All being well, I'll be getting the German Wisper tomorrow (fog permitting) and will post my impressions of the bike here. Actually, I'm looking forward to having a Wisper again. Personally, I do feel that it's a very attractive bike and I know my 905e attracted a lot of interest when I had it. I'm 6'2" and I found the Wisper size to be fine.... slightly on the small size for me but not enough to make things difficult at all. In fact, I suppose if it keeps the weight down, then a smaller bike is better...

 

I'd be interested to know what the differences, if any, between the 'German' 905se and the 'English' one is though... other than the relative new prices at present.

 

Also, as David Miall mentioned, there have been improvements and I'm keen to see those (especially the forks...) and to see how it performs. I was happy with the range of my 905e.... although I live in Lincolnshire, there are still hills, and I still regularly rode 26 miles on a charge. There was little throttle power after that but still a decent amount of pedelec assistance for another two or three miles, I'd say. Also, the bike is absolutely pedal-able on a dead battery. also, the battery could easily be detached and hidden in a hedge or whatever if you wanted to make cycling home easier and retrieve the battery later.

 

In my own case, I wouldn't expect a warranty on a used machine however little used. I'm still not sure re the warranty issue on the German ones though (there are still some left) and I do wish that Wisper UK would make a statement here stating their final position on this.... over to you David..... (by the way, what is the new price now for a UK Wisper?)

David has posted on the warranty issue now here.

.

Warantee on German Wisper Bikes

 

Hi Jimmy

 

Anyone with problems on their German Wisper bikes bought through ebay are more than welcome to call us on 01425 627 641 or email me at miall@aol.com or david@wisperbike.com. We would only be to pleased to help you. But please bear in mind that you have not bought the 2008 UK spec model and there are a lot of differences, so please don't ask us to turn your bike into the very latest 905 under warranty!

 

Also bear in mind that the German model does not come with the de-restrict button or throttle fitted. Furthermore by fitting the throttle you negate the warranty. However if you bring the bike to us we will fit it for you for £70.00 and your warranty will still be intact.

 

Best regards David

 

P.S. If you have already fitted the throttle and have a problem, don't worry too much, give us a call anyway, we will find a way of sorting any problems out between us.

That sopunds good David. I'm curious to know the differences between the German 905SE and the UK spec one?

 

I bought the Wisper used anyway (albeit 2 miles use), so warranty isn't an issue. Caveat emptor on that score, I reckon.

 

My bike came ready fitted with the throttle. I've noticed two things so far... firstly, the throttle does not appear to be as powerful as it was on the 905e. Also, the power delivery when in pedelec mode is more noticeably jerky than it was on the 905e. In fact, I was struck by how smooth the power was on the 905e. On this 905se, the motor cuts in and out at a lower speed than it did on the 905e and kicks in and out frequently.. and noticeably. Is this normal?

On my Wisper 905SE, bought used but unused (if you see what I mean!), I am in the process of writing up what I think of it and will post here later

 

In the meantime, I have a couple of questions for the experts on the forum..... don't know if you can help... I assume the green button on the left handlebar is for OFF, the red on the left is for ON and a push of the right red button is to activate the throttle... right?

 

I find that the throttle is less powerful than it was on my old 905e! And the power delivery when in pedelec mode is quite jerky.. it cuts in and out (no hills near me...) at a lower speed than my old 905e and isn't what I would describe as a smooth delivery of power. One minute it's helping, then, at quite a low speed, it cuts off completely until the bike slows down a bit and then kicks in again.

 

The bike is mint and quite obviously unused. So, people... am I doing something wrong, do you know?

So fitting a throttle is a 2 or three hour job then, i suppose it must be if you are charging £70,it must be be a very complex job only to be undertaken by fully trained wisper technicians,is this service available now as i would need bike for the weekend, or is there a waiting list lol.

Even the chap that cleans my windows charges about £40 an hour, so I can't see how you'd calculate that a trained bike technician's time could be charged out at only £23 to £35 an hour. Last time I checked my local village mechanic was charging about £65 an hour.

 

If Wisper are going to do a proper job, and give a warranty on their work, then I would expect that they would want to make sure that the installation was both done properly and fully tested, to reduce the possibility of the customer having a later problem. £70 seems a very reasonable charge to me.

 

Jeremy

Do you not think maybe they are offering a warranty, but indirrectly charging £50 for it.i was having a laugh i would have thought 15 mins tops to connect a throttle,note if you already have connected your own throttle they are still willing to discuss,probably they would want £50 for warranty.if anybody contacts them regarding this it would be of great interest.

