4beeches0

Hi Geostorm I live near Wetherby in Yorkshire. The bike has 3-speed Shimano Inter-3 Nexus Hub Gears - you will find further information and a full spec here eZee Liv Electric Bike John (4beeches0)

eZee Liv 14Ah battery - the bike comes free ! NOW SOLD http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh200/cormorant2/?action=view&current=Livretouch-1.jpg The time has come to part with my trusty eZee Liv which comes with an almost new 14Ah Lithium Ion Polymer battery fitted in April this year. The battery was carefully conditioned and is always topped up (well you do when you have spent over £500 on it !). Since then the bike has only been used three or four times on very short runs. The bike itself is in excellent order and is fitted with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres - barely any signs of wear. There is a useful pannier (not the one shown in the pic). Apart from shopping I use the pannier to carry the bikes original battery as a 'get you home' spare - so far never needed. Oh and theres a multi readout computer and a bell. I am asking £300 for the battery - you get the bike free. I would add that the reason I am selling my bike is that spinal problems are forcing me on to a mobility scooter. Nothing wrong with the bike - just the rider ! John (4beeches0)

For the full range of Wisper bikes it's maybe an hour in the car to Inno Cycles, York Electric Bikes Yorkshire | Inno-cycle | The Electric Bike People JohnS

Dave On returning to the pedelec site after a lengthy break it was quite a shock to learn of your recent health scare - incidents like this make us aware of just how vulnerable we all are. Getting old sure is a bummer but it's far better than the alternative. Do take care Dave and enjoy your lollies - who loves ya baby ! with very best wishes JohnS

Nice one Dave. Your videos and chatty commentary are a real treat. I've often wondered what it was like at Cromer and now I (and no doubt many others) know. When do you get your own series on TV ? They put on loads of stuff that's nowhere near as entertaining. JohnS

I recently bought a 14Ah battery for my eZee Liv and I had exactly the same experience. My battery arrived fully charged which surprised me a little. I did try putting it on charge a couple of times but the lights insisted it was fully charged - so OK I accepted that and ran the battery until it cut out. Put it on charge, everything seemed OK but when I checked the charger half an hour later the amber light had gone out - switched it on and off amber came on again and then went through a full recharge cycle. These batteries aren't cheap and I do think some form of explanatory literature should be provided to explain usage and recharging procedures as they seem to have totally different characteristics to the 10Ah batteries. JohnS

Don't be silly it is Dave John S

Dave, just done a quick Google on camera handlebar mounts and there's quite a lot of interesting ideas. I have a small workshop so I may see what I can fabricate. As you say one concern is potential damage to the camera through vibration quite apart from the effect on smoothness of image. Let us know how you get on as I'm sure there are a number of us who would like to give this a try. You realise you've started something now ! John S

I have just completed my second full discharge on my eZee Liv with a new 14Ah battery from Onbike and am well pleased. On its first charge the battery gave me 33 miles and the last 3 of those were on full throttle only mode on a longish uphill gradient home in an attempt to drain the battery. On the second charge I achieved 36 miles up to the cut-out point but that second run included more hilly terrain. I shall now give it one further full discharge before switching to charge after every trip routine. Both the amber and red lights come on much earlier than I am used to but I am now trying to ignore them and just enjoy the ride. With previous 10Ah batteries I felt they were only good for around 22 miles max. John S

Yes it does look good fun Dave. Presumably you tried and discounted the option of mounting the camera on the bike which would have been the easiest fix but I can imagine that vibration and excessive movement would be an issue. Anyway thanks for revealing your solution Dave - I shall look forward to seeing the next video in the series. In fact if you don't mind perhaps you could do a new video each week - that way it will save me having to buy a folder John S

An excellent and most enjoyable video Dave. You have probably done wonders for the sale of folders. Spill the beans on how you mounted your camera ! John S

If I may I would like to add my appreciation for the very helpful customer service I received from Martin at Inno Cycles in York. Although I eventually decided to continue with a new 14Ah battery for my eZee Liv I was most impressed with the help I received from Martin and the courteous way he handled my enquiries even when he learnt I had decided not to proceed with the purchase of a new bike. When the time comes to replace my Liv, locally based Inno Cycles will be my first port of call. John S

Thanks Flecc, unplugged everything - left it for a few minutes then back on and presto ! I got the green light. (a bit like fixing my pc !) thanks again JohnS

Just when I thought all my battery problems were dealt with along comes another situation to torment me. Taking the advice from NRG I put my battery on charge indoors (room temperature) and after 8 hours it is still showing amber. If I switch the charger off (which I have done a couple of times in the last hour) it does flash to green for a second during the close down procedure. Is that a sign that the battery is now recharged ? JohnS:confused:

