NeilP

I've finally got around to ordering 2 batteries and replacing my old ones. The connections inside were soldered on, so I had to buy a soldering iron (and learn how to solder - never done it before), and it all works great. Thanks for the useful advice everyone.

I remember them having a crackdown in Leicester not long ago, saw several people in the pedestrianised shopping centre area being stopped by police and looked like they were beign issued with some kind of ticket. There's one really busy street in the centre of Leicester which is supposed to be for buses and taxis only, but loads of people in cars uses it - every now and then they have a police operation with lots of traffic wardens and police halfway down there, stopping every single car that goes down it and making them pull over into a queue waiting to be given a fixed penalty notice I love watching that when I'm passing - anything that makes life harder for car drivers who disregard the law always makes me smile. Usually when it's going on, you see a couple of cars that have been seized with a notice on the windscreen about them not having tax or insurance too.

It's a very tempting thought. For now I think I'll replace them with the same ones, but would be an interesting project to build some kind of custom mounting and get some larger batteries for long trips Thanks for the help everyone. BTW I'm in leicester too Ian - I've seen a few electric bikes around, maybe I've seen you around. I had mine locked up at a bike stand today next to another IZIP CB, always nice to see more electric bikes around.

Thanks for the advice. I've found 12v12ah batteries that are just about a perfect match for size, looks like it'll cost me about £46 inc postage instead of £90 + postage for buying a new battery pack I'm assuming my existing battery charger (with it's green light to indicate fully charged) ought to still work the same since they're the same battery type and v/ah ratings as the originals - is that correct? Thanks. BTW, if I got eg. 12v 24ah batteries (ie. same voltage, double the amp/hours) and made my own battery pack (which would need to somehow fitted into a custom mounting as they're bigger) - would that still run my bike fine but able to run about twice as long - or have I got that wrong?

Hi, I was just looking up prices to replace the battery on my Meerkat Metro (aka Currie IZIP CB), and it looks like costing me around £90. As far as I understand it, inside the casing it just contains 2x12volt SLA batteries, which obviously I could buy a lot cheaper if I got the right type/size etc. Does anyone here have any experience of opening up the housing on the battery case on this (or other electric bikes) and replacing the batteries themselves rather than buying a whole new battery pack? Or does anyone know any useful websites with info about how to do it. So far I haven't actually opened up the battery pack to have a look, I don't know whether it'll be 2 easy to replace batteries, or a case of all kinds of connections and stuff that would make it difficult to do. I'd be really grateful for any advice. (I know this should problaby be in the technical forum, but I can't access it with my ID yet)

Been some months since I posted this thread - can anyone help me out with something? I've had my Meerkat Metro for some months now, and had lots of use out of it, and sometime before spring I think I'm going to need a new battery. I know it's identical to a Currie Izip, but I don't know the exact model as there seem to be lots of Izips about - does anyone know if all Currie Izips use the same battery, or do I need to find a specific battery for my model. And can anyone recommend the best places to get a battery from - Google returns lots of places selling them, but I wondered if anyone has any experience and can recommend a good place?

Hello to all, I'm new to the forum, and new to the world of electric bikes - bought one 4 days ago after a couple of years wondering whether or not to try one. I gave up cars and motorcycles years ago, and have since been using a mountain bike or public transport to get around. I've bought a bike called a Meerkat Metro - not a bike I'd ever come across when I was researching electic bikes on the net before I bought it - the only reason I went for it was that it's sold by the company I work for, so I get it at a discounted price. As far as I can tell from pictures, it looks identical to a better known bike called a Currie Izip - even the battery has the logo "currie electric drive" Does anyone else have any experience with this bike? So far it's performing great - I was worried that the figures for the range on a single charge would be based on a flat road and a much lighter rider (I'm over 17 stone atm) - but it gets me to work and back (10 mile round trip with some moderate hills) on a single charge, which was the main reason I wanted it There's a picture of it here. Meerkat Metro electric 26'' bike - Tesco.Direct thanks.