Ongoing reliability of Kalkhoff/Focus Impulse 2 motors

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

or he could send back the faulty parts to the manufacturers and say nothing about the dongle.

he could.... of course, but it is pretty obvious when dongles have been used, especially when you know which shop is submitting the warranty.

 

[Woosh]

but it is pretty obvious when dongles have been used,

How can Bosch tell if they only have a dead motor returned to them for example?

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

How can Bosch tell if they only have a dead motor returned to them for example?

I don't work for Bosch, so I'm not the person to ask. But to be fair to Bosch, you can't "just" return a dead motor to them.

 

[nemesis]

If you want to start discussing dongles,Bosch and warranties start a new post.

 

[nemesis]

I've planned to buy an ebike, and I have had bad reports about Bafang hub motors, all Kalkhoff models (not just the Impulse 2 motors) and the Raleigh Motus with a Bosch. I can't afford to make a mistake as I am retiring. Worried about a lack of throttle as it will be a mobility aid as well.

What did you decide to do?

 

[Danidl]

How can Bosch tell if they only have a dead motor returned to them for example?

... Outsiders have no idea about where and how much data recording is included in the battery or motor assembly. If the data recorded torque , speed and current draw it would be simple for the engineers at the plant confirm that the unit was working outside designed parameters . Data recording is extremely cheap to implement

 

[Perseus]

What did you decide to do?

Still undecided. Tempted to have go on a TopPeak when the weather gets better. If it breaks down, maybe they would swop the motor for a new type? Got to check out the returns procedure and servicing? Worried I could get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Nealh]

Still undecided. Tempted to have go on a TopPeak when the weather gets better. If it breaks down, maybe they would swop the motor for a new type? Got to check out the returns procedure and servicing? Worried I could get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Just go and buy a bike ....
There's those who bite the bullet and get out there and ride one and there's those who just talk about one.

 

[Perseus]

Just go and buy a bike ....
There's those who bite the bullet and get out there and ride one and there's those who just talk about one.

It will be my second one. The Cyclamatic showed problems I need to avoid. Like how to fix them when they go wrong.

 

[RogL]

I'm new to the forum, sadly after the worse kinda Kalkhoff experience.

Briefly - March '16 got a Jarifa 2 (hardtail); It's now done 1200 odd miles mostly on the South Downs in all weathers.....After road tests on lots of other pedelecs I still love the riding position and comfort. It's upgraded to SLX ice tec brakes. I get great miles/charge. Shame about the rest!!!!

First motor replaced at about 400 mls - clonking noise and slipping freewheel. Then in Nov '16 started to get brief, intermittent SPEED notifications on the head unit and power surges mixed with no power at all - not fun for me on steep hills and with a slightly dodgy heart....

Bike's had 2 or maybe 3 speed sensors (I'm losing count) a gear change sensor - because it surges on changes - a head unit (speedo) and yet another motor. With many of its fails and most of this work since Christmas this means it hasn't really been usable since early December - I normally do 3/4 rides per week.

So, out on the club ride yesterday and it lasted 45 minutes before it started surging and stopping. This lasted another 30 mins or so until it started to work again like there'd never been a problem..... I resisted the temptation to chuck it off the cliffs near Brighton - just!

50 Cycles have responded quickly and helpfully to each problem.....So they get one more go at fixing it.

Rog

 

[Fordulike]

I'm new to the forum, sadly after the worse kinda Kalkhoff experience.

Briefly - March '16 got a Jarifa 2 (hardtail); It's now done 1200 odd miles mostly on the South Downs in all weathers.....After road tests on lots of other pedelecs I still love the riding position and comfort. It's upgraded to SLX ice tec brakes. I get great miles/charge. Shame about the rest!!!!

First motor replaced at about 400 mls - clonking noise and slipping freewheel. Then in Nov '16 started to get brief, intermittent SPEED notifications on the head unit and power surges mixed with no power at all - not fun for me on steep hills and with a slightly dodgy heart....

Bike's had 2 or maybe 3 speed sensors (I'm losing count) a gear change sensor - because it surges on changes - a head unit (speedo) and yet another motor. With many of its fails and most of this work since Christmas this means it hasn't really been usable since early December - I normally do 3/4 rides per week.

So, out on the club ride yesterday and it lasted 45 minutes before it started surging and stopping. This lasted another 30 mins or so until it started to work again like there'd never been a problem..... I resisted the temptation to chuck it off the cliffs near Brighton - just!

50 Cycles have responded quickly and helpfully to each problem.....So they get one more go at fixing it.

Rog

I had a little chuckle about your Brighton cliffs comment, but I feel your pain and hope you get a happy solution.

Electric bikes aren't the cheapest things in the world, which makes it doubly worse when they don't work as they should.

 

[RogL]

I had a little chuckle about your Brighton cliffs comment, but I feel your pain and hope you get a happy solution.

Electric bikes aren't the cheapest things in the world, which makes it doubly worse when they don't work as they should.

Cheers. All true - I shall post again as things develop....

