I Bought a Voltbike Yukon

[Bike_On]

I got it for my son at college. He has practices 2x a day, a mile from his dorm... spoiled!

I was looking at the RAD bike and SSR fat bikes.

I wanted a geared hub.

RAD has the metal gears, which are noisier but should be a bit more rugged.

One guy didn't like the Rad forks, so no loss there and it has 4" tires for cushion.

Cost: Voltbike was cheaper.

I got fenders with rear tail light built in. Having fenders, lights, and fat tires makes this a more durable, year around campus bike.

Let's see if he can keep it secured!

 

[Voltbike]

Thanks for your order. We are very excited that Voltbike Yukon is getting more popular.

Voltbike Yukon main benefits are brand name motor 8Fun rated at 500W, disconnect cable on the rear motor for easy tire removal, quality Li-ion battery Samsung and rear derailleur guard.

We purposely design the bike with no front suspension, because the fat 4" baloon tires are adding more than enough suspension. You can even inflate tires at extremely low pressure if you want to add even more cushion.

And lastly suspension fork would add unnecessary weight to our Yukon. Rigid forks would be ideal for riders who need a reliable mountain bike with no maintenance for the fork.

 

[Bike_On]

I agree that the package is pretty tight.

Two potential issues (for old guys) is 1. ) the aggressive position with no adjustment to the stem angle, and 2). The battery/control interference. #1 can be fixed, but cost $. #2 should not be a big issue to remove the battery or plug in directly.

 

[Voltbike]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I could see the stem is fairly aggressive. I personally don't like adjustable stems. As Court mention on the review they tend to get loose over time.

Probably in the future we can offer 2 options for stem or something in the middle. For my age group (I am 40) this position is good allowing high speed

Regarding the charging port, I am able to charge the bike fairly easy when the battery is on the frame. It's relatively close the seat pole, but still there is space. The battery is also easily removable.

 

[Bike_On]

I was able to get the user manual from Voltbike, which explained the settings of the control panel and the advanced setting as well. Nice of them to support that. I had figured out a few of them by experimentation, but it is always nice to know what is being changed!

Warning: if you get this bike, the right center button turn on the lights with a short-time select. However, if you hold it down, the bike will take off in "walk mode" , which is pretty fast if you are standing still and not ready. It doesn't turn off unless depressed again. I felt like I was restraining a large dog trying to lurch away at something curious! The bike popped a wheelie, etc. Be aware.

So I changed settings to MPH, found the 3 options of cadence, throttle, or both. See attached for full options.

The geared hub has a hard turn on character, even in mode 1. I am going to try and soften that, since my son is riding on campus and around pedestrians. It is cadence sensed, so a simple turn of the cranks can cause a surge in power.

The other mod I'm considering is drilling weep holes in the battery holder-well. The battery well has blades to mate to the battery and sit in a rubberized "well" where the battery mates to the holder. During a hard rain and a bike left outside, I'm concerned the water will accumulate in the well and short out the battery. I noticed the new Biketrix Juggernaut has the same battery design. It may not be an issue, but a couple holes in the corners should do the trick.

I'll post some pics soon. My first time on a fat tire bike. It's unique and cool in the grass. On the road, I think a 3" tire is preferred vs 4".

I bought the accessory fenders with tail light. They are aluminum and solid. The front and tail lights reflect the discounted costs of the bike... good enough to be seen on campus and slow speed visibility on the paths, but not commute, rugged use levels. Nice thing is that they are already wired to battery, so upgrades could be easy depending on voltage.

 

[Bike_On]

Here are a pic of my son's new Voltbike Yukon. He LOVES it and his college buddies are super envious.

 

[Bike_On]

Pic #2

 

[prefetch]

i just got mine the other day. the 500w model.

so, it was easy to put together and driving it around was very fun. it's very fast and responsive - but a slight lag on the pedal assist.

i then took it up to the mountains to see how it would do on trails and up steep hills. well, it didn't do so well. i had to set the gearing to the easiest it would go and pedal like crazy with the throttle on full and it barely made it up a hill (albeit, relatively steep hill, but nothing crazy.)

i then took it on some trails, and i had to really just turn the assist off because it would surge and then lag, and surge and lag and it was kind of getting dangerous! on a wide street it works great, but on a meandering narrow mountain trail in the forest it didn't feel so good.

i did let some air out of the tires, and that made the ride much more comfortable on the mountain paths - but of course doesn't really help with the lack of power up hills.

so i'm not sure if i've made a good purchase or not. if i kept it in my neighborhood, i'd say it's great - but in the mountains, i really wish it had more power for hills.

