PinkFloyd

Good! I am a great believer in karma and, boy, if anyone deserves to get what's coming to them then you lot do! Supplying new bikes with defective batteries and not honouring warranty claims.... despicable. I hope your unprofessionalism and greed come back to haunt you.

Tell me about it. My Forza came with a wonky battery from 50 cycles, they wouldn't honour their warranty so I had to buy a new one direct from Ezee (the Sanyo battery) Ezee were very good and sent me a phylion along with the Sanyo. Anyways...... 8 months in and that sanyo battery has been returned to China cause it was as good as useless (Ezee claim it's "perfect") the original dodgy battery that came with the Forza is absolutely dead as a dodo and the one remaining phylion I have is nowhere near as "potent" as it was a couple of months ago so, there you go........ 2 batteries clapped out and a third on it's way out. erm.......... "£400" a pop CERTAINLY is not cheap for batteries that last years.... it's a criminal price to pay for batteries than pack in after only "months" of light usage. Fair's fair Ezee refunded the cost of the Sanyo battery and let me keep the phylion.... so, after all is said and done, I am still in receipt of 1 working battery (if it had been up to 50 cycles I wouldn't have a battery at all)...... let's just say, if I had to pay £400 a pop for these turd batteries I would not be happy at all! Electric bikes are great but without a battery they are just heavyweight pieces of junk that would provoke a heart attack if you wanted to travel more than 5 metres on them..... No WAY am I paying £400 when my 1 remaining Phylion pops it's clogs, way too many variables involved with these batteries, it's cheaper to take a taxi or pedal your arse on a conventional bike.

Oh well.... I didn't use that one anyway, the other phylion still going ok. Tell me Flecc, is it possible / economically viable to re-cell the duff battery and, if so, where does one source the new cells? Mike.

The original phylion battery that came with the Ezee Forza.... it wasn't great to start with and has been sitting for a good few months unused..... charged her up the other night and went for a ride...... Nothing, Zilch! Not even 1 yard out of her. Under no load (ie: driven wheel off the ground) she will power the motor till the cows come home but the minute you sit your arse on the bike and crank the throttle she dies a sudden death. Is this battery now Totally knackered?

EZEE Forza! No contest guys! FIRST CLASS customer service from Wai Won Ching (the PITS of service from that 50 cycles outfit by the way) and a SUPERB ride once the initial teething problems were rectified. I cannot recommend Ezee highly enough.

Wai Won...... only "problem" being it would invalidate the warranty as opening the battery breaks the "warranty void if broken" label. It's pretty damned annoying having to faff about with internal fuses and I hope your new chargers and batteries are more compatible with one another...... Mike.

Cheers guys I'll pop down the car shop and get a few 10 amp Q blade fuses to try out. Flecc, I've been away a while with mild depression mate..... now it's time to get the cycle clips on again and head for the road Mike.

This is the fuse I'm talking about: please click for full size. http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/th_DSCF0029.jpg

Hi John, Thanks for the link to that thread but it's not the battery charger (I don't think) it's the internal fuse in the battery that has blown (NOT the user replaceable one that is accessible by unscrewing the fuse cover)) as explained. The 5amp fuse in the battery has gone so the charger shows green even though the battery is fully discharged. I have already replaced this 5 amp fuse and all was well but there it is gone again..... just wondering if it's cool to bypass it as per Wai Won's suggestions or if this will cause problems..... possibly Flecc is the man to answer this?

This has happened a couple of times now and, at first, I thought the battery charger had packed in but on closer inspection it's actually the 5 amp fuse inside the battery that has blown. It's a 5 amp Q blade (automotive type) and you have to open the battery housing to gain access to it. Question A: Why is this blowing from time to time? what is causing it? Question B: Is it ok to bypass this fuse altogether or would it be better fitting a higher rated fuse here? I spoke to Wai Won Ching about this a while back and he reckoned it would be fine to dispense with the fuse altogether.... question is, why fit the damned thing in the first place if it's fine to remove it....... hmmmm This has happened to both of my batteries. Thanks, in advance, for your replies.