Well guys, I am happy to report that my initial doubts and concerns over my new 14Ah battery were totally unfounded. I set off today at 18 miles on the trip with amber light permanently on and with the red flashing on and off. 15 miles later the battery cut out conveniently within a quarter of a mile from home. A grand total of 33 miles and to be honest the last 3 miles were done on throttle only (no pedelec) so I feel 35 miles in my normal pedelec mode would have been quite realistic. Needless to say I am delighted with the outcome and my thanks go to you guys for your advice and encouragement and, in case he's reading this, my apologies to Andrew at Onbike if I appeared to doubt his explanation. I shall continue the battery conditioning process with renewed enthusiasm. JohnS

Yes, OK guys thanks for all your help. I will continue the run down of my battery and report back when it finally expires. Fortunately my old Liv battery can still act as an emergency get me home device (as long as it's not too far !). I do appreciate all the advice I have received and I will try to give a conclusion of this tale in the next day or so. JohnS

Well I did my best, oh how I did my best to ignore the LEDs on todays ride. I had 12 miles on the odo when I set off and I tried to ignore the fact that the amber light was on virtually all the time - admittedly it did return to green on turning off the throttle. Just as I was learning to ignore the signal the RED light came on at 14 on the odo - I carried on for another 4 miles and on the incline back to my home the red light was on all the time. I pulled up at the house and after 3 or 4 seconds the display went back to green. My dilema is do I now carry out a full recharge or carry on with this draining to empty exercise ? Am I just being paranoid or am I justified in starting to doubt the ability of the 14A battery to take me a full 30 mile distance ? JohnS

Thank you guys your replies are very reassuring ! I'll learn to ignore the yellow light ! Many thanks JohnS

With the apparent end in sight for my eZee Liv battery I have bitten the bullet and decided to buy a new 14A battery. The first surprise was that the battery arrived fully charged - I tried the charger two or three times and each time I got 'the green light'. The second surprise was that the orange warning light came on after only 4 or 5 miles whilst ascending a moderate hill. After that it came on whenever I put any load on the motor even on the level. With previous batteries the orange light would only start to come on towards the limit of the batteries range. I spoke to OnBike, who supplied the battery, and they assure me that with the current generation of eZee batteries it is normal for the orange light to show when demand by the motor rises. I shall continue to run through the full battery cycle, note the mileage and recharge. Meanwhile I wonder if any members out there have experienced a similar situation ? JohnS

My previous (limited) experience of bike racks is that there is a very high risk of damage to paintwork where the clips attach to the rear door frame on a hatchback. I would very much like to fit a secure rack to my newish Golf but am concerned about the potential damage. Perhaps some of you have overcome the problems and if so can you share your findings and maybe even recommend a suitable rack for my VW Golf? JohnS

During long periods of non-use I give them the occasional top up but it is obvious by the very short time required on the charger (minutes) they are not loosing much, if any charge. Anyway what is BMS ???

That is a most helpful reply flecc for which I thank you. I picked up on your phrase "the life will be shorter than the best of of today's batteries". Could I take it from that that today's eZee Liv replacement battery has longer range per charge and length of life potential than was the case with the battery two years ago ? If so it might put an eZee battery back in the frame (no pun intended !) My experience of performance fall off over the years is very much in line with the enlightening info in your Li-ion battery life chart which I have just come across. JohnS

I am at a bit of a crossroads with my eZee Liv. It's now 4 years old with light but regular use - maybe half a dozen rides each summer. I have a total of three batteries (the last donated 2 years ago by eZee due to short life of first two). With my 'best battery' I can now only achieve around 10 miles on virtually flat roads in pedelec mode. I am reluctant to fork out another £500 aprox for a new battery and wondered if any of you hi-tec members (I don't understand wiggly amps too well) could advise if the follwing might be a sensible low cost option ? New 36V10AH Lithium Battery for electric Bike/Bicycles on eBay (end time 28-Jan-10 09:22:25 GMT) My alternative would be to sell the Liv on ebay and opt for a folder like a Wisper 806fe which would fit in nicely with my caravanning activities. My only concern with this choice is the non throttle arrangement. Decisions, decisions !!! Any thoughts would be much apreciated. JohnS

Some members may recall the problem I was having with the range from my Li-ion batteries on my eZee Liv. Basically I was expecting a range in excess of 20 miles per charge (based, not unreasonably, on info given to me by 50cycles at the time of purchase) but in practice I was only achieving 16 miles. On querying this shortfall with 50cycles I was told that this was quite normal. Wai Won Ching however felt differently and went to the expense of sending me a new battery from China with apologies for inconvenience caused. Result - first run on new battery 26 miles to the point of red light coming on briefly, second run 29 miles and clearly still a few miles to go before the red light appears. I understand that Li-ion batteries have improved over recent months but nevertheless its the difference in attitude to customer care that marks the difference. I now have three batteries - a 30 miler and two 16 milers, is it possible to recell one of the originals 16 milers to match the performance of my new battery ? Whilst I am reasonably competent with a soldering iron the mere mention of diodes, rectifiers and other such electronic wizardry has my eyes glazing over. Assuming I am not alone there must be a market for rejuvenating ill performing batteries ? John S

Wetherby please LS23 JohnS