Help! Powabyke - original mk1 nogo.

[vidtek]

I was asked to look at a rather old (circa1998 I think) step-through front hub drive bike today.

I pulled the rather unusual battery pack out and discovered it had about 41v at the terminals off-load. The owner who has intermittent but severe dementia said it wouldn't charge and needed a new battery. I pulled it apart and found the locking key/power switch had failed. I shorted out the switch and the 3 lights on the twist throttle body lit up. Twisting the throttle did nothing. has anyone any ideas on this? I traced the cabling back to the controller and all looks ok, same with the connections to the motor. The controller is a bit of a mystery box, no labels or numbers on it at all.

 

[saneagle]

For the original Powerbykes, you have to pedal it initially to enable the throttle, but once going, you can use the throttle without pedalling. Maybe that one is the same.

 

[flash]

Yes you need to pedal

 

[vidtek]

After putting the bike away in the garage last night that thought did occur to me, that having to pedal first to start the motor was a possibility, I tried it today. Thank you @saneagle and @flash for the confirmation. Just tested it and it works.

 

[saneagle]

Happy days. The last few days has to be a record for confirmed solutions. We're on a roll. I'm now so full of optimism that I'm off to vote to solve another problem. Goodbye Agenda 2030.