Upgrading batribike motor

[Heavy Rider2015]

Hi all, I have a batribike xl and I wanted to upgrade the rear hub motor for a bit of extra oomph. Thing is I don't know if I can do it or not and also I don't know how easy it would be. Is there anyone close to Manchester that does this kind of thing? Will going up to a 500w motor from a 250w give me enough extra power? Any help would be appreciated. Also does anyone know how to de-restrict a batribike? Tried scouring the net & there's nothing. Cheers

 

[trex]

it's not sufficient to change just the motor to 500W. You may need to upgrade the controller as well.
open the controller box and post a picture of the label.

 

[Alan Quay]

It's not as straightforward as you might think.

If you upgrade the motor you will not get any more power without a new controller to give it more power.

If you do that your battery probably won't keep up.

So, you will need a motor, controller and battery.

You'd be better off selling the bike and starting again.

There are options for tweaking what you have, but a risk (small) that you damage things.

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

Here's a few pictures if that helps...

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

It's not as straightforward as you might think.

If you upgrade the motor you will not get any more power without a new controller to give it more power.

If you do that your battery probably won't keep up.

So, you will need a motor, controller and battery.

You'd be better off selling the bike and starting again.

There are options for tweaking what you have, but a risk (small) that you damage things.

I'd love to be able to sell it but it's not a popular model & it's an XL so everyone says it's too big. I was trying to find a company that would p/x but no joy. Thanks for the info

 

[trex]

it has an LCD, that's a good indication that the controller may be beefy enough.
Next point to check is the motor cable. Unplug it and post a picture.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Will the controller handle 48 V? d8veh always suggests going from 36 to 48 V for a bit of extra oompf as required by the OP the Bafang motors can usually handle it. Especially noticing that it is a CE Chinese Export motor and not a C E European Community sticker on it.

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

it has an LCD, that's a good indication that the controller may be beefy enough.
Next point to check is the motor cable. Unplug it and post a picture.

These are the only cables I can unplug

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

Will the controller handle 48 V? d8veh always suggests going from 36 to 48 V for a bit of extra oompf as required by the OP the Bafang motors can usually handle it. Especially noticing that it is a CE Chinese Export motor and not a C E European Community sticker on it.

Well that sounds positive except for I have no idea how to do what you said lol. Totally newbie to all this. Thank you

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

I've tried to search the net for more info about the dmhc Controller unit but just get crap Ali baba results... Thought I could fiddle with the settings for some extra assistance but no joy

 

[trex]

These are the only cables I can unplug

if there is a plug like this about 10 inches from your motor, you can buy a compatible motorwheel and get a bit extra power.

 

[Heavy Rider2015]

if there is a plug like this about 10 inches from your motor, you can buy a compatible motorwheel and get a bit extra power.

Ahhh thanks yes there is. I'll have to see if I can find a decent upgraded motor wheel. Thank you

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Don't do anything just yet. The first thing I would do is increase the current from the controller by about 25% to 30%, which is often easy and doesn't cost anything. The extra current gives the motor more torque and power, so it will climb hills better, but it won't have a higher top speed.

To increase the current, you add a bit of solder to the shunt in the controller. For that, you need to open that compartment at the bottom of the downtube. Inside is an aluminium box. In some instances, you can access the shunt under the endplate opposite the wires end, so unscrew that first to have a look. If you can't see it, unscrew the screws in the end with wires coming out of it and the three screws in the side, then you can slide out the insides.

This is general advice for an ebike. Until you open yours up, we can't be certain that this mod is possible on yours, but the probability that it'll work is pretty high.

Here's the sort of thing you are aiming at. If you decide to go ahead, ask again before adding the solder for precise advice.

Before



After

 

[Alan Quay]

Don't do anything just yet. The first thing I would do is increase the current from the controller by about 25% to 30%, which is often easy and doesn't cost anything. The extra current gives the motor more torque and power, so it will climb hills better, but it won't have a higher top speed.

To increase the current, you add a bit of solder to the shunt in the controller. For that, you need to open that compartment at the bottom of the downtube. Inside is an aluminium box. In some instances, you can access the shunt under the endplate opposite the wires end, so unscrew that first to have a look. If you can't see it, unscrew the screws in the end with wires coming out of it and the three screws in the side, then you can slide out the insides.

This is general advice for an ebike. Until you open yours up, we can't be certain that this mod is possible on yours, but the probability that it'll work is pretty high.

Here's the sort of thing you are aiming at. If you decide to go ahead, ask again before adding the solder for precise advice.

Before



After

I did suggest to the OP that there were options for tweaking what he already has, but he didn't ask me to elaborate. He seems hell bent on buying a new motor.