Hi dear friends,
I come late to this thread unfortunately.
In 2018 I purchased a 2nd hand Kalkhoff Agattu i7. The bike was originally purchased in April 2015 - I was handed the invoice. The odometer read 5450 km (3386 miles) when I bought it. I had no clue of what was going on with the Impulse motor at that time. The bike was dirt cheap at about eur 600 and looked, and worked, like a charm.
The original owner told me later that the bike was on her 2nd motor. A 1st motor had been changed at about 8970 km (5574 miles).
I was so happy that I bought a new 17 Ah battery and charger for about eur 650. I get about 100 km (60 miles) mileage, which is quite good.
At about 13000 km, the aluminum frame broke. The bike was registered, and Kalkhoff offers lifetime warranty on frames, so Kalkhoff via my nearest dealer honored it and agreed to supply a new frame. I had to pay for the labour cost and used the chance to renew some perishables (brakes, cables), so I spent about eur 200 + about 150 eur shipping and petrol costs, and had the bike there for about 6 weeks.
Now at nearly 15000 km (9320 miles), it is the motor that is starting to die. It still pushes but I hear strange noises, some clicking, and the crankset feels wobbly and sometimes hard to push. I have disconnected the motor and then I get no noises or odd feelings at the crankset (although the bike is indeed heavy).
Changing the motor again would set me back about eur 450 including shipping costs. And I would need to check with my dealer whether they'd be willing to do it.
So I'm doubting whether it's worth substituting the motor again + adding a bearing reinforcement kit, or sell this bike, or whether there is some way to find new pieces, or what.
'Bearing overhaul kits' are available at about 100 eur incl. shipping to Spain, but I believe they do not include the nylon parts:
This kit contains all the bearings, O-rings and seals required to overhaul an Impulse 2 ebike motor.
www.performancelinebearings.com
Nor do I know whether this is something that would require an USB diagnose or some other unexpected difficulties. And I believe this would be useful for a new motor only.
Another alternative is to locate a 2nd hand bike and swap the motor & LCD unit, but I'm not sure this is doable without diagnosis tools.
Will keep you posted once I get some alternatives, thank you and kind regards!