I would clean your windows for £30 an hour,if your rottweillers dont bite too hard,and your cheques dont bounce.

I don't know what's involved in fitting the new throttle to the Wisper, but do know that it took me well over an hour to fit the throttle and hide all the wiring to it neatly when I built my bike.

 

Small businesses, providing specialised, very low volume, services need to charge rates that are appropriate. It's not in our interest to see any ebike supplier go bust, all that will do is allow the others in the market to charge more, or worse still, pull out all together.

 

If Wisper were the size of Halfords, with the much lower overheads per employee that result from a big operation, then I'd expect their fitting prices to be a bit lower. After all, I can get a wiper blade fitted to my car in Halfords for free, but the village mechanic will probably charge me £5 to £10 for his time.

 

I'd probably fit a throttle myself and forego the warranty, but I'll bet that a lot of ebike owners might prefer to pay to have it done professionally.

 

Thankfully we still have a choice.

 

Jeremy

Hi Jimmy,

 

Not quite. I think that was one of my first guesses too!

 

The right hand button turns the throttle on

The green one on the left is the de-restrict button

The red one on the left turns pedelec on and off.

 

It's not the best interface ever designed! David did say in this post, when I was trying to crack the code, that they were going to streamline things for the 2008 UK version - which is a good idea!

 

When you think you've got it right it's very easy to accidentally press a button which leaves you having to guess again. What I do in practice is always use the bike de-restricted with throttle and pedelec on. I then rotate the buttons so they point downwards where I won't press them by accident. Confusing at first but it's ok when you get the hang of it.

 

Frank

 

On my Wisper 905SE, bought used but unused (if you see what I mean!), I am in the process of writing up what I think of it and will post here later

 

In the meantime, I have a couple of questions for the experts on the forum..... don't know if you can help... I assume the green button on the left handlebar is for OFF, the red on the left is for ON and a push of the right red button is to activate the throttle... right?

 

I find that the throttle is less powerful than it was on my old 905e! And the power delivery when in pedelec mode is quite jerky.. it cuts in and out (no hills near me...) at a lower speed than my old 905e and isn't what I would describe as a smooth delivery of power. One minute it's helping, then, at quite a low speed, it cuts off completely until the bike slows down a bit and then kicks in again.

 

The bike is mint and quite obviously unused. So, people... am I doing something wrong, do you know?

I think £70 for fitting the throttle and associated buttons is a fair price, particularly if it includes being taught how the buttons work - which is not straightforward.

 

Having done it, it's a fiddly job and not everyone would want to take it on. It's nice to have the option to get help.

 

Frank

On my Wisper 905SE...I find that the throttle is less powerful than it was on my old 905e! And the power delivery when in pedelec mode is quite jerky.. it cuts in and out (no hills near me...) at a lower speed than my old 905e and isn't what I would describe as a smooth delivery of power. One minute it's helping, then, at quite a low speed, it cuts off completely until the bike slows down a bit and then kicks in again.

 

The bike is mint and quite obviously unused. So, people... am I doing something wrong, do you know?

 

No - mine is just the same. I think of it as being an e-bike and that the pedelec mode isn't really practical to use. I assumed it was because the controller was managing the high powered motor in quite a clumsy way to ensure average delivered power was 250W - but maybe the pedelec aspect of the controller is just not very good! Interesting that it was better on your 905e. Also interesting that your throttle is less powerful. Mine gives a fair response - but I can't compare it to a 905e. I look forward to hearing what you think when you've had a chance to give it a proper run out.

 

Frank

Hi Jimmy

 

Anyone with problems on their German Wisper bikes bought through ebay are more than welcome to call us on 01425 627 641 or email me at miall@aol.com or david@wisperbike.com. We would only be to pleased to help you. But please bear in mind that you have not bought the 2008 UK spec model and there are a lot of differences, so please don't ask us to turn your bike into the very latest 905 under warranty!

 

Also bear in mind that the German model does not come with the de-restrict button or throttle fitted. Furthermore by fitting the throttle you negate the warranty. However if you bring the bike to us we will fit it for you for £70.00 and your warranty will still be intact.

 

Best regards David

 

P.S. If you have already fitted the throttle and have a problem, don't worry too much, give us a call anyway, we will find a way of sorting any problems out between us.

 

Thanks David for clarifying your position. Good to know that you are keen to stay in touch with people who wanted a Wisper so much they just couldn't wait any longer!

