Clacking noise - Kalkhoff Impulse 2 motor
- Thread starter Tomtomato
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50 Cycles have deffinitely been "stained" by this already (right or wrong).
I would be livid with the problems you have all had on a "premium" ebike with price to match.
Is it possible to swap to a different crank drive or will the frames not allow this?, even a BBS retrofit may save some of your initial outlay if out of the 2 year warranty?.
As for failure at 30 miles, it would be a Visa Chargeback for me, not fit for purpose. Anyone who had bought via Visa Credit card has a very good leg to stand on if getting stonewalled by the the supplying dealer.
We get it all the time at work where customers are desperate after the dealer/ manufacturer are basically washing there hands due to sub standard product and we try to repair their (motor) cycles as best as possible for them for a reasonable fee.
Truly shocking what you've paid for, a premium bike and what you've actually received..
I would be livid with the problems you have all had on a "premium" ebike with price to match.
Is it possible to swap to a different crank drive or will the frames not allow this?, even a BBS retrofit may save some of your initial outlay if out of the 2 year warranty?.
As for failure at 30 miles, it would be a Visa Chargeback for me, not fit for purpose. Anyone who had bought via Visa Credit card has a very good leg to stand on if getting stonewalled by the the supplying dealer.
We get it all the time at work where customers are desperate after the dealer/ manufacturer are basically washing there hands due to sub standard product and we try to repair their (motor) cycles as best as possible for them for a reasonable fee.
Truly shocking what you've paid for, a premium bike and what you've actually received..
Nigel....you really cannot be serious in that statement.
If your new car had to have 3 new motors in its first 2 years of life,it would be a national outrage and be the death of that marque, the depreciation would be awful.
Why don't Kalkhoff sort out this problem,they are a strong and very well respected company and yet continue to sell a product that clearly has an engineering fault.
Everybody talks about 2 years warranty but the law gives a customer the right to take the matter to court up to 6 years,provided that the fault is proven to be an ongoing fault that was as a result of an original inherent design fault,it is up to the judge what is the 'reasonable' time the warranty should continue to apply.
Irate customers need a test case to establish the word 'reasonable'
If Nigel thinks two years is 'doing fairly well' for an ebike, perhaps he really does ride a modern Kalkhoff.
To be fair to 50 cycles this mess with the impulse 1 and 2 motors isn`t their fault and from what i know kalkhoff can be horrendous to deal with.
They don`t help themselves by not posting on here to clarify the situation and the concerns of their customers.
They don`t help themselves by not posting on here to clarify the situation and the concerns of their customers.
If you notice I didn't mention 50 cycles in my posting,if I was in their position I would be tearing my hair out ( already very grey) by now.
Is there a solution to the motor problem?
Dave
I don`t think there is a solution to the motor problems.They say that the latest EVO version is more reliable but there has been postings on here from members who have had issues.I had the integrale impulse evo early this year and the motor was replaced after a few weeks so i sold it and cut my losses soon after.
You couldn`t give me another one.
If you pay < £1000 I would perhaps agree with you.
If you by a Kalkhoff costing in excess of £2000 and it only lasts two years, I would say that you have done very badly indeed. Buy something with a Bosch motor for the same, or less and get five years use. It's what they call a no-brainer.
The best advice would be to buy a lightly used second hand Panasonic driven Kalkhoff for under £500. It will last for years.
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No, it's not possible to change the crank motor by another model, even within the Kalkhoff range. Also, it would require changing the cabling, the battery, computer etc. All those components are proprietary.
On the basis that Kalkhoff push bikes are actually not worth that much, it wouldn't make sense to spend hundreds of pounds, just to keep the bike.
This is a customer statement from SRAM about an issue they had with some brake units. I think it is far better than , no issue, replace a few and charge the customer £600 for a replacement.
Bike Brands, OEM Factories, Dealers and Consumers are going to be angry and dismayed at SRAM.
We are going to continue to analyze failure modes and we will develop a redesign. At this point, we don’t know when this will be complete.
I am leading a senior team meeting daily to complete a recovery and replacement plan for the channel and consumers. Because we don’t have immediate replacement product or know when we might be back in production with Hydro, this will especially disruptive.
