2015 D500 Vibration

[DailyDoggin]

Hey there!

So I bought the D500 kit and and it installed at the bike shop I bought it from.

Everything is great except two things

The rear dropout is on an angle on my bike and the torque blocker isnt quite right as the little cut out on the axle does not point exactly straight down.

second thing is i get a vibration around 25kph when accelerating with the motor.
I think its the spokes vibrating and will probably go in to get them tensioned and the wheel true.



All in all awesome kit!

 

[DailyDoggin]

need a different angled torque blocker. so one problem down. Anyone else get a spoke vibration sound

 

[J.R.]

Harmonic vibration can mean something is unbalanced and with all the threaded components in an ebike wheel hub motor system, it can often times be difficult to eliminate. It takes the proper wheel building tools and than you still might not eliminate it. If it's troublesome get warranty service on it, but first to eliminate the blocker washer as a possible cause of the vibration, have that corrected first to see if that is causing an imbalance in the wheel. Anyway you look at it, you will need to have the wheel diagnosed by a qualified technician (you if you have the knowledge and equipment). Some ebike wheels seem to always have some harmonic vibration that never goes away. I would expect a BionX wheel to be different (top of the line wheel), but don't be surprised once properly serviced if you still have some vibration. A diagnoses is warranted with noise.

 

[Ann M.]

It would be unusual for a BionX wheel to come in needing truing or with loose spokes; however, the dealer can check that and has a testing program that can be hooked into your system to check the internals of the motor & controller, etc. If the torque sensor is not aligned properly then you can experience problems, mostly improper acceleration. So if you've already corrected the alignment and are still having a vibration issue lean on the dealer for help.

 

[EbikeR2]

need a different angled torque blocker. so one problem down. Anyone else get a spoke vibration sound

No -- have the d series bionx (OHM) and zero vibration. Def get it checked out.

 

[DailyDoggin]

I test drove an OHM before I bought the kit and it had the exact same sound at the same speed. Really weird.

I will capture it on a gopro and link it.

Im at 200k on the bike so its due for the spokes to be adjusted

 

[EbikeR2]

I test drove an OHM before I bought the kit and it had the exact same sound at the same speed. Really weird.

I will capture it on a gopro and link it.

Im at 200k on the bike so its due for the spokes to be adjusted

did you test drive it at the same dealer? Maybe they're putting together the bikes/kits wrong? Even though I imagine OHM should arrive mostly built... or maybe not. I have ridden my OHM at every kmph, acceleration, pedal, everything, and zero vibration. Looking forward to the gpro link-- keep us updated!

 

[DailyDoggin]

did you test drive it at the same dealer? Maybe they're putting together the bikes/kits wrong? Even though I imagine OHM should arrive mostly built... or maybe not. I have ridden my OHM at every kmph, acceleration, pedal, everything, and zero vibration. Looking forward to the gpro link-- keep us updated!

Yep test drove it at the same place that installed my kit. I go in this weekend to have it looked at.


weight might be a factor too. Im 220lbs.

 

[EbikeR2]

I bet you're right, it's a weight ratio, especially if it happened on the OHM also. You'll find out soon enough once a sub -200lb person rides it and if they can't replicate....

 

[uiop2]

Formerly uiop- hacked out of my old email account...
I had to call the tech at Bionx because of a number of problems. One is a rotational sound that the tech claims is likely caused by loose spokes. This is a new kit, but the bozo at the shop in L.A. that sold it to me and installed the kit "adjusted" the spokes by tightening each one as he rotated the wheel. I don't think it's done like that and the rotational noise got louder afterwards, but I don't have any noticeable vibration.

My problem now, and I think it may be something to do with the wire attached to the brake, is that the motor goes into G mode about a second after I apply the brakes. This is dangerous! I can't tell you how many times I've tried to speed up at an intersection, but have to fight the braking motor for a little while. No, I'm not hitting the throttle or reaching 20 mph yet- how is it that you can go 25+? There's no way that mine will, but it has problems. I'm putting enough stress on my sealed crankset that I can see grease coming out. This is a new bike!

