Bafang Ultra Motor (M620) Ridden Very Gently for 3,000 Miles - Service Required or Not Necessarily?

[mail_e36]

Hi friends,

I have ridden a fat-tire based Bafang Ultra Motor (M620, G510, UART) heavy ebike very gently for 3,000 miles.

I've always ridden in peddle assist mode, rarely if ever use the throttle, always try to keep the wattage low, and the 9-speed gear selection appropriate for the speed, in order to avoid 'lugging' the motor. I definitely don't ride the bike like a scooter or motorbike, and sometimes ride with no power assist at all (all manual peddling for the exercise).

This is an original OEM ebike setup, the motor was built around 2020-2021-2022 (unsure if it has the nylon or plastic or metal gear, and the interface is UART), and I've been riding it for 2.5 years, accumulating the 3,000 miles.

In case it matters the system is 48V, 30 Amp (dual battery setup), a knock-off from the Bikonit Warthog for much less price (now discontinued).

The motor has been behaving well, it does make some 'whining' noise which I understand is normal and I've learned to ignore.

Motor has no performance issues (except one unique time when it threw Error Code 30, Communications Fault, over a year ago, and never since), and rides very well.

I've never had the motor 'lubricated' or serviced. I am not at all handy, cannot do anything DIY, thus servicing it myself is unfortunately out of the question. Even taking the motor off the OEM frame is not something I could handle, in order to send it for servicing.

Please share your thoughts, on how much life I can expect to get out of the motor without servicing it, now that the Bafang Ultra Motor is at 3,000 miles, and continue riding it gently?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[ElevenAD]

If there is no issue dont worry about it, in the meantime while the motor is working fine start watching Youtube vids on how to remove the motor and oil your gears. Purchase the 3 or so tools needed for the job ahead of time this way your ready when it happens. re-grease is not super difficult, you can do it in a day and if you can ride a bike you can probably do a re-grease. The other option is sending the motor away for repairs to some place like California E-bike where you will still need to remove the motor yourself, ship the heavy motor, be without your bike for weeks, then pay $90 per hour for repairs.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

If there is no issue dont worry about it,

What ElevenAD said.

 

[il Munduato]

The motors have been known to leave the factory without sufficient grease so I concur with the above.
Its not hard to do but does require some mechanical skills and special tools like a crank puller and chainring locknut tool.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

If there is no issue dont worry about it, in the meantime while the motor is working fine start watching Youtube vids on how to remove the motor and oil your gears. Purchase the 3 or so tools needed for the job ahead of time this way your ready when it happens. re-grease is not super difficult, you can do it in a day and if you can ride a bike you can probably do a re-grease. The other option is sending the motor away for repairs to some place like California E-bike where you will still need to remove the motor yourself, ship the heavy motor, be without your bike for weeks, then pay $90 per hour for repairs.

If the OP doesn't want to tackle the job, why not take it to a willing local bike shop (LBS) and let them re-grease the motor when the time comes?

Granted, many an LBS won't work on ebikes, or on any bike they didn't sell. But I have one nearby that'll work on anything. Maybe the OP does, too.

 

[il Munduato]

I concur... If you're not familiar with tools it's probably best left to someone who is.

My motivation for doing things myself is I enjoy it and I can be very patient when necessary.
Then add when I see who'll be doing the work I say to myself... If that guy can do it, I sure has hell can
The more time passes.. The more I realize I can do a better job myself and it's usually a lot easier and faster then having to transport the bike to an LBS.

If you do decide to give it a go... We can hold your hand a bit.

 

[opimax]

What about those that can’t do this and no place local will either, actually no where can I find anyone to take a Bafang 620 apart

 

[il Munduato]

What about those that can’t do this and no place local will either, actually no where can I find anyone to take a Bafang 620 apart

These are things you need to think about before buying a bike.
Most direct to consumer customers realize that they'll be doing the maintenance on their bike. If you read thru the Bafang forum you'll see that most that post here do their own everything.
That said...
Ask the seller of the bike if they do or know where you can get help.
You can try posting on the Facebook M620 group..you might get lucky and find a local lead there

 

[opimax]

check the history of WattWagons, they serviced it when shipped to them when they were in business. When purchased it didn’t have the reputation as a DYI motor, I would not have purchased . Also things change, at 1 point I wasnt restricted to 35 lbs of lifting.
but thx for the the idea of the FB group

 

[il Munduato]

check the history of WattWagons, they serviced it when shipped to them when they were in business. When purchased it didn’t have the reputation as a DYI motor, I would not have purchased . Also things change, at 1 point I wasnt restricted to 35 lbs of lifting.
but thx for the the idea of the FB group

Well we all know where WattWagon is now.
This job is well within your 35lb limit.
Flip the bike upside down as that's the easiest way to remove the motor anyway. Just make sure you put the end of the handlebars up on blocks to give the display clearance from the floor or just remove the display all together.
Get yourself a Chainring Socket
And a Crank Puller
The rest of the tools needed are a set of Allen keys and a Phillips screw driver.
Plenty of videos on YouTube... I'd watch a few of them to get different perspectives.