I'm 47 and have smoked since I was about 17 years old. I love smoking and take great pleasure in whizzing past a lycra clad non smoking vegetarian on my e-bike with a fag in my mouth.... it's just soooooo politically incorrect and I love it!!! I have zero intention of giving up smoking to please some harping, vegetarian woman who's idea of a pub is a place full of mothers and children eating a "meal" in a family friendly smoke free environment. Sod 'em, smoking is cool, not conforming to the norm is cool and riding an ebike with a cigarette / cigar in your mouth is even cooler!

The Forza ain't "tiny" mate....... she's a little pocket rocket! derestricted she flies like the wind and is a joy to ride!

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2154.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2086.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2113.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2138.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2143.jpg

I derestricted my Forza yesterday and, mama mia, what a major improvement! The bike's like a bloody gazelle now.... I used to hit this little hump back bridge at 14MPH, now I'm hitting it at 22MPH.... awesome baby! You're right Flecc, these bikes ARE geared to be used in derestricted mode, it's a totally different animal now it's getting full power from the motor. Sure, it will drain the battery faster but so bloomin' what? Life's too short to spend your time conserving bloomin' current isn't it? I'm pretty much like you Flecc in that my journeys are mostly short distance, fairweather, zero wind, ideal conditions type of affairs and I'd rather get from A-B at pace than crawl along at a snail's pace. I must test the Sanyo battery on the post office run with the bike derestricted, it's 6 miles up one serious mama honker hill (you down south would probably call it a "mountain") and 6 miles back down the mountain.... an excellent testbed if I may say so and a real bitch on batteries.... it'll be interesting to see just how the Sanyo handles it She was kinda cutting in and out intermittently in restricted mode whereas the Phylion was not.... The faulty battery charger actually blew the two internal fuses in both phylion batteries (the 5amp automotive Q-Blade) types so this suggests it was outputting a lot more than 5 amps.... it didn't do anything to the Sanyo battery and I am suspecting the Sanyo battery doesn't have an internal fuse.... hopefully more than 5 amps going through it hasn't damaged it? It certainly didn't seem to be cutting out like this before the faulty battery charger was connected to it for over 6 hours Anyways.... without further waffle here are some pics of my test road http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/new/DSCF2091.jpg

Any free samples?

So the conclusion is the Torq is best operated in non-restricted mode?

Flecc, That dog of a battery that came with the bike dates back to 2006..... in your opinion do you think it's good practice to ship a bike with a battery that has been sitting on a shelf for, possibly, more than two years? It's pretty much by the by now anyway as Ezee have sent me a free replacement Phylion (along with the Sanyo) which was made this year but it still pees me off when I think that a certain outfit knowingly sent me a lemon and was quite happy to take my money.......... That's three batteries I have now.... 1 lemon and two good 'uns.... would you rotate them or would you tend to use one of them till it's as flat as a pancake and store the others for a rainy day? If storing I assume you would keep the stored ones in a fully charged state?

I agree with Flecc, the new Sanyo and new Ph****n batteries are absolutely superb and seem to go on forever compared to the older ones. I had a problem with a dodgy battery charger (High power) and a new one arrived yesterday...... It charged the Sanyo battery but wouldn't kick in with the Phylions.... after much head scratching I popped the hood on the phylions and noticed there's a 5amp Q-blade auto fuse inside..... had a look and, yup, they were blown on both Phylion batteries..... I can only assume the defective charger sent way more than 5amps into the batteries and BINGO! the fuses went..... Replaced the 5amp Q-Blade fuse in both Phylions and, hey presto, they're taking a charge from the new battery charger so I'm a pretty happy bunny today I can tell you! At one point last night I was all ready to throw the bike, the batteries, the charger and myself out the friggin' window! The new Sanyo battery is absolutely phenomenal on hills.... it NEVER goes into amber or red and the range is MUCH better than the old Phylion that came supplied with the bike.... I haven't really logged the range but will do now I have a working battery charger again Big thanks to Wai Won Ching, superb service indeed!!

