Front handle bar wobble

[GirlFriday715]

I recently converted my Electra Ticino 7D into an ebike with a bafang mid drive conversion and a shark rear battery mount. Dcp18 display. The bike has cantilever brakes and 26" tires.

If I take the battery out of the back rack, the bike rides smoothly. When I put the battery back in, but don't engage the motor, the handle bars wobble to the point where I don't feel safe riding.

Once I engage the motor and start going a little faster, the wobble goes away. I converted the bike so I could ride more and get into shape, but I live in a hilly area and needed some help for the hills. If I always have to engage the motor for the wobble to go away, it basically defeats the purpose as there's no effort on my part.

Any suggestions to fix this?

 

[smorgasbord]

If you lift the front wheel off the ground, is the handlebar loose? I think that bike has the old-fashioned one-piece riser/stem with a wedge bolt on top - make sure that's tight. It probably is, but worth checking.

My guess is that you've got a weight-distribution problem. This can happen on motorcycles when rear packs are added, similar to how your rear battery pack was added. The "fix" there is actually extra weights at the ends of the handlebars. I've never heard of that being done with bicycles, but as a temporary check to confirm, get some ¼ - ½ pound weights and tape them to your handlebar grips. See if that helps. The long term fix may be to find a place on the down tube or seat tube to mount the battery instead.

 

[GirlFriday715]

Thank you! I will try this. I had originally bought a shark down tube battery, but it didn't quite fit, that's when I switched to a rare rack mount.