General ignorance...

[Tommo743]

Hello there.

I am doing a little internet research on behalf of my Mother, who, while searching for a second hand bicycle, stumbled upon an e-bike and has become quite taken with it...

She has found a second hand Yamaha XPC26 for around £200. The dealer told her he is unable to guarantee that she will be able to get parts (particularly a replacement battery) as the bike is no longer in production.

So, my questions to anyone who might know, and be so kind as to take the time to answer, are:

1) Are batteries for e-bikes generally model specific, or can any battery of appropriate voltage be fitted to any bike? ie: Is there a standardisation to battery sizes or not?

2) Is it a fair concern with buying the Yamaha that one will not be able to source replacement parts?

3) Is £200 a good price for this bike? (She said it was in good condition and had clearly been serviced recently, new tyres and cables etc...)

4) Is it realistic to consider looking for a second hand electric bike for much under £500? Can you suggest any sources? Or any key do's and don'ts?

Any other information anyone has to offer on the subject would be gratefully received, alternatively if you can point me in the direction of relevant posts or FAQ's, that would be lovely.

Many thanks.

Tom.

 

[jac]

hi i have seen a lot of yamaha bike batteries for sale on german ebay but not sure if they send to uk

jim

 

[torrent99]

Hello there.

I am doing a little internet research on behalf of my Mother, who, while searching for a second hand bicycle, stumbled upon an e-bike and has become quite taken with it...

She has found a second hand Yamaha XPC26 for around £200. The dealer told her he is unable to guarantee that she will be able to get parts (particularly a replacement battery) as the bike is no longer in production.

So, my questions to anyone who might know, and be so kind as to take the time to answer, are:

1) Are batteries for e-bikes generally model specific, or can any battery of appropriate voltage be fitted to any bike? ie: Is there a standardisation to battery sizes or not?

Well the underlying technology is not bike specific, but the cases and connectors are. So if you are happy with electronics and can figure out how to physically mount the battery then DIY retrofiting is possible. If you are happier with an off the shelf type system then you need to ensure you can get the parts.

2) Is it a fair concern with buying the Yamaha that one will not be able to source replacement parts?

I personally have not seen Yamaha advertised anywhere.

3) Is £200 a good price for this bike? (She said it was in good condition and had clearly been serviced recently, new tyres and cables etc...)

It sounds VERY cheap. The most expensive part of an e-bike is the battery, at todays prices a new one could cost around the £300-£500 mark.

If the battery is in good condition (i.e. less than a year old, not abused etc etc), then it could be an amazing bargain otherwise BUYER BEWARE!

4) Is it realistic to consider looking for a second hand electric bike for much under £500? Can you suggest any sources? Or any key do's and don'ts?

You could get a NEW Synergie Mistral for a bit more than £500...
2nd hand <£500 you could get a bargain if you are lucky, but if the battery is duff you could be looking at an expensive replacement...

(Generally avoid the cheap NEW sub £500 bikes you see on e-bay, they're not ALL bad, but you need to be careful!)

However, before you start buying a bike you need to consider what it's needed for. e.g.

1) What sort of range between charges?
2) Will the rider be putting in a lot of effort themselves?
3) What sort of terrain?
4) How heavy can the bike be?
5) How big is the rider?
6) Do you want to be able to ride just on the throttle?

 

[flecc]

This Yamaha XP range have been discontinued for some while now. Although they continued to sell for more years on the Continent, they were discontinued in the UK early in this decade. One company which I link to below claims to be able to supply spares, but I doubt of there would be any guarantee of being able to do that, and batteries could be a problem in future since they have limited lives.

Yamaha have since introduced a completely different electric assist bike, so they may be unlikely to continue with spares for the XP range for very long.

Yamaha spares in the UK
.

 

[Tommo743]

Thanks everyone, that's some helpful insight...