Any able to identify this bike ?

[KirstinS]

It's a Yamaha and seems to be a crank drive of sorts ?

Thanks

 

[flecc]

Yes, it's the Yamaha PAS from 1999 onwards. Yamaha made various versions with this crank drive system which has been imitated by Tonaro recently. They were produced through to 2006, but withdrawn from Britain much earlier since they were beaten in the market by the Giant Lafree Panasonic powered e-bikes. These Yamahas were more popular in France where they stayed on the market until the end of production. Initially with NiMh batteries some versions had lithium ones. This PDF shows the later XPC26 version with a cowled motor and BB area.

In 2007 Yamaha decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, so produced an e-bike motor that was close copy of the Panasonic one. Their bikes with those stayed in Japan, but the motor was used by Hungarian bike maker Gepida in their Reptila model.
.

 

[KirstinS]

Thanks, it has no keys or charger. I thought stolen but seems to be offered by a genuine house clearance company that I can trace.

Do you know what volts /watts they are ? I may take a punt on it

Many thanks flecc

Kirstin

 

[flecc]

24 volts and nominally 250 watts to match Japanese law. It has an NiMh battery which is probably shot, so that could be a problem since there's not much room in that position to accommodate anything else. They performed well and I agree to some extent with A to B magazine who described them as a bit moped-like in the way they work, though they are pedelecs.

One of our members once advised that a search on German ebay for "Yamaha akku" produced some replacement battery packs for these bikes, but I don't know how valid that still is. Yamaha spares for these old bikes are mostly no longer available and most current NiMh cells to use for recelling are on the poor side.

If you get another, or stay with NiMh, don't forget that a charger will have to have an appropriate cut-off circuit point to match the NTC thermistor in the NiMh battery pack, or that thermistor changed to match any NiMh charger you buy.
.

 

[KirstinS]

Thanks - i was more thinking of just straight replacing the battery with a lithium and charger (rack or bottle)

Or even running 36v through it - did you ever hear if this could be overvolted without popping controller ?

Thanks once again !

 

[flecc]

I've never heard of anyone trying these on 36 volts and I'm certain that the standard controller would blow at far below that. Japanese e-bikes at that time were always faithful to the very strict Japanese e-bike law on the power and the way it was delivered at various speeds, so their controllers were complex and very inflexible.

Converting to 26 volt lithium would be ok though, and some packs from BMS or Ping may well fit into that existing battery space.

 

[KirstinS]

Thanks flecc , very helpful - best to skip this one I think and keep a lookout for 2nd hand beastamatic

 

[Mrke]

As they are only asking £50 for it, might be worth a look before you dismiss??

 

[Erik]

I've just bought an XPC-26, that I've yet to see in person, for the equivalent of £125.

I plan to gut the battery housing and use LiPo cells from HobbyKing, which will cost me roughly the same, including various connectors.

I can use the LiPo's for other purposes, I've just put a similar pack into my Agattu battery shell, which I will report about in a separate thread.

I have not seen a pedelec put up for sale for less than the equivalent of £350, no matter how old the batteries were, so how bad can it go?
With two e-bikes and three persons in the family, bike trips were getting cumbersome for the poor one without motor.

 

[Erik]

The bike I bought unseen turned out to be in excellent condition, and the original NiCd battery was able to give 5 miles assistance.

The LiPo-cells 2x7s 5800mAh reduced the battery's weight by 1250 grams while doubling the stated capacity. The 30 km test ride required 4600 mAh replenishment.

My Agattu feels like a tank compared to the much more nimble Yamaha.

For less than the cost of a new battery for the Agattu, we now have a stable mate for it, so the whole family can go out e-riding together.

 

[flecc]

Great news on that bargain Erik, well done.

It was a pity that Yamaha gave up so easily on these models, especially since their imitation of the Panasonic power unit hasn't caught on in the market. These bevel drive crank motors were rather good and the reappearance of this type of motor unit in the Tonaro e-bikes proves that there is still a healthy market for this kind of e-bike.