 

Frank

Hi Jimmy,

 

Not quite. I think that was one of my first guesses too!

 

The right hand button turns the throttle on

The green one on the left is the de-restrict button

The red one on the left turns pedelec on and off.

 

It's not the best interface ever designed! David did say in this post, when I was trying to crack the code, that they were going to streamline things for the 2008 UK version - which is a good idea!

 

When you think you've got it right it's very easy to accidentally press a button which leaves you having to guess again. What I do in practice is always use the bike de-restricted with throttle and pedelec on. I then rotate the buttons so they point downwards where I won't press them by accident. Confusing at first but it's ok when you get the hang of it.

 

Frank

 

Hi Guys

 

I am confused as when I first tried out the bike it was going a lot faster and after playing with the buttons I have not managed to get it to go back to that and go so fast?

I thought the green button was for pedal assist as thats what I seem to get?

Yes sussed out the red button on throttle as turning on and off, lol!

 

However guys, I now have a bigger problem which can hopefully be sorted by someone on here?

I was unloading a little shopping from my pannier bag yesterday eve which unbalanced the bike away from where the stand was and the throttle hit a wall, not very hard just jabbed it.

Well the throttle today stuck on and had to physically turn it off which was a little alarming at times

I had a scooter once with this problem and rode it for months like it as would have cost loads to fix but that was somewhat more dangerous than this.

I know it is somwhat stuck in but have tried to pull it out gently to no avail.

Help Please!!

Also my light flew off this morning on way to work and broke but can live with that, not a good day, lol!!!

Regards

Mandy

No - mine is just the same. I think of it as being an e-bike and that the pedelec mode isn't really practical to use. I assumed it was because the controller was managing the high powered motor in quite a clumsy way to ensure average delivered power was 250W - but maybe the pedelec aspect of the controller is just not very good! Interesting that it was better on your 905e. Also interesting that your throttle is less powerful. Mine gives a fair response - but I can't compare it to a 905e. I look forward to hearing what you think when you've had a chance to give it a proper run out.

 

Frank

 

I put it down to cold, simple as that. Mine has no jerkiness at all and delivers constant power now that i have sussed out to keep the charge topped up every day in the warm. I suffered with the jerkiness and cut out but now feel that problem is solved but now have the jammed throttle, yikes!!

Mandy

No - mine is just the same. I think of it as being an e-bike and that the pedelec mode isn't really practical to use. I assumed it was because the controller was managing the high powered motor in quite a clumsy way to ensure average delivered power was 250W - but maybe the pedelec aspect of the controller is just not very good! Interesting that it was better on your 905e. Also interesting that your throttle is less powerful. Mine gives a fair response - but I can't compare it to a 905e. I look forward to hearing what you think when you've had a chance to give it a proper run out.

 

Frank

 

Hey Frank! Thanks for that. I went out and rode the bike after reading your post... I hit the green button and the bike started to behave MUCH differently... more power on the throttle and smoother. It's definitely that de-restrict thing that did it. But.....as I zoomed along ecstatically, I hit some black ice and fell off! Thank heavens, only minor scuffing on the left pedal and lots of scuffing on me, as I made sure I was under the bike when I felt the front end go (there's devotion for you). It shook me up though. It's all your fault... if you hadn't answered my question, I wouldn't have gone out

Wisper 905SE ..... some feedback

 

Here are a few thoughts re my recently purchased 905SE, compared to my 905e bought early last year.

 

Most of the issues I had with my 905e have been resolved in the SE:

 

1. The forks are good quality, adjustable and with lockout. The ride is vastly smoother than the 905e. The 905e felt a bit wobbly, presumably because the forks flexed because they were thinner. The 905SE feels really stable and handles well.

 

2. The handlebars are now black and they have an ingenious adjuster which allows one to change their position quickly and easily.

 

3. The spokes are thicker and I suspect they will be less prone to loosening

 

4. The head bearings and the bottom bracket bearings look better quality

 

5. The tyres are bigger, vastly better quality and with Schrader valves.

 

6. The bike now has 7 gears instead of 6. I'm not sure on the effectiveness of the gears at the moment, as I have not used it enough yet.

 

7. The derailleur mechanism is much better than the one on the 905e

 

8. The speedo on the bike is completely unfathomable and doesn't seem to indicate actual speed at all! I haven't sussed out the battery indicator yet...... anybody have any ideas?

