Known Issues & Problems with Liberty Trike Products + Help, Solutions & Fixes

[Ann M.]

No ebike is perfect, this is a thread dedicated to sharing known issues or problems with electric trikes from Liberty Trikes as well as any help and solutions you know of. Sometimes that means a DIY fix and other times it can mean a recall, software update or part replacement by a dealer.

Please be respectful and constructive with feedback, this is not a space for hate speech. In many cases, representatives from the company will see feedback and use it to improve their product. In the end, the goal is to enjoy riding and help each other go further and be safer.

 

[elizilla]

I have about 50 miles on the trike and just had an issue. The pedals drive a chain that goes, not to the rear axle, but to a secondary axle mounted a couple inches behind the rear axle. Then there is a smaller chain that drives the actual rear axle. This smaller chain came off.

The manufacturer has a good website with lots of troubleshooting videos. I found one which shows my issue. Basically the chainring on the main axle, for the small chain, is held in place by a keyway and set screw. This set screw had loosened, which allowed the key to move and the chainring to migrate sideways on the axle, and once it was out of alignment with the rear chainring, the chain came off. It was pretty straightforward to put it all back in place and tighten that set screw so it will stay. We spent some time adjusting the chain tensioners and lining things up and it is smooth as silk now.

Bicycles are so easy to work on, compared to the motorcycles. I love this.

 

[elizilla]

Just wanted to update and let folks know, that set screw loosened again and the chain came off again at 85 miles. This time we knew exactly what was wrong so it was faster to fix. This time we put blue locktite in there when we put it back together. The blue is the medium hold. I am now at 105 miles and it hasn't come loose again yet. If it does I will let you know. I hope I don't have to escalate to the red locktite.

Curious if anyone else has had this trouble?

 

[MikeDD]

We have not had this problem. The trike does not have as many miles as yours.

 

[elizilla]

I am at 165 miles and the chain has not come off again. Blue locktite FTW!

Our second trike now has 20 miles on it and we have had to adjust its chain tensioner. It was making a clicking sound as the chain goes round and we realized the cause of the sound was that the small chain was adjusted way too tight, from the factory. It was hard to back off, though, because the chain tightens as you tighten the axle, regardless of what you set the chain tension adjusting nuts to. We think the dropouts are not quite flat. So we added a large washer on either side. This seems to have helped some and we were able to get the chain adjustment right, and thereby quieten the noise.

 

[john peck]

Bicycles are so easy to work on, compared to the motorcycles. I love this.

Get a little bottle of thread lock! It will probably be handy in future.

 

[DennisMain]

The bride recently got a Liberty Trike - has less than 50 hours and there seems to be a grinding/rubbing noise out of the front wheel area (brakes area?) when turning left of center - occasional. Anyone experience that? There WAS a rattle from the back, but after putting two new washers and locknuts on to replace the two that evidently had not been tightened on the battery enclosure when shipped, that is resolved, lol!!

 

[MikeDD]

Wiggle the front wheel side to side to see if there is any slop. Tighten front wheel nuts if needed. Check for loose spokes. Check to see if the brake rotor is bent. They are easy to straighten or cheap to buy.

Good Luck!

 

[john peck]

The bride recently got a Liberty Trike - has less than 50 hours and there seems to be a grinding/rubbing noise out of the front wheel area (brakes area?) when turning left of center - occasional. Anyone experience that? There WAS a rattle from the back, but after putting two new washers and locknuts on to replace the two that evidently had not been tightened on the battery enclosure when shipped, that is resolved, lol!!

If that brake is a disc, might need a simple adjustment.

Wiggle the front wheel side to side to see if there is any slop. Tighten front wheel nuts if needed. Check for loose spokes. Check to see if the brake rotor is bent. They are easy to straighten or cheap to buy.

Good Luck!

Loose or too tight bearing cones?

 

[elizilla]

I now have about 650 miles. Doesn’t sound like much but when you consider it’s all within a few blocks of home, this is three years of riding almost every day, even in winter. I now have my first serious problem. The battery stopped working. I ordered a new one and it arrived today. It does not fit! The old battery is bigger than the new one. I sent them a message and will follow up with a call tomorrow, and report back.

 

[elizilla]

I talked to their support and they said the battery size changed, and when you order a replacement battery from the Liberty Trike site, there Is an option to have them send a new battery box at no extra charge. BUT this option is buried under “charger”. I pointed out to them that this is a terrible website design choice, because anyone who needs this box, already has a charger, and the default answer is “no charger” so why would anyone pull that field down to look for a different answer? The text description says nothing about battery boxes.

Anyways they sent me the new battery box. Good. But now I have a new problem. The new battery box does not fit the new battery! The battery has a locking pin that positions it in one spot, you don’t get a choice here. But when you put it in that spot, the box covers the charging port.

Am I the first one to ever order an extra battery? Someone there is very careless.