Kalkhoff Agattu Impulse Pedelec electric bike 2013

[Dave2951]

I am looking for a second EBike for our holidays and have the option to bid on one as above looks in nice condition. I then looked at the price of replacent batteries 800+ Euro.The seller states the battery charged back up to 100% but to me that means nothing it would be more important how quick it lost the charge. I know its a million dollar question but should i steer away from a bike of this age the battery is 17amp and I would not pay more than £400 if that helps.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Expect to pay £600 for a new motor at 1500 miles.

 

[Dave2951]

Expect to pay £600 for a new motor at 1500 miles.

Is that because you had to or a design fault etc.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Is that because you had to or a design fault etc.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/ongoing-reliability-of-kalkhoff-focus-impulse-2-motors.24290/

 

[Dave2951]

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/ongoing-reliability-of-kalkhoff-focus-impulse-2-motors.24290/

Thanks for that think i will look at something else.

 

[RobF]

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/ongoing-reliability-of-kalkhoff-focus-impulse-2-motors.24290/

Er, won't a 2013 bike have the Impulse 1 motor?

My understanding is all the aggro started with the later Impulse 2 motor.

Kalkhoffs of this vintage were nicely made and finished.

Could be worth a punt if the OP can get it for £400 or less.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Er, won't a 2013 bike have the Impulse 1 motor?

My understanding is all the aggro started with the later Impulse 2 motor.

Kalkhoffs of this vintage were nicely made and finished.

Could be worth a punt if the OP can get it for £400 or less.

The best info here. Use Google translate:

https://pedelecmonitor.wordpress.com/mittelmotoren/mittelmotoren-2/impulse/

 

[Dave2951]

Er, won't a 2013 bike have the Impulse 1 motor?

My understanding is all the aggro started with the later Impulse 2 motor.

Kalkhoffs of this vintage were nicely made and finished.

Could be worth a punt if the OP can get it for £400 or less.

The one I looked at now stands at over £500 becomes a very expensive Bike if Battery fails.

 

[Steed]

Er, won't a 2013 bike have the Impulse 1 motor?

My understanding is all the aggro started with the later Impulse 2 motor.

Kalkhoffs of this vintage were nicely made and finished.

Could be worth a punt if the OP can get it for £400 or less.

I have this model/year Kalkhoff Agattu and have covered approximately 5,000 miles to date with no issues from the Impulse 1 motor whatsoever. Very little in the way of problems with the whole bike which is very well built indeed.
I realise this is a rather unfashionable standpoint to take but it is a fact. So if this machine has a first generation Impulse motor I would not worry.

 

[RobF]

The one I looked at now stands at over £500 becomes a very expensive Bike if Battery fails.

Battery failure will always be a concern with a secondhand ebike.

However, I think the batteries on early Agattus are known to last well - @flecc may have a view.

At one time, there were also cheaper, pattern replacements available.

 

[flecc]

However, I think the batteries on early Agattus are known to last well - @flecc may have a view.

At one time, there were also cheaper, pattern replacements available.

Yes, the early Agattus in 2007/8 used the Panasonic crank motor with Panasonic batteries that easily lasted 5 years or more. Later Kalkhoff started using German built BMZ batteries with Panasonic units, but they were also built to high standards and used the same metering as the Panasonic design, also generally lasting well.

BMZ still supply the batteries for Kalkhoff's later Impulse motors, but problems with those motors have meant no attention being paid to the battery performances. Presumably they are still ok.
.

 

[Steed]

Yes, the early Agattus in 2007/8 used the Panasonic crank motor with Panasonic batteries that easily lasted 5 years or more. Later Kalkhoff started using German built BMZ batteries with Panasonic units, but they were also built to high standards and used the same metering as the Panasonic design, also generally lasting well.

BMZ still supply the batteries for Kalkhoff's later Impulse motors, but problems with those motors have meant no attention being paid to the battery performances. Presumably they are still ok.
.

The 15ah battery on my 5/6 year old Agattu shows no sign of degradation at all in terms of range/capacity. I was expecting some reduction but none is apparent. I think the bms must be quite sophisticated as when charging is complete (all 5 lights illuminated) a further 30/45 minutes is required for the lights to extinguish, presumably this latter being for balancing the cells.

 

[flecc]

The 15ah battery on my 5/6 year old Agattu shows no sign of degradation at all in terms of range/capacity. I was expecting some reduction but none is apparent. I think the bms must be quite sophisticated as when charging is complete (all 5 lights illuminated) a further 30/45 minutes is required for the lights to extinguish, presumably this latter being for balancing the cells.

Thanks for the information, it's good to know that the later BMZ batteries still perform as well over time.
.