 

9. The rear derailleur has a protective cage which stops it catching on things

 

10. The sprung seat post WORKS! It never did much on my 905e...in fact I don't think it worked at all. The seat post is smooth and really makes the ride better

 

11. The throttle twistgrip is loads better than the cheapo one that was on the 905e. It's a solid mechanism and nice to grip because of its shape.

 

12. The rear rack looks much better now, being black instead of silver.

 

13. The road mudguards (as opposed to the 'sports' ones also provided) are really effective and look nice. My 905e didn't have these road ones at all.

 

14. Whilst initially confusing, the switchgear is a lot better quality than the throttle on/off switch on the 905e

 

15. The bike I have has a sprung 'big bum' saddle (put on by Frank?) which is loads better than the one I had on the 905e

 

16. The pedals look a lot better and are much better quality than on the 905e

 

17. The front disc brake and rear v-brake works 100% better than on my 905e. Excellent performance.

 

18. Importantly, the rear wheel can now be removed easily because the power cable now has a connector block which can be unplugged to allow the wheel to be taken off (a nightmare on the 905e)

 

19. The ferrous nuts and bolts of the 905e are now stainless (I think) allen bolts (eg on the controller housing cover plate.

 

20. The front wheel is no longer 'quick release'. on my 905e, the threads stripped on the aluminium nut of the locking bolt. I wasn't riding it at the time. I believe there have been posts about the dangers of this type of wheel, so I think the fixed front wheel is much better,

 

Personally, I think the Wisper 905se is the loveliest looking electric bike I've ever seen. The 905e was great too but the SE is even better. It's sleek, with lovely sparkly black paintwork now. The lines are really graceful and my 905e never failed to have people admire it.

 

For some reason, the 905SE looks bigger to me. Is this my imagination, Wisper UK?

 

Overall, the 905SE is a huge improvement on the 905e. I would say, looking at it, that David has done what he said to me he'd do... improve the 905e and produce a bike superior to the 905e.

 

I'll report back later once I've used the bike a lot more......

Edited February 22, 200818 yr by jimmyengland1000

Some good points there, Jimmy - most of which I'd agree with. I've now done about 500 miles on mine, and I think it is basically a pretty good bike.

 

In particular I agree with you re:

Brakes - the front one is very effective.

Rear wheel removal - which is as easy as a normal bike.

Mudguards and rack, which are ideal for me - I use it as an all-weather commuting bike with panniers.

Speedo - nice idea but it doesn't work!

And looks - a very nice-looking, stealth-bomber type bike!

 

However some things to watch out for:

Do check your spokes - I've a broken one and a couple have worked loose and needed tightening.

The tyres on mine didn't measure up to London street debris, but others have got on ok with the same ones on the Ezee bikes. Personally I'd replace with Marathon Plus, before rather than after the first puncture!

Most importantly - check your rear dropouts regularly for wear, or better still, fit a torque arm, as in the contest between soft aluminium open-ended dropouts vs high-powered motor with steel axle, there is only ever going to be one winner! See here for the full story

 

Frank

produce a bike superior to the 905e.

 

I'll report back later once I've used the bike a lot more......

 

Thanks for the report, Jimmy. It sounds as if you are well suited with your great new bike. Look forward to your further thoughts. Enjoy your "breaking in."

The motor on mine has a label on it saying Suzhou Bafang, model 129SWX36.

 

However, while its pretty quick, I don't know if it matches the performance of the Torq. People report getting 22-24 mph from Torqs. I've never got that from my Wisper; its more a 17-19 mph bike, on the flat in still air.

 

You would expect it to be a little slower than the Torq with the smaller 26 inch wheels but it feels like there is more of a difference than that would explain.

 

Having said that, I've mainly ridden mine in January, which was a windy month. I might get better performance in the spring, with better weather and a warmer battery.

 

Frank

 

Hi Frank

 

I took the bike out last weekend on a battery kept indoors and placed on the bike. I rode down a long stretch of flat road in an industrial estate and got 22MPH according to my computer. It kind of had to be right as the not so good speedo on the bike registered the maximum all of the time. It was a bit breezy but from the side.

I do think it has a lot to do with weight as my son couldn't get anything above 17. He is over 6 ft tall and is around 14 stone roughly and is not overweight and I am just over 8 stone. I also removed my pannier bag which contains water proofs, locks, etc off the rack for this test and did not pedal.

Don't you think this may be the case with a lot of electric bikes? weight ratio etc of person and amount of goods carried? Kind of makes sense.

I wouldn't even be able to get on the torque let alone test this idea, lol!!

