Kudos Arriba 25MPH ;-)

[celedep]

I have finally bought my new bike, a Kudos Arriba. I was undecided between the Arriba and the Tornado but the hydraulic brakes and torque sensor swung it for me.
The one aspect of the bike I did not like was the 15MPH power cut off, whilst I understand the legality of this limit I found it annoying to ride -15MPH was my natural cruising speed and it kept cutting in/out at that speed.
I asked the Kudos guys if I could overcome this cutoff and they were very evasive about answers, but the smiles suggested it was possible. I must say that despite much pressure they would not tell me how to do it.
I did think about buying a dongle but they don't make one for the Kudos bikes. However, after some button pressing and Internet searching the solution was actually very simple.
So, this is how you do it to get the limit up to 40KMH (about 25MPH).

Press the "Up & Down" buttons together at the same time until the settings menu appears.
Then
Press the middle "Mode" button until you get the speed setting (twice for my Arriba).
Then
Use the "Up" button to raise the speed to maximum 40KMH.
Then
Press and hold the middle "mode" button to close the settings menu.
Voila, your bike is now capable of the new speed that you just set!

Actually I ride the bike mostly still about 15-17MPH but the new cutoff speed means that it never cuts in/out.

 

[tillson]

So I see that the 15 MPH cut off speed doesn't suit you and as a result you have decided that you will ignore this particular aspect of the law. People on here often cite the fact that in their opinion 15 MPH is too slow and that the law needs to change and that the only way to realise the change is to break the laws they don't like. I think that they then perceive themselves as performing some sort of public service for the benefit of others.

What you are in fact doing is damage to the Ebike community and adding a little bit more ammunition to the arsenal of those who want to regulate Ebikes further. I don't particularly like the law which prevents me from coming round to you place of residence with a Stihl Saw and cutting your battery powered moped in half. I'm sure that if I did, you would then want the law to protect you against such an act so that you could simultaneously break it again on your moped. A sort of ugly and sickening hypocrisy would seem to be at work.

Would you therefore kindly remove you incitement to break the law, if for no other reason than to preserve the freedoms and privileges that the current law provides the majority of this forums users. It isn't appropriate for you to publicise this sort of information and I am sure that both Kudos and the forum moderators will agree.

 

[jazper53]

The reality is, all bikes that motors exceeds the 200wt limit are also illegal, so having a holier than thou attitude what laws to break is laughable. Non-compliance with past, present, and future regulation seems to be the only way to add some commonsense into the law, and there seem to be enough suppliers who support that.

 

[tillson]

250 Watts is ok. It will not be prosecuted.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The method you used increases the cut-off speed, but the motor can't actually spin that fast. My guess is that the actual top speed is closer to 20 mph. Can you lift the back wheel off the ground and see what its no-load maximum is, and report it here?

 

[billadie]

Voila, your bike is now capable of the new speed that you just set!

Excellent. Now, how do you upgrade the brakes and lights to cope with that speed on a wet night on a cycle path?

I say this as a guy has recently started riding an unrestricted ebike along my commute home. Bike certainly does 25 MPH on the road in a cycle lane, (undertaking queued traffic at 25 MPH is not pretty) but when he gets on a cycle path (shared pavement) he seems to speed up. Not at all sure how he would cope if a pedestrian were to appear in front of him.

If you want to be powered to greater than than 15MPH then do so. Buy a moped, insure it, wear a helmet and ride on the road. Leave the cycle lanes, paths and mimimal restrictions to those who are content with the slower speed.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi A youngster on a standard bike can speed along at 25 MPH + and they do so what is new they dont upgrade there brakes

Frank

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Voila, your bike is now capable of the new speed that you just set!

Excellent. Now, how do you upgrade the brakes and lights to cope with that speed on a wet night on a cycle path?

His motor is going to take his bike to about 20mph. It's a Kudos Arriba with hydraulic disc brakes. I expect you go faster than that on your bike sometimes, but are you worried enough to upgrade your own brakes, which I guess have nothing like the capability of OP's.

If you want to have a go at him about the morality of exceeding legal parameters, fair enough, but don't try and do it on the basis of fictitious mechanical constraints.

 

[shemozzle999]

I agree with billadie, exceeding the imposed 15mph safety limit on cycleways puts others at increased risk, reaction times and braking distances WILL be increased even in dry conditions.

 

[averhamdave]

Hold on the chaps got a relatively puny bike but with good brakes and build quality and all he's done is realise that the LCD meter (as with most others) has a speed limit set that can be altered. He's altered it and chosen to share that. In practice he'll find a little more speed but not much.

Good job you don't read Endless Sphere!

 

[tillson]

Hi A youngster on a standard bike can speed along at 25 MPH + and they do so what is new they dont upgrade there brakes

Frank

You simply don't get it do you.

 

[Croxden]

My understanding is celedep complains of the switching on & off of the power assist at 15mph, not a gradual fade as other bikes do. He has overcome that making the bike nicer & therefore safer to ride.

 

[shemozzle999]

My understanding is celedep complains of the switching on & off of the power assist at 15mph, not a gradual fade as other bikes do.

That is what it is supposed to do

 

[Jimod]

I regularly reach 27mph on a cycle path near Grangemouth on my Kudos tourer. The cycle/pedestrian path is 10 feet wide, smooth and flat. My bike is standard as it was when I bought it, it has the same brakes it had when I bought it. I have never hit a pedestrian nor have I came close to it.

I also do the best part of 40mph when leaving my village heading down into Falkirk. Still with the same brakes. I'm not the fastest along the path and definitely not the fastest down that hill. Top speed isn't what's dangerous, it's how and when you use it.

