauled by Peter. I spoke to Peter on the phone and decided that I would take the motor down to him in person. The joys of being retired and having the time to do so.
Peter has an industrial unit in Fordingbridge in the new forest, so not that far for me to travel from Surrey. I fancied having a look around and Peter was happy to show me a very well equipped work shop with all the tools for refurbishing my motor.
While I was there he opened it up for us to have a look and he said I had judged the time to have it done just right. So a full overhaul and a few new bits was agreed.
The turnaround was pretty rapid. I dropped it off on Thursday the 27th of October and it was dispatched back to me the following Thursday the 3rd of November.
So this refurbished motor was actually my second motor, the one that was put in free of charge at the end of my first two years of ownership when the first motor developed play in its bearings. This second motor has lasted over 5 and a half years and been ridden 10,610 miles before its trip to Performance line bearings. It felt good as new once it was fitted back in the bike. From my experience I would highly recommend Peter and Performance Line Bearings.
Breakages
Probably in my case this should be called neglect, the parts that have given up the ghost because I have not kept an eye on them enough.
So on one snowy, wet and muddy but great fun ride my gear cable broke. This was probably not helped by a dirty gummed up partly seized rear mech.
On another, snowy again ride, my rear brake lever came back to the handle bars. That was a brake fluid leak at the handlebars and easily fixed with more brake fluid and a nipping up of of the nut that secures the brake line to the lever.
I broke a probably very worn out drive chain very recently on a ride on the 15th of March that led to a probably much needed transmission overhaul with a new cassette, chain ring, chain, and jockey wheels, as well as a thoroughly cleaned rear Mech on the 17th of March.
The cassette that was put on was the last of a batch of Cassettes I bought for £8.50 delivered from Amazon. I have bought a replacement, again of Amazon but this time for £21.19 delivered. I guess not too bad, certainly compared to the ones soundwave buys. I did however have a stoke of luck after coming across some high quality narrow wide chain rings in a sale that only cost £10 each. I stocked up on those.
Conclusion
Well over this year I have ridden in 41 degrees of heat and minus 4 degrees of cold. I have really enjoyed a new 30 mile minimum round trip to a friends house, that has allowed me to explore some new off road territory. I think in this next year I want to explore more off road areas, probably by incorporating a train journey into my trips. Will I wear out before the bike, I am beginning to think that is becoming ever more likely. Hopefully still lots of fun to be had.
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if you get a new batt it will be like a new bike and kick like one i think i can keep my bike gong for another ten years 
and even if my motor implodes peter will fix it for free tho that's not going to happen but ill keep trying
and even if my motor implodes peter will fix it for free tho that's not going to happen but ill keep trying
in 2018 he was still in a shed in his garden
i think he might have to move again for more space lol
i think he might have to move again for more space lol
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