Regards

Mandy

I think £70 for fitting the throttle and associated buttons is a fair price, particularly if it includes being taught how the buttons work - which is not straightforward.

 

Having done it, it's a fiddly job and not everyone would want to take it on. It's nice to have the option to get help.

 

Frank

 

Did any of you see the SE listed on Ebay recently?

The throttle and switch wires were not placed within the cable tidy and I thought it looked a bit messy although serviceable would leave the wires open to damage? I bet you guys at wisper wouldn't have wired it up that way and that takes some time although it doesn't take hours.

 

Thanks for all your help on my sticking throttle No worries it is now loosened and working fine again but kind of thinking this is an all boy forum? It would have been nice to have had some help in that matter as it was not very safe.

Nobody has commented on my suggestion of what the green button was for which I found seemed to be pedal assist mode?

Nobody has commented about the weight ratio on an electric bike which after putting to the test on the SE seemed to be proven.

Nobody commented on my findings of keeping the battery in the warm for better performance?

You just talk amongst yourselves

However I have had some great help on this forum from some people in the past so I won't knock it, just think I could have been given more assistance with my recent sticking throttle problem?

My name is now Martin, LOL!!!

Mandy (alias Martin)

Yes, this is what Wai Won Ching said about the latest Torq Trekking and our preference for derestrictable bikes:

 

"In a conflict of interest between what customer or the market likes and what is legal. eZee takes the legal way, this is absolutely essential for long term consideration."

 

So that's emphatic, 15 mph from now on.

 

Never heard of a prosecution, and that's much less likely now, except for specials. I think the police are too busy going after under age kids on illegal mini-motos and quad bikes to bother with the very minor matter of an e-bike being a touch too fast.

.

 

Oh well, I kind of thought that maybe coming eventually, but I kind of think the police do not take much notice at all if you pedal also?

What are they going to do? Point a speed camera at you? lol!

I think if you owned one of those tidal force ones that have the battery seemingly hanging off your cross bar with a bionx motor then you may be noticed? LOL!

Martin lol!

The Wisper is a pedelec so it may be giving more, but I doubt it. On other bikes which have both pedelec and throttle, and also a manual -such as Powacycle - the throttle gives you the maximum assistance while pedelec is always less or equal.

 

When I got to 24mph, my throttle was engaged but I believed I was over its upper limit. This was a one-off when I really pedalled hard, along the Embankment from Charing Cross to Blackfriars. I've never got those speeds on the flat on other occasions. But, Jimmy, I remembered your story about almost getting it to 30mph while going down a hill the other week. My speedo was on about 28.5 and I thought I'll give it another push, and got it to 31.1. Please let us know if your SE is any faster than your E. From that account, I suspect you might get exactly the same performance.

 

Okay, you may not like this or me for that matter but I have a maximum speed on my computer on my SE of 34.1 mph! Okay, was a long stretch of sweeping down hill on a Sunday 2 weeks ago just 3 days after recieving it and my average for that day was 15.8 mph as I saved my TM and was not confident on the turns. My speedo was checked for accuracy also.

However, on my trips to work I have not achieved this as too many damn cars on the road!

The bike can fly if necessary, lol!

Mandy

Wisper speed

 

The jury is still out on the performance of my 905SE. My initial reaction is that it is not as fast, or as smooth, as my 905e.

 

I did about 20 miles today along the exact same route that I took the 905e. Two things were noticeable... even unrestricted, the throttle is definitely nowhere near as powerful and also the power delivery is jerky and not absolutely smooth like my 905e. The speedo is completely useless, by the way, inaccurate and unreadable. The battery indicator is similar.

 

I have e-mailed David Miall and asked what he thinks and whether the UK upgraded bike will be the same. Paradoxically, if I could, I would swap my 905SE motor and controller for those from a 905E if it resulted in the same perfomrance as my old 905E! I would do this swap because the rest of the bike is so much improved (especially the forks I keep harping on about) but I am finding the uneven power delivery in pedelec mode and the lacklustre throttle a bit irritating. One second, assistance is there, then it stops, kicks back, stops, kicks in.... it's a pain.

 

I suppose it's a bit ironic... the improved 905SE is improved in many respects but lacking in important aspects... just like the 905E was (re parts quality etc). I've asked David if I can buy a 905E controller, if that would make a difference, or p/ex my SE controller and motor or whatever.

 

If I could have my 905E performance in the 905SE bike, it would be my perfect electric bike, I reckon. The 905E had good power delivery but rubbish parts... the 905SE has great parts and inferior power delivery...