Strange accident with my chain drive e-bike!

[ronipozn]

Yesterday I rode my e-bike and jump off some sidewalks. Not anything special.

I've a Dahon bicycle with a chain drive conversion kit. The motor is places just below the crankset, really close to the ground:

This piece of metals that is attached to the frame got hit and slightly bent.

Now, whenever I'm trying to pedal the pedal is touching the motor because of the bending:

Does anyone had such a problem? Is it common with such low placed motors?
And where the hell can I find a new metal instead of the bent one?

I've resolve the issue so far with a really high-tech, clever and amazing tool:

A Wrench!

 

[flecc]

Your motor system is a Cyclone by the looks of it Roni, see if Paco at Cyclone can post you a new bar:

Cyclone Taiwan

sales@cyclone-tw.com

Alternatively a local engineering company could easily make a new one or maybe straighten the old one.
.

 

[ronipozn]

Your motor system is a Cyclone by the looks of it Roni, see if Paco at Cyclone can post you a new bar:

Cyclone Taiwan

sales@cyclone-tw.com

Alternatively a local engineering company could easily make a new one or maybe straighten the old one.
.

A bar, that's the word that I was looking for! I forgot the word in english for a piece of metal

Yeah, I know it's Cyclone, it's just that I've bought the kit from a local dealer who want to charge me a ridiculous amount of money for fixing/replacing it.

Anyhow, thanks, I will try to improvise something by asking some eng company to prepare a new bar for me.

Just wanted to know if it's a common problem with such low placed conversion kits.

 

[Scimitar]

It's a bit of a trade-off, whether the mounting bracket will bend first, before the frame it's mounted too. I suppose it's less of a tragedy having to replace/repair the bracket once in a while rather than scrap the frame, if the damage or twist is bad enough.
If it was doing its job well enough before the kerb encounter, I wouldn't re-inforce the bracket, for the above reason. Just stay clear of kerb jumping.

 

[flecc]

Just wanted to know if it's a common problem with such low placed conversion kits.

Cyclone quality does leave much to be desired, but as Scimitar says, parts can be deliberately sacrificial to save more expensive items. The better bike stands that bolt to frame brackets are often deliberately designed to break first before the frame.
.

 

[mechaniker]

Yeah, I know it's Cyclone

sorry, but what i see it is´nt a cyclone. The picture is not relly clear for to identify the motor but what i see is a "unite" motor, it is a 25Euro e-bike-motor from China, with a freewheel from other company.

BTW, why you dont make a bar by yourself? this mounting bar dont look complicated and i would guess that everybody with two hand and a vice in his basement and a drill can do this by himself

Before i would pay some money for the same shi... and wait 1month, i would do it by myself or you go into the next machanic garage and pay maybe 40-50Euro and they make a better copy as it is in original.

regards
frank

PS: you can check the motor on my website cycle-motor.com scroll down and look the motor in the right corner, is it the same?

 

[flecc]

sorry, but what i see it is´nt a cyclone. The picture is not relly clear for to identify the motor but what i see is a "unite" motor, it is a 25Euro e-bike-motor from China, with a freewheel from other company.


regards
frank

Thanks Frank, I noticed it looked very slightly different but the mounting was the same method of course.
.

 

[ronipozn]

The guys who import this kit told me it's a Cyclone...I looked for it at the cyclone website and at first glance it surely look the same....I guess he is not so trustworthy as he said he is.

 

[ronipozn]

I had another problem with my bike two days ago. Now it was a more serious one. (I've fixed the bar problem BTYW, wasn't that hard after all )

The motor stopped working. The light indicators were on but twisting the throttle didn't cause the motor to spin.

Anyhow, I've taken the bike to the shop. They said that this is a controller issue, so they changed it.

They installed a bigger controller, twice as large as the previous one.

Any how, the controller worked great for exactly one day. Yesterday evening, when I tried riding the bike, they shut down after 10 second of riding.

Now, every time I turen them on, they spin really slow, the light indicators blinking until the whole thing just shut off after a short period of time.

Also, there is a wired smell, like a burning plastic or something like this which.

Any one have any clue?

It's just make me frustrated, the e-bike shop is too far away and the problems are just coming one after the other.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I don't want to worry you, but I know from my own experience that these motors burn out very easily if you put too much current through them. I burnt two of them (24v 250w motors) on an electric scooter when I connected each one directly to a 24v battery with a relay because the controller didn't work. Before they burnt out completely, there was also a strong smell and they also went slow just before complete failure (as you would expect). So, what I'm thinking is that perhaps your new controller is giving too much current as you say that it's bigger. Luckily, as Frank says, the motors are not very expensive. I paid £25 for mine from Ebay. I think you should take the bike back to the shop and let them find out what's wrong. It's possible that the controller has failed. It seems that some are not very reliable. If you're good with tools, the motor is very easy to disassemble in case you want to look at it yourself.
One other thought: It's possible that the motor was already faulty/worn out before the controller was fitted and now has finally died.
Let us know how you get on.

 

[ronipozn]

I've fixed my e-bike last week.

A reminder, last time I fixed my bike, the controller had been replaced and it burnt in the first time I rode it after.

I took the e-bike to the shop again. Showed him what happened and he said that the controller wasn't the problem at all. The motor was the problem and it's what cause the controller to burn. Does it make sense?

So...he changed the all system (Except the battery of course) for no fees. He said that he is putting an upgraded version of the system and more powerful one.

Now, the good side is that the system is really more powerful. I now going up hills (and I'm living in a very hilly city) far more quicker then before. I have a twist&go bike and the motor can usually take me forward without me pedaling at all, which wasn't possible at all in the previous system.

Moreover, the previous system was noisy, it is a friction drive system but the new system is a lot more quiet. I barely here it which is very cool I don't know exactly what's has changed. Does somebody know?

Now, I rode it for a week or so and all was perfect.

Now for the bad side, while I was pedaling one time, all of a sudden the system stopeed working completely. I need the switch the key off and on again so it will come back to life.

Since then it happens all the time. Usually once every 15 minutes or so. But sometimes it happens more frequently. Needless to say, this is very disappointing. Can someone please share his thoughts with me if he thinks he knows what can cause this problem?

I tried to understand what the root of the problem but driving without pedaling, just pedaling, and so on. I think that bumps and road pits are causing the motor to stop more frequently but it's always like this. Also, when the system stop working, the light indicators keeps working.

I would greatly appreciate any advice

 

[Deleted member 4366]

What battery do you have? It's possible that the battery can't supply enough power for your new system and either the battery or the controller is shutting down when it detects the problem. Some more details on what exactly the shop installed would help to dtermine the cause.

 

[NRG]

Yes, sounds like something is current or voltage limiting....it could be the battery BMS or it could be because of the more powerful controller causing the battery voltage to dip low triggering the Low Voltage battery protection in the controller....

 

[Old Timer]

Or it could just be a dodgy connection on the key switch, I had that once and once sorted then no more cutting out.