500 series, making grinding noise from hub motor

Paul1839

New Member
Region
USA
I bought a 500 series E-bike in February 2021 and I have 135 miles on it. Last month ( May) I went uphill and engaged the throttle and pedal assist and a grinding noise came from the hub motor, I let off the throttle and the noise stopped, for the rest of the ride everything went great. The next time I went for a ride I was going uphill and engaged the throttle and the grinding noise started again, this time I let off the throttle and rengaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started again, I let off the throttle and just started peddling the noise stopped and the rest of the ride went fine. Yesterday ( June 9) I went for a ride, started uphill engaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started and the gears would not engage, the bike stopped on the uphill road way, I got off the road and waited a few minutes, engaged the throttle and off I went like nothing happened, I rode the rest of the 15 miles and everything went fine? Thanks for reading
 
You are not the only one. Was riding my upgraded rad-rover had sever grinding noise and increased to vibration. I thought it was the gears all torn up but I changed setting and set of again and no noise. I think it has something to do with the new controller not being a "true sine wave" device. Never had any sort of trouble with stock rad controller. Get the noise now more frequently but change setting or turn unit off and back on. Always at take off.
 
Looks like you will need to contact support. This thread in the FB Ride1Up Rider's group looks like what you're talking about. Someone posted a video of the sound.
 
Hi again to all the Ride 1up rider, I just wanted you to know that my hub motor is still making grinding noise to the point other riders hear it. I like ride 1up fast delivery service. I received no good advice from the support department, and now I’m looking to replace my 500 series with a KBO breeze, it looks very similar to the 500 series ( i sure that it’s the same) I want to find out after putting the KBO through the same type of riding if the hub motor makes any noise. I read when looking for a e-bike that having any motor problems with a bike you bought online would be a hassle to get fixed ( it definitely is) Thanks for reading
 
Hi again to all the Ride 1up rider, I just wanted you to know that my hub motor is still making grinding noise to the point other riders hear it. I like ride 1up fast delivery service. I received no good advice from the support department, and now I’m looking to replace my 500 series with a KBO breeze, it looks very similar to the 500 series ( i sure that it’s the same) I want to find out after putting the KBO through the same type of riding if the hub motor makes any noise. I read when looking for a e-bike that having any motor problems with a bike you bought online would be a hassle to get fixed ( it definitely is) Thanks for reading
Take a look at your 3 pin connector from controller to motor. My motor was making a grinding noise and when I unplugged it to begin investigating I saw that one of the gold colored receptacles was scorched, this was caused by arcing when I was riding in a downpour. It was quite a job to replace wire from controller but I did it and the arcing stopped and vibration/grinding disappeared.
 
I bought a 500 series E-bike in February 2021 and I have 135 miles on it. Last month ( May) I went uphill and engaged the throttle and pedal assist and a grinding noise came from the hub motor, I let off the throttle and the noise stopped, for the rest of the ride everything went great. The next time I went for a ride I was going uphill and engaged the throttle and the grinding noise started again, this time I let off the throttle and rengaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started again, I let off the throttle and just started peddling the noise stopped and the rest of the ride went fine. Yesterday ( June 9) I went for a ride, started uphill engaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started and the gears would not engage, the bike stopped on the uphill road way, I got off the road and waited a few minutes, engaged the throttle and off I went like nothing happened, I rode the rest of the 15 miles and everything went fine? Thanks for reading
I traced my grinding noise to a burnt connection in the controller to motor connector. That may have been caused by a combination of too much power and riding in a very heavy rain. The connection must have been arcing which resulted in a very irregular operation of motor. When things dried out it ran better but still showed up occasionally. I replaced the wire.
 
I just got my R1U 500 assembled and noticed a grinding noisef rom hub motor when riding it home from the bike shop. Also some weird high pitched noice from front wheel that would change pitch even though speed did not change. Now I'm trying to figure out how to plug in the charger! It is not obvious and the booklet says to just plug it in. not helpful.
 
I just got my R1U 500 assembled and noticed a grinding noisef rom hub motor when riding it home from the bike shop. Also some weird high pitched noice from front wheel that would change pitch even though speed did not change. Now I'm trying to figure out how to plug in the charger! It is not obvious and the booklet says to just plug it in. not helpful.
Maybe you got the wrong charger. See https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158208709806045
 
No the charger works. At least I think it does. The cords all fit. I finally figured out where it goes (the bottom of the battery). However, when I first plugged it into the wall, there was a green light. But that light went out when I plugged the charger into the battery, and never came back on. Does that mean it did not charge?
 
Plugging in the battery is pretty straight forward, so I'm not surprised if they don't provide detailed instructions on that. With my R1U 700, the light is green but turns red while the battery is charging. And I don't fully charge it, so the light is still red when I remove it from the charger, except once when I left it on and fully charged, and it turned green. The only time the light hasn't been lit is when the charger is not plugged into a live power receptacle. I don't know if the 500 charger is any different. You can check the battery level to see if it's gone up any after being on the charger for a while.
 
Yes, I plan to check to see if it charged at all when it stops raining (how dare it rain when I have a new bike to play with!)
 
Hey, Gen X. Another question for you. My LBS told me that the bike will not work if the key is not inserted. The booklet says to insert the key to remove the battery, as though normal position is key removed (they don't actually say this.) Can you clarify, even though you have a 700? Thanks.
 
My LBS told me that the bike will not work if the key is not inserted.
The key is not an "ignition" key, and does not turn on/off anything. The only thing it does is retract the pin that holds the battery in place. Your LBS is completely wrong on this.
 
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That is what I thought. Thanks for confirming. Makes me wonder what else they might have been wrong about, as I had them assemble it for me. Sheesh...
 
That is what I thought. Thanks for confirming. Makes me wonder what else they might have been wrong about, as I had them assemble it for me. Sheesh...
I wouldn't worry about the assembly, as they didn't have to touch the electrical components (except plugging in the display). Presumably, a bike mechanic knows how to install a fork, front wheel, crank arm, seat, and check that all the bolts are torqued correctly. Just don't trust them on anything electrically related, because that's not really what they are trained for.
 
I bought a 500 series E-bike in February 2021 and I have 135 miles on it. Last month ( May) I went uphill and engaged the throttle and pedal assist and a grinding noise came from the hub motor, I let off the throttle and the noise stopped, for the rest of the ride everything went great. The next time I went for a ride I was going uphill and engaged the throttle and the grinding noise started again, this time I let off the throttle and rengaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started again, I let off the throttle and just started peddling the noise stopped and the rest of the ride went fine. Yesterday ( June 9) I went for a ride, started uphill engaged the throttle and pedal assist the grinding noise started and the gears would not engage, the bike stopped on the uphill road way, I got off the road and waited a few minutes, engaged the throttle and off I went like nothing happened, I rode the rest of the 15 miles and everything went fine? Thanks for reading
Trying to clear up some information. Are the serial numbers on the headtube or downtube or both for the 2021 500 ST models?
 
I just got my R1U 500 assembled and noticed a grinding noisef rom hub motor when riding it home from the bike shop. Also some weird high pitched noice from front wheel that would change pitch even though speed did not change. Now I'm trying to figure out how to plug in the charger! It is not obvious and the booklet says to just plug it in. not helpful.
Going thru similar noise issues on my 500 ST that I received a week ago. Still no fix yet but working on it.
 
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