I think the Arriba will probably have better brakes than the Tourer.

Just to note though, pedaling the Tourer at that speed on the flat is HARD, I can't keep it up for very long. My best strava time on that path is when I use my non electric Merida bike.

Just to note. T

 

[RobF]

Picking and choosing which laws to abide by and which ones to break is a dangerous path to tread.

But, try as I might, I can't get vexed at the thought of celedep doing 18mph on his Kudos bike with the motor spinning weakly in the background.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

So I see that the 15 MPH cut off speed doesn't suit you and as a result you have decided that you will ignore this particular aspect of the law. People on here often cite the fact that in their opinion 15 MPH is too slow and that the law needs to change and that the only way to realise the change is to break the laws they don't like. I think that they then perceive themselves as performing some sort of public service for the benefit of others.

What you are in fact doing is damage to the Ebike community and adding a little bit more ammunition to the arsenal of those who want to regulate Ebikes further. I don't particularly like the law which prevents me from coming round to you place of residence with a Stihl Saw and cutting your battery powered moped in half. I'm sure that if I did, you would then want the law to protect you against such an act so that you could simultaneously break it again on your moped. A sort of ugly and sickening hypocrisy would seem to be at work.

Would you therefore kindly remove you incitement to break the law, if for no other reason than to preserve the freedoms and privileges that the current law provides the majority of this forums users. It isn't appropriate for you to publicise this sort of information and I am sure that both Kudos and the forum moderators will agree.

You've shot yourself in the foot. You ride a bike that does not comply with the law. You have joined the cohort of people using 250w bikes in an attempt to get the law changed to allow them. Are you now going to put your bike away until the law changes to make it legal thanks to the skillful lawbreaking of those that staryed riding 250w bikes.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I have been asked what is my attitude to this thread.
On a personal level I must say that I think that the law is unfortunate,15 mph is a nice cruising speed for most of us and unassisted I rarely reach 20 mph,but I am not a quick rider. The Arriba doesn't hit a wall at 15mph,in reality the momentum on the flat of all these ebikes I have ridden means the cutoff is somewhat progressive.
Personally I think 20mph would be a more practical cutoff speed but the law is 15,5 mph and that will be the default setting of a supplied Kudos bike.
With regard to power the BPM motor has sufficient grunt to offer the power that most of us require,especially to help on slow speed steep hills. The Arriba runs out of motor speed at about 19mph on 26" wheels,but it seems to maintain power right up to the maximum motor speed,it could probably go quicker on 29" rims.
With regard to brakes I have a lot of confidence in the Tektro Auriga hydraulic disc brakes to handle these speeds.
On a professional level I was helping the new dealer,London Electric Bike Company,Hampton Wick. last Thursday in London,almost every customer wanted the bike to go faster,not necessarily more power, just to go faster. Many quoted our friends up the road,namely 50 cycles, who offer a 28mph x 350 watt bike for sale and would not buy a KTM,Kudos,BH or Haibike because of the 15,5 mph cutoff but would buy the BS10. It loses dealers who are selling 15,5 mph x 250 watt bikes some business....I contacted the Dept of Trading Standards who seemed to be happy that these BS10 bikes are sold as long as the website description is accurate.
Considering the foregoing I suppose the situation with the Arriba/Tornado and Ibex is a commercial fair compromise....when the bikes are shipped from Kudos they are EN15194 legal,it is a conscious decision on the part of the customer to make them illegal,the press buttons cannot be performed without intent.The OP mentioned 25mph but this cutoff could be set at say 17mph,which would be in the tolerance of 10% of the legal speed,I think we used to call it blueprinting in the motorsport world.
You can legally test ride an Arriba away from the dealer,with a BS10 you would have to collect it with a van and take it direct to your private estate to use,therein lies the difference.
It would help enormously if our government signed up for EN15194 and the S class bikes at the same time but I hear that is very unlikely,at the moment the law is in a mess.
Thats my attitude,please don't shoot the messenger.
KudosDave

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Dave


we are going to launch a 350 watt CST motor kit with crank sensor and throttle with a 48 volt 9 AH battery this will be the same set at 15MPH but you can change the speed by programming the display to 22 mph on a 26 inch wheel the difference is that it will peak at 1,000 watts and drag a 15 stone rider up a steep hill no pedalling we have 4 test kits working on bikes for 4 months no problems one is on a 29er and 20AH 48 volt battery getting 70 miles on a charge we wont Exceed 22 MPH or 48 volts because it will destroy the gears in the motor

And the 350 watt and 750 watt Bafang crank drive kit 48 volts


Also Maybe a 72 volt 50MPH no pedalling KIT

Frank

 

[EddiePJ]

To be fair to celedep, they have started this thread in the 'off road' section and make no mention of using the bike on public roads.

If people are going to moan every time that someone posts something such as this, what's the point of having an 'off road' section.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Celedep started this posting in the general section but it got moved to the off road section.
It's interesting that you go through an attitude change when selling these e-bikes. At the beginning most of us want to sell EN15194 bikes, then you get worn down by how many people want to ride S-class type bikes in the UK, and it's tempting to think that if others are making a success of selling 350 watt bikes and the Dept of Trading standards don't seem that concerned, why not join them.
I was about to produce a 500 watt x 28 mph bike (if you are going to be ilegal why not go to 500 watts!),it would cost about the same as the Kudos Arriba,but the big problem is how do you offer test rides without condoning the illegality. I just could not imagine the irresponsibility of watching a customer illegally riding such a bike away from our warehouse onto the public highway and I don't own a private estate to offer test rides,all our product and public liability insurances would be void.
Out of interest,if anyone is contemplating buying an S class bike where do you test ride them?
KudosDave