Yup, my Forza battery charger has just recently gone tits up.... shows green all the time and doesn't charge the batteries. Phoned 50 cycles and they can no longer get hold of battery chargers as Ezee are not dealing with them anymore. The Ezee is a great bike but my one has been full of teething problems (the latest being the damned lights packing in - one of the cables had sheared in half cause the cable tie was WAY too tight) let's hope there are no more! Mike.

Please don't stick pins in a doll too, that hurts

She's pretty much maxed out at the moment and still not optimal.... the "manager" at 50 cycles , Scott, assured me he was the same height as me six foot four inches and the bike was perfectly sized for him etc..... BULLSHIT! It's a longer stem than stock and does still go a good 4 inches into the stem so shouldnt snap off.

The new Sanyo in situ just incase there's any anoraks who like to tent over these things http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1339.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1337.jpg

Sorry.... forgot to mention...... if you want to try this tweak you'll need two "audio grade" XLR plugs and a length of twin and earth..... once you have soldered shove those puppies in a vice and flood in some epoxy resin (araldite)...... helps with mechanical integrity and prevents moisture ingress / oxidisation blah blah................. http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1352.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1356.jpg

Seeing my new batteries have arrived I feel a bit more confident about going slightly longer distances without the fear of actually having to pedal the sherman home if the battery runs out of juice. So..... what to do...... strap a battery on the rear carrier and swap them over en-route? Possible, but for the cost of a couple of audio XLR connectors and a length of 13amp twin and earth I thought I'd go down this route and give it a test run to see if it's a success..... http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1345.jpg http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t69/pinkfloyd2007_bucket/DSCF1343.jpg It's a bit string and sellotape at the moment but good enough for test purposes. "What is it?" I hear some of you ask........ it's two batteries running in parallel which essentially doubles the capacity (amp hours) whilst maintaining the original voltage...... My guess is this will not only extend the range but it will make serious hills a lot less demanding and she shouldn't redline as there is more juice on tap to cope with demand. Naturally there's more "weight" with another battery strapped on the rear carrier but that would be there "anyway" if you were going to go down the other route of en route refuelling...... we could even be more perverse and add a third, a fourth or even a fifth battery and connect them all in parallel.... or we could connect a couple in series and break the land speed record (erm.... let's stick to parallel for the time being!) there is so much potential with these bikes. I'm surprised Ezee chose a 3 pin audio XLR connector as a power connector..... perfectly good but a simple 2 pin dedicated DC connector would have sufficed.... it also amazes me in the audio world how many manufacturers use the wrong type of connector for the job (ie: a 75 0hm bayonet locking connector for DC duty) anyways.... again, rambling! I've had a look inside one of the phylion batteries and it'll be pretty simple to make one up in a housing "purpose built" for permanent fixture to the rear carrier with a fixed lead terminated with an XLR plug to hook into the stock battery..... a lot lighter than the stock battery too (and that includes the Sanyo!) I won't say anymore on this until I have built my prototype and fully tested it...... running about with a stock phylion strapped onto the rear carrier is far from ideal...... the idea I have is to extend the rear carrier and fit the semi permanent (ie can be removed and replaced when necessary) battery pack "under" the carrier so you can still fit knogs, panniers etc. etc..... It's also simple to knock up a battery charger for a few quid, I'll upload the DIY details so anyone competent with a soldering iron can make one should they wish. Quite a lot of thinking going on here at the moment....... along the lines of £300 for a fekkin battery and £75 for a charger you gotta be insane mate! kind of thing but even more thought into maxing the range of these guys to the hilt without resorting to onboard windmills, solar panels and fit people! This is NOT rocket science it's essentially a motor and a battery...... thing is you can make a motor zoom with voltage but you'll soon drain the batteries...... the brief I have set myself is to get a realistic 80 mile range (on the 15.6mph cut out of the motor setting) with moderate pedalling.... (when I say "moderate" I'm basically saying just rotate the pedals with your legs in a circular motion.... ie: follow them round the dial!) Jesus..... I don't half waffle eh? My next post on this will be the "proof of the pudding" warts and all full "under the bonnet" type of thing...... it's not only "doable" it's a walk in the park for me and WILL materialize in a couple of weeks..... being banned from "driving" was the best thing that ever happened to me....... seriously!