My friends WISPER

stranger

Pedelecer
Feb 7, 2009
103
0
New Forest. Hants.
'ran away' with her.

The motor simply would NOT stop? IN the end she put both feet down, let go the handlebars and let it whirl away by itself, into a hedge--and even then the motor kept running.

It was quite scary.

Any ideas what went wrong?
 

Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
OK the controller can go wrong but the brakes are independant of the controller and each other, how can all 3 go wrong at the same time?
Something I have seen happen on motorbikes is that someone opens the throttle too much with their feet on the ground and the bike runs away, the forward motion means the throttle is pulled further open by the hand and the brake levers are out of reach. Desperate not to drop it the person runs with the bike but all they achieve is holding the throttle open for longer.
There's a good video somewhere of a copper doing this whilst playing on a confiscated dirt bike in the police control room.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Once she'd let go and the bike ran by itself into the hedge, it could have been a throttle fault. If it was ok afterwards it might have stuck open, but if it remains faulty, the magnet in the Hall sensor throttle could have come adrift in some throttle makes.
.
 

Phil the drill

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 14, 2008
395
6
TR9
'ran away' with her.

The motor simply would NOT stop? IN the end she put both feet down, let go the handlebars and let it whirl away by itself, into a hedge--and even then the motor kept running.

It was quite scary.

Any ideas what went wrong?
I had this problem with an old Powabyke commuter once. As soon as you turned the key the bike took off, flat out :eek: Of course the powabyke's didn't have brake cut out switches, although they wouldn't have helped anyway as I wasn't even on the bike at the time, I'd literally just turned the key, watching in amazement as the bike took off across the road and planted itself in the hedge opposite! In that case it was a controller fault.
Can't see how you could have such a problem with the Wisper (whilst seated on it, of course), as the brake cut-outs should still function.

Phil
 

Howard

Pedelecer
Jul 8, 2008
73
0
'ran away' with her.

The motor simply would NOT stop? IN the end she put both feet down, let go the handlebars and let it whirl away by itself, into a hedge--and even then the motor kept running.

It was quite scary.

Any ideas what went wrong?
Sounds a bit like a problem I had with my 905se, where the throttle decided to be permanently on. It took me by surprise the first time it happened, and was extremely embarrassing - the bike suddenly reared up in front of me at a giveway - the only way to stop it was to hit the main power button, which was easier said than done when the bike was trying to run away from me! The whole throttle had to be replaced in the end... I can't remember if the brakes cut the motor out when it happened, but again it wasn't that easy to reach them as I tried to hold onto the beast! I've heard it called 'runaway throttle' which can happen in wet weather when the contacts on the sensor short out.
Howard
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
I had a problem early on and kept on forgetting to cut power switch and would lean on throttle and propel myself forward alarmingly. My wife was put of bike in same way as she kept on leaning on throttle......you really need to remember to switch it oft. And as mussels says its always in gear:rolleyes:
 

the_killjoy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 26, 2008
822
226
I remember many years ago having the same thing happen to me when bump starting an old James Motorcycle by running along side it and stumbling and then instinctively holding on and twisting the throttle. Its a good job the roads wheren't as busy then .
 

stranger

Pedelecer
Feb 7, 2009
103
0
New Forest. Hants.
I can handle a 'runaway horse' with considerable aplomb--but a runaway e-byke? :eek:

The PB has, as yet, shown not the slightest desire to tank off. Long may it remain docile.
 

dazzie

Pedelecer
Jul 16, 2008
129
0
I get a stuck throttle on my mistral very often - makes turning the battery on interesting anway if you haven't got a brake on! The brakes really should have cut the motor off so I'm guessing she panicked and couldn't think what to do other than jump off...
 

Vikki

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 12, 2009
442
2
That's what I liked about the Powabyke. If you were at a standstill for more than 5 seconds then the throttle didn't work until you'd pedalled a couple of revolutions. Same for having just turned it on. It was a safety feature and I was surprised to find it missing on the Wisper (and apparently many others).

Vikki.
 

Sector

Pedelecer
Mar 5, 2007
102
0
Leicestershire Le8
Brake switches

My Ezee Chopper has switches on the brake levers, but but I'm thinking of disconnecting them. I don't like the slight delay between releasing the brake lever and the controller applying power to the motor, and any reduction in the number of things that can go wrong with the electrics seems useful.