The cost will be high. There will also need to be compensation throughout the channel for the disruption. We don’t yet know how this will play out. We need to go over the top here in order to preserve our Brand and our Relationships.
We are going to stay focused on improving our Quality and as part of our Strategy we will make operational decisions prioritizing Product Quality and Launch Quality. We have come a long way during the last several years and we have further to travel.
Bike Brands, OEM Factories, Dealers and Consumers are going to be angry and dismayed at SRAM.
We are going to continue to analyze failure modes and we will develop a redesign. At this point, we don’t know when this will be complete.
I am leading a senior team meeting daily to complete a recovery and replacement plan for the channel and consumers. Because we don’t have immediate replacement product or know when we might be back in production with Hydro, this will especially disruptive.
The cost will be high. There will also need to be compensation throughout the channel for the disruption. We don’t yet know how this will play out. We need to go over the top here in order to preserve our Brand and our Relationships.
We are going to stay focused on improving our Quality and as part of our Strategy we will make operational decisions prioritizing Product Quality and Launch Quality. We have come a long way during the last several years and we have further to travel.
Hi John. I have a Juicy Sports Click and it's been a fantastic purchase. Yesterday myself and my son visited 50 cycles at Loughborough to look at and try the Kalkhoff bikes as he said I should compare what a high end E bike is like to my Juicy. When we arrived at Loughborough we was invited to try the Kalkhoff bikes by the sales advisor but she admitted that she didn't know a lot about them. After trying the bikes and one with a loose Handlebar! All we can say is thank goodness I bought a Juicy Bike. One of the Kalkhoff was obviously set up incorrectly with its software and the sales advisor ringing the Bristol shop to talk her through how to change it, the bike seriously under performed. At £3000 you could buy 3 Juicy bikes and in our opinion you would have a better bike from a company who will look after you. Give Bob a ring at Juicy and try one of his bikes I'm sure you will not be disappointed and save loads of cash.
On that note, I'm slightly puzzled that despite all of the moaning, that no one has say started a Facebook page to highlight the issues, raise awareness further, and to instigate one combined court case against the manufacturer, importer, supplier, and the finance company if finance was used for bike purchase.
It works out a very expensive thing to do, but divided up the costs would be appreciably lower.
All the time that owners just sit behind a key board doing nothing other than moaning, they simply won't be taken seriously. Being harsh, it simply makes them the fools.
I know that if this were me, I'd have set the ball rolling a very long time ago.
I did exactly that by rejecting a commercial vehicle, and whilst it took five years to sort out and two days in court, I won the day. And remember my issues with the BH, well that scenario also ended up with a full refund after over a year of ownership.
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Speaking for myself, I'm waiting for 50 Cycles to get back to me following my reports to them on Thursday last.
The suggestion of starting a FaceBook page is excellent. It could give a true indication of the scale of this issue.
Our parent company had to initiate a recall on a very safety critical product.
The product was not of our manufacture or design,we were the retailer.
VOSA identified the problem and my engineers tested the product,the manufacturer had tried to make it too light and it was under designed.
As soon as the product was shown to be poor quality and the extent of the recall became apparent,the small manufacturer ceased trading and walked away from the problem. Our company was the biggest seller of the product so despite it not being of our design or manufacture we were responsible,both legally and morally.
We immediately redesigned the product moving away from a fabricated item to a drop forged item,a much more reliable and stronger manufacturing method, in 3 weeks we had a working solution and 5 weeks production in our hands.
We took advertisements in every magazine to explain the problem,relevant magazines were most helpful,we searched our database to find everyone who had purchased the product and contacted our competitor retailers to say about the problem and offered foc product if they had any customers who may have had the substandard product,this was all monitored by VOSA.
I was worried about going public on the problem and the adverse publicity that could have been generated by it but amazingly it was all positive feedback,social media was very supportive and VOSA complimented us on the depth of recall we achieved. It also generated new business from customers who were not aware that we had access to drop forging facilities.