I'm VERY unhappy with this motor. I get practically no help from Bionx and I'm over 200 miles from anyplace that can service it. WHY should I pay for service/diagnostics of a motor with less than 70 miles on it? I don't ride it much because something is clearly wrong and I feel like I'm doing damage to it every time I go anywhere.
I wish that I had never bought this. It was a very expensive mistake. I'M ANGRY.
I discourage anyone who asks about it from buying this kit.

 

[EbikeR2]

Formerly uiop- hacked out of my old email account...
I had to call the tech at Bionx because of a number of problems. One is a rotational sound that the tech claims is likely caused by loose spokes. This is a new kit, but the bozo at the shop in L.A. that sold it to me and installed the kit "adjusted" the spokes by tightening each one as he rotated the wheel. I don't think it's done like that and the rotational noise got louder afterwards, but I don't have any noticeable vibration.

My problem now, and I think it may be something to do with the wire attached to the brake, is that the motor goes into G mode about a second after I apply the brakes. This is dangerous! I can't tell you how many times I've tried to speed up at an intersection, but have to fight the braking motor for a little while. No, I'm not hitting the throttle or reaching 20 mph yet- how is it that you can go 25+? There's no way that mine will, but it has problems. I'm putting enough stress on my sealed crankset that I can see grease coming out. This is a new bike!

I'm VERY unhappy with this motor. I get practically no help from Bionx and I'm over 200 miles from anyplace that can service it. WHY should I pay for service/diagnostics of a motor with less than 70 miles on it? I don't ride it much because something is clearly wrong and I feel like I'm doing damage to it every time I go anywhere.
I wish that I had never bought this. It was a very expensive mistake. I'M ANGRY.
I discourage anyone who asks about it from buying this kit.

Think the problem was with the installation -- BionX has been around for a long time and has literally thousands of happy customers (including me) -- if you're going to be angry, be angry at the people who installed the kit for you. It's not easy to do and you want to go somewhere experienced...

 

[Ann M.]

That regen strength can be adjusted by any BionX dealer using the firmware program, @uiop2 . As for the spokes, yeah that's not how it's done! Do check back with BionX for the location of another dealer to help you--I think most of the company is at Interbike this week, so response time may be a little slow until next Monday/Tuesday.

 

[uiop2]

That regen strength can be adjusted by any BionX dealer using the firmware program, @uiop2 . As for the spokes, yeah that's not how it's done! Do check back with BionX for the location of another dealer to help you--I think most of the company is at Interbike this week, so response time may be a little slow until next Monday/Tuesday.

Thanks again, Ann. There are not many shops that sell ebikes, and someone like me has little to go on to judge the competency of the people who service the bikes. Maybe a posting of how to choose a knowledgeable dealer would be useful? I did search this website and (I'm embarrassed to admit) looked at yelp ratings, which were wrongly superlative for this L.A. area shop (there is a posting at this website recommending them) before I made the purchase. What should a newbie know to be able to judge the competence of the mechanics?

 

[Ann M.]

Very good question, uiop2. Don't have a full answer for you at this moment and will put some thought into a basic set of questions you might want to ask a potential shop. It may have been that others had a good experience and you got an inexperienced tech doing your install. It is hard to know who's really savvy tech wise in the shops; I've been at this game for 14 years and am still learning-the technology changes so fast!

 

[uiop2]

Very good question, uiop2. Don't have a full answer for you at this moment and will put some thought into a basic set of questions you might want to ask a potential shop. It may have been that others had a good experience and you got an inexperienced tech doing your install. It is hard to know who's really savvy tech wise in the shops; I've been at this game for 14 years and am still learning-the technology changes so fast!

Ahh, I got the main service guy; it's a small shop. He only has one helper. I did take it to a regular bike shop before I brought it back to the ebike place (it wasn't shifting in all gears) and the bicycle mechanic found some issues the ebike place missed; I was cautioned that the ebike shops may know about electric motors, but basic bike maintenance skills are sometimes lacking.

 

[Ann M.]

That's sometimes the case. As a former bike racer, I knew from the first day that the maintenance (basic bike) was critical. We tried training folks on both the technical and bike side, but found it more productive in the long run to start with someone who had the bike knowledge and we would teach the rest.

 

[DailyDoggin]

The noise I hear happens during regen as well. usually around 24kph. If I turn down the regen strength the vibration/noise is less apparent. Ive just lived with it so far 600 klms on the bike now