I'm guessing that the switches just provide logic inputs to the controller. If the controller crashes it will probably ignore the switches anyway, which might explain some of these tales of runaway bikes, even if the brakes might have been applied.

The only sure way to turn off the power to the motor would be to have 20 amp switches on the brakes, and 20 amp wiring to the switches, and I would guess the none of the bikes go to those extremes.

I've fitted an E-Crazyman controller to my Quando to replace the original controller, which had gone faulty. The original Quando wiring didn't have brake switches. and I've made no change with the new controller.

Does anyone have advice on pros and cons for brake switches?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
I don't bother with the eZee brake lever switches since I've ridden infinitely more powerful motorcycles for many years without such things.

You can disconnect them easily via the white nylon plugs at (1) in the meter here:

 

Sector

Pedelecer
Mar 5, 2007
102
0
Leicestershire Le8
Brake switches

Thanks for the reply Flecc. I suspected that I could just unplug the two white connectors in the voltage indicator on the Chopper.

I took things a little further on the Quando and did away with the voltage indicator altogether. I broke the voltage indicator casing while folding the bike. Broken casings like that seem to be common on Ezee bikes. The leds are mostly just confusing anyway, and a cheap digital voltmeter is light enough to carry in a toolpack and gives a much more accurate reading of battery voltage.

As you might expect, the Ezee controller functions without the voltage indicator. I just needed to link the two cores that previously went to the pedelec switch, so that the bike would be permanently on twistgrip control. The twistgrip was then wired straight through to the controller, with a considerable reduction in wiring complexity and components to go faulty.
 
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stranger

Pedelecer
Feb 7, 2009
103
0
New Forest. Hants.
That's what I liked about the Powabyke. If you were at a standstill for more than 5 seconds then the throttle didn't work until you'd pedalled a couple of revolutions. Same for having just turned it on. It was a safety feature and I was surprised to find it missing on the Wisper (and apparently many others).

Vikki.
It was a 'standstill' that she trying to achieve. :eek:

Anyway--it's gone back to the dealer to be investigated.

It's a good thing that she wasn't out in real traffic though. Could have been very nasty
 

gwing

Pedelecer
Nov 5, 2008
39
8
Chiltern Hills
I don't bother with the eZee brake lever switches since I've ridden infinitely more powerful motorcycles for many years without such things.

Err, yes. And for that reason I am favouring a more minimalist control setup myself

BUT

On a motorbike you have a clutch to disconnect the engine

On a motorbike you have a neutral gear to disconnect the engine

On a motorbike you have an ignition switch to stop the engine

On a motorbike you may also have a kill button to stop the engine

On a motorbike, if it stalls it stops, instead of continuing to apply power
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Err, yes. And for that reason I am favouring a more minimalist control setup myself

BUT

On a motorbike you have a clutch to disconnect the engine

On a motorbike you have a neutral gear to disconnect the engine

On a motorbike you have an ignition switch to stop the engine

On a motorbike you may also have a kill button to stop the engine

On a motorbike, if it stalls it stops, instead of continuing to apply power

But on an e-bike the brakes easily overcome the minimal power available even on the most powerful legal bikes, and the speeds being stopped from are a fraction of typical motorcycle speeds.

E-bike brake cutouts are like stabilisers, possibly ok for learners but unnecessary once skilled and a regular source of problems. They encourage the poor technique of not rolling off the throttle when braking, so then what happens the day the brake cutout fails to cut the motor on wide open throttle as they often do? What happens then is panic and a possible accident, which someone without brake cutouts would not have suffered.

It will all become academic once pedelec only is enforced in due course, making brake cutouts redundant.
.
 

Mussels

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 17, 2008
3,207
8
Crowborough
It will all become academic once pedelec only is enforced in due course, making brake cutouts redundant.
.
Didn't the Ezee bikes suffer from broken wheels because they didn't cut power to the motor before the brakes were applied? With just pedelec the cutouts would be essential as power does not stop as soon as you stop pedaling, and anyway you should be able to keep pedaling with the brakes applied to be able to change gear with derailers.