The reason I tell this story is that anyone can make a mistake,it is how you respond to that mistake and sort the problem is the long term customer reaction,recalls are not to be feared if engineered positively,customers tend to be appreciative and patient if they see that the retailer is trying to sort out the problem.
The product was a steering arm on kit cars, lotus 7 type vehicles.
Hope this helps Pedelecs members.
KudosDave
The product was not of our manufacture or design,we were the retailer.
VOSA identified the problem and my engineers tested the product,the manufacturer had tried to make it too light and it was under designed.
As soon as the product was shown to be poor quality and the extent of the recall became apparent,the small manufacturer ceased trading and walked away from the problem. Our company was the biggest seller of the product so despite it not being of our design or manufacture we were responsible,both legally and morally.
We immediately redesigned the product moving away from a fabricated item to a drop forged item,a much more reliable and stronger manufacturing method, in 3 weeks we had a working solution and 5 weeks production in our hands.
We took advertisements in every magazine to explain the problem,relevant magazines were most helpful,we searched our database to find everyone who had purchased the product and contacted our competitor retailers to say about the problem and offered foc product if they had any customers who may have had the substandard product,this was all monitored by VOSA.
I was worried about going public on the problem and the adverse publicity that could have been generated by it but amazingly it was all positive feedback,social media was very supportive and VOSA complimented us on the depth of recall we achieved. It also generated new business from customers who were not aware that we had access to drop forging facilities.
The reason I tell this story is that anyone can make a mistake,it is how you respond to that mistake and sort the problem is the long term customer reaction,recalls are not to be feared if engineered positively,customers tend to be appreciative and patient if they see that the retailer is trying to sort out the problem.
The product was a steering arm on kit cars, lotus 7 type vehicles.
Hope this helps Pedelecs members.
KudosDave
Well done Dave. 
Interesting that you mention that the original supplier ceased trading. In my case with the commercial vehicle, the importer actually made one of the companies dormant to avoid paying cost due to me. That actually back fired on them, as the high court sheriff wasn't amused by their tactics, and went after each director personally.
Interesting that you mention that the original supplier ceased trading. In my case with the commercial vehicle, the importer actually made one of the companies dormant to avoid paying cost due to me. That actually back fired on them, as the high court sheriff wasn't amused by their tactics, and went after each director personally.
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The small company was actually a one man operation,he declared bankrupt at the same time as winding up the trading company,amusingly the guy is now a policeman!Well done Dave.
Interesting that you mention that the original supplier ceased trading. In my case with the commercial vehicle, the importer actually made one of the companies dormant to avoid paying cost due to me. That actually back fired on them, as the high court sheriff wasn't amused by their tactics, and went after each director personally.
So there was no redress there.
But that wasn't the most important aspect,a steering arm is obviously a very safety critical product and I couldn't live with myself if someone got hurt if it failed and I had a simple solution.
Ok the costs involved were not that high,the numbers involved were low hundreds,we managed over 90% recall,probably 100% because some customers were not of our database.
But I went through a couple of very stressful days worrying about the long term adverse publicity,I needn't have worried customers were very supportive and grateful,it did us no harm.
KudosDave
It's quite different to take legal action to reject an expensive commercial vehicle, and reject a bike worth "only" £2k or £3k.
The value of the bikes and number of prospective customers with issues (given the niche nature of the product) is just too small to make some class action worthwhile, and the manufacturer in Germany would probably have to be the target.
People with motor failures are probably better off negotiating with 50 Cycles for free replacements for the duration of their ownership, or reject the bike under the consumer act and ask for a refund. If 50 Cycles don't want to comply, it's easy and cheap enough for individual buyers to start a small claim/moneyclaim, without having to pay expensive lawyers.
In the table below you find all data concerning Impulse problems made by a member of the German pedelecforum, free to edit.
It's a review of all complaints by different members, very informative
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQ6DqHS4uXCNybjnlXZD3dOU_ylw5Qwsc0_89coCsF0/edit?usp=sharing
It's a review of all complaints by different members, very informative
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQ6DqHS4uXCNybjnlXZD3dOU_ylw5Qwsc0_89coCsF0/edit?usp=sharing
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