 

[ElevenAD]

What about those that can’t do this and no place local will either, actually no where can I find anyone to take a Bafang 620 apart

I think you can mail them out to a couple of places but you would still have to remove the motor, if you cant flip the bike over then call a friend/relative or neighbor or whatever it takes. Finding a LBS is always the best option but that is not easy for an E-Bike in general and it is especially difficult to find a shop to work on a bike that puts out well over the 750watt legal limit.

 

[opimax]

I pay a shop,to remove and reinstall the motor, where to send it? I haven't found a place

 

[harryS]

If it were me, I would regrease it. Probably less trouble to regrease than replace.

I have $89 hubmotors I've never regreased. Some have over 6000 miles of light use. They're quite hard to open as they have 4" and 5" threaded side covers. I'd rather replace or retire if they fail.

I have regreased my Tong SHeng mid drive,m a cheap $250 250W motor.,It's easy. After 2000 miles, the nylon gear did appear dry. I have not regreased my Bafang BBS02B after 8 years and 1000 miles of light use. It's also suppossed to be an easy job, so maybe this summer.,

 

[il Munduato]

If it were me, I would regrease it. Probably less trouble to regrease than replace.

I have $89 hubmotors I've never regreased. Some have over 6000 miles of light use. They're quite hard to open as they have 4" and 5" threaded side covers. I'd rather replace or retire if they fail.

I have regreased my Tong SHeng mid drive,m a cheap $250 250W motor.,It's easy. After 2000 miles, the nylon gear did appear dry. I have not regreased my Bafang BBS02B after 8 years and 1000 miles of light use. It's also suppossed to be an easy job, so maybe this summer.,

The BBS02B is super easy to grease. Just be gentle with the plastic gear cover.
+11,000 mi with no issues and was greased at 1000 mi and then every 3000
Mobil SHC1000

 

[m@Robertson]

I would give an M620 about 6000 miles before I started thinking about opening it up to re-grease it. But if that means another 2-3 years to get that far, maybe wait a year, two yearstops - rather than wait on mileage.

Your gentle use of the motor is not so much of a factor as is the fact that the grease in these motors doesn't last forever. I've opened up many Bafang hub and mid motors and found the gears moist (which is sufficient) but no real blobs of grease anywhere to be found. And that is true for motors I have greased personally in the past and am now looking at again a year or so down the road (I do yearly re-greases on my daily driver but I also ride a lot and put the bike thru its paces). So, I would say time is a factor in addition to mileage.

In no case would I be worrying a lot about this. The M620 is a battleship motor and not something I would be particularly worried over.

The chances of finding a local bike shop who will work on an M620 Ultra is likely somewhere between Slim and None, and Slim just left town. I agree with @ElevenAD that it is a good idea to steel yourself in advance - since you have a ways to go before this starts to get problematic - and look at a couple of Youtube vids and familiarize yourself with what needs to be done.

 

[JRA]

"The chances of finding a local bike shop who will work on an M620 Ultra is likely somewhere between Slim and None, and Slim just left town."

While this is true if they knew how simple a job it is to remove and split an M620 they should be all over it!

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. I've opened up many Bafang hub and mid motors and found the gears moist (which is sufficient) but no real blobs of grease anywhere to be found.

I just opened up my hub motor to regrease it after 3500 km, and found very little grease,..

The grease in the teeth of the gears was like plasticine.
I spent hours trying to pick it all off with popsicle sticks, dental picks, q-tips and rags.
I didn't want to get any solvent in the bearings or electrics so I did it manually.
Apparently you aren't supposed to mix greases, so I wanted to get it all off.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. - and look at a couple of Youtube vids and familiarize yourself with what needs to be done.

Take lots of pictures as you take things apart for reference when you put it back together.

My motor has a shim washer on the shaft that I ZipTied in place so I don't forget it or where it goes.

Put all the nuts bolts screws and washers back where they came from as soon as you get something apart so you don't lose it or forget where it goes.

Small things can be really important.

 

[il Munduato]

No sense in avoiding the inevitable.. When it's time, it's time!

 

[PCeBiker]

My motor has been apart for a week now while I struggle with trying to not fix something that ain't broke,..

My freewheel works fine, but it's a rusty turd.
I almost never pedal so I'm not going to bother trying to remove the freewheel to take the motor completely apart and pull the armature out of the inner hub for a complete cleaning and repacking of everything.

And my freewheel tool is a 2 dollar piece of crap anyway, that was specially hardened with black paint.

And I might need a lock ring tool, but I think it will come off as one piece ?


Either way, I don't care, I've been carefully cleaning the crap out and will just add a bit of really light oil to stop the rust.
I figure anything heavy will just attract dust and grit and make things worse??

There is a proper dust seal with a tiny built-in stainless steel coil spring on the axle shaft to keep the seal sealing.
It keeps water and crap from getting inside the motor.

I've been cleaning it and will repack it with grease again, then just put it back together.
Hopefully before the spring riding season starts.