 

[Roger R]

There is another chat thread dedicated to the problems with the motor, presume it's the same one. I also posted a couple of YouTube videos recording the problem

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

[soundwave]

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

 

[RogL]

Hi,

I am trying to ascertain who is having issues with Impulse II motors on Kalkhoff or Focus e-bikes (both made by Derby Cycles).

Personally, I had a first motor replacement after 900 miles (4 months, loud clacking/clicking noise), and then another failure at around 900 miles (7 months, very weak assistance, some loud clacking once).

I have found the following people reporting issues too on this forum (usually on fairly new pedelec bikes and low mileage/kilometers):

Username/Model/Age/Mileage
reggie_electric - Agattu - 6 months - 800km
nemesis - Focus Jarifa - 4 months - ???
Jean-christophe Saville - S11 Alfine - 14 months - 2800 miles
Lothlean - ??? - 10 months - ??
Will Tinker - Pro Connect 9 - 5 months - 500 miles
Oriteroom - Focus Aventura Impulse S10 - 10 months - 3000 miles (3rd motor)
Roger R - ??? - 6 months - 1000 miles
nightrider - Endeavour S10 - ?? - ??
bernharvey - Agattu - ?? - 400 miles
Reseg - Focus Aventura - 10 months - ?? (3rd Motor)
lowranger - Impulse 10 - ?? - 2300 miles
Biscitt - Agattu - ?? - 350 miles
Biscitt - Tasman - ?? - 100 miles
Tomtomato - Pro Connect 10 - 7 months 900 miles (2nd fault)

Please reply to this thread if you had a motor issue.

It seems quite clear to me that there is a design/quality issue with the Impulse 2 crank-driven motors, and that those should be able to last a lot longer (given the high prices of the bikes), without requiring some expensive replacements (£600, once out of warranty). Kalkhoff are not willing to provide a warranty beyond 2 years on those motors, and have made people pay for replacement out of warranty, even when low mileage was done.

After first saying that there were no issues, they confirmed that Kalkhoff knew about the issue, and it had been sorted. A software update can apparently prevent some clacking issues leading to failure. However, I am not aware of a recall to do so by Kalkhoff (are they just waiting for bikes to fail?).

The 2015 motor replacement I had (supposedly the new reliable version) failed again after a small mileage, so I am not sure the issue is really sorted.

Thanks,
T.

 

[RogL]

There is another chat thread dedicated to the problems with the motor, presume it's the same one. I also posted a couple of YouTube videos recording the problem

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Thanks. Will follow that up

 

[RogL]

Hi,

I am trying to ascertain who is having issues with Impulse II motors on Kalkhoff or Focus e-bikes (both made by Derby Cycles).

Personally, I had a first motor replacement after 900 miles (4 months, loud clacking/clicking noise), and then another failure at around 900 miles (7 months, very weak assistance, some loud clacking once).

I have found the following people reporting issues too on this forum (usually on fairly new pedelec bikes and low mileage/kilometers):

Username/Model/Age/Mileage
reggie_electric - Agattu - 6 months - 800km
nemesis - Focus Jarifa - 4 months - ???
Jean-christophe Saville - S11 Alfine - 14 months - 2800 miles
Lothlean - ??? - 10 months - ??
Will Tinker - Pro Connect 9 - 5 months - 500 miles
Oriteroom - Focus Aventura Impulse S10 - 10 months - 3000 miles (3rd motor)
Roger R - ??? - 6 months - 1000 miles
nightrider - Endeavour S10 - ?? - ??
bernharvey - Agattu - ?? - 400 miles
Reseg - Focus Aventura - 10 months - ?? (3rd Motor)
lowranger - Impulse 10 - ?? - 2300 miles
Biscitt - Agattu - ?? - 350 miles
Biscitt - Tasman - ?? - 100 miles
Tomtomato - Pro Connect 10 - 7 months 900 miles (2nd fault)

Please reply to this thread if you had a motor issue.

It seems quite clear to me that there is a design/quality issue with the Impulse 2 crank-driven motors, and that those should be able to last a lot longer (given the high prices of the bikes), without requiring some expensive replacements (£600, once out of warranty). Kalkhoff are not willing to provide a warranty beyond 2 years on those motors, and have made people pay for replacement out of warranty, even when low mileage was done.

After first saying that there were no issues, they confirmed that Kalkhoff knew about the issue, and it had been sorted. A software update can apparently prevent some clacking issues leading to failure. However, I am not aware of a recall to do so by Kalkhoff (are they just waiting for bikes to fail?).

The 2015 motor replacement I had (supposedly the new reliable version) failed again after a small mileage, so I am not sure the issue is really sorted.

Thanks,
T.

Pls see my newish post on this - LOTS of problems - 2 x motors and various sensors over the last year and 1200 miles - And I 'm getting a SPEED notification on the head unit again...!

 

[nemesis]

Pls see my newish post on this - LOTS of problems - 2 x motors and various sensors over the last year and 1200 miles - And I 'm getting a SPEED notification on the head unit again...!

Are the problems with the latest evo motor 2016 ?

 

[nightrider]

i would not touch kalkhoff with a proverbial barge pole

 

[RogL]

Are the problems with the latest evo motor 2016 ?

Got the bike new in March 2016 but unsure if EVO - how can I tell?