Collected the e-bike from the bike emporium on Saturday after its service and having the hub motor and Pedal Assist Sensor fitted. Total cost, £119 - and well worth the expense.
Struggled to get it into the back of the SAAB estate - and struggled - and struggled. What with 29 inch wheels, there was no way it was going to fit. I got it there in the first place in my mate's Berlingo van, so I phoned him to see if he could assist - luckily he could.
The battery is mounted and I've ordered a pannier rack for the controller, as there's nowhere else to put it. I've also ordered a handlebar extender rack for the LED display and headlight.
Total cost to date, including the base bike, is £886 - a lot less than the £1,600 for an equivalent ready-built bike,
The two stroke bike conversion is giving me a lot of problems. For a start, there are three handle grips. One is obviously the throttle and one is a plain handle for the other side, but I'm damned if I know why there are another one having an electrical lead attached to it. Nothing in the instructions explains the anomaly.
Additionally, there are two cables - one for the throttle and the other for the clutch. The problem was that I don't know which was which. The one that logically connects to the carburettor (which I assembled) has an opposite end that doesn't attach to the throttle in any logical manner.
The instructions are useless and the photos accompanying them are just too small to discern what's what. The cable that fits the carb and throttle grip must obviously fit into something else before it connects to the throttle grip - but the instructions don't mention anything.
It was only on my 5th reading of the instructions that I noted the exhortation to fit 'a' kill switch, not 'the' kill switch, which made me wonder if the part I couldn't fathom the use for was the kill switch and the part that solved the puzzle - bingo, it was.
Above is the completed throttle, kill switch and carburettor assembly. The kill switch is essential, as without it there's no way of stopping the engine, except by overloading it with the brakes - not a good idea.
Above is the loosely assembled bike, less drive cog, chain tensioner and chain guard.
Once again, the instructions for the electrics leave much to be desired. Blue to blue and black to black from the coil to the engine makes sense, but there's a free white wire (apparently the generator wire) on the engine side and the kill switch has a green and a white/black wire, although I have no idea what to connect these two wires to. May look for a petrol bike forum for pointers. The fact the connectors don't match up is an added bonus - spade to bullet....
All the difficulties I've had to tackle are due to the seller bringing together parts from different manufacturers using different standards to present a complete package, but without making the necessary changes to make assembly easy. Theoretically, assembly needn't take more than an afternoon, if the instructions were given a bit more thought.
Next comes the most difficult bit - fitting the drive gear on the rear wheel. It doesn't actually fit on the hub, but around it and against the outside of the spokes. Positioning has to be done by eye, spinning the rear wheel to see if there is any wobble in the spinning gear wheel and adjusting as necessary. All a bit hit and miss, but I'll get there in the end.
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