 

[Bwitte]

I've had the 500w yukon for a month now, switched out the factory tires for 4" studded 45NRTHs. Riding on ice and packed snow the studs are great, no worries about slipping/skidding. Mostly in the hills, grades up to 15%, the bike bogs down a bit but with a bit of work I can keep going on level 3 pda.

I've had some problems with the head light. With cold stiff wires one lead to the head light kept popping off, I'd slip it back on but finally fat fingered it into a bad spot and something arc-ed and sparked, no more light, everything else still works. Still riding with a head lamp. Motor and power are ok.

Can I substitute a brighter light for the factory light? Where does one get a wiring diagram for a particular ebike? As the manufacturers all seem to use very similar controllers and dashboards it can't be too complicated (or maybe it is?). Are there fuses somewhere? Just one fuse?

Looking at the voltages in the leads to the light I see ~6.5vdc when the light is switched on but ~30vdc (!?) When the light is toggled off. Not what I expected. Ideas?

 

[George S.]

http://lunacycle.com

http://www.amazon.com/Grin-Tech-Multi-Brightness-Lumenator/dp/B00PTA7OV4/1&rh=n:3375251

These are voltage converter lights, so they just convert to the voltage they need, up to some limit. Whether you could use that wire that reads about 30v (otherwise run a wire to the battery). Might be trial and error. Depend on how many amps you draw from the wire that is there, whether there is some kind of fuse. Move cautiously.

 

[Voltbike]

I've had the 500w yukon for a month now, switched out the factory tires for 4" studded 45NRTHs. Riding on ice and packed snow the studs are great, no worries about slipping/skidding. Mostly in the hills, grades up to 15%, the bike bogs down a bit but with a bit of work I can keep going on level 3 pda.

I've had some problems with the head light. With cold stiff wires one lead to the head light kept popping off, I'd slip it back on but finally fat fingered it into a bad spot and something arc-ed and sparked, no more light, everything else still works. Still riding with a head lamp. Motor and power are ok.

Can I substitute a brighter light for the factory light? Where does one get a wiring diagram for a particular ebike? As the manufacturers all seem to use very similar controllers and dashboards it can't be too complicated (or maybe it is?). Are there fuses somewhere? Just one fuse?

Looking at the voltages in the leads to the light I see ~6.5vdc when the light is switched on but ~30vdc (!?) When the light is toggled off. Not what I expected. Ideas?

Hi Bwitte, glad to hear that the bike is working well with 45NRTH studded tires. The front LED light should be using quick connector so you should be able to replace it easily if you decide.

If you can't find anything brighter, we do have in our warehouse the same factory LED light. The factory LED is very compact and relatively bright for the small size.

 

[Bwitte]

Hi Bwitte, glad to hear that the bike is working well with 45NRTH studded tires. The front LED light should be using quick connector so you should be able to replace it easily if you decide.

If you can't find anything brighter, we do have in our warehouse the same factory LED light. The factory LED is very compact and relatively bright for the small size.

I received a lunacycle cyclops, nice unit, wired it in to the feed to the fried factory light, observing polarity, but no luck. Lcd in dash indicates light is on. Looks like I'll simply take connect to the batt direct. Maybe fried something in the controller or dashboard? I'm lucky everything else still works.

Which makes me wonder, why no fuses anywhere?

 

[Voltbike]

I received a lunacycle cyclops, nice unit, wired it in to the feed to the fried factory light, observing polarity, but no luck. Lcd in dash indicates light is on. Looks like I'll simply take connect to the batt direct. Maybe fried something in the controller or dashboard? I'm lucky everything else still works.

Which makes me wonder, why no fuses anywhere?

Hi Bwitte, this is interesting because we never had this issue before. The only fuse is in the battery itself. There is no fuses in the controller. If you want to I can mail you one of the factory LED lights to try out? Could be issue with LED light itself.

 

[Bwitte]

Hey George
That sounds good, I'll pay for it, it was my mistake, when the wires came off I should have removed the battery before trying to reconnect. I think I have your email, we can do that off-forum.

The bike is great, I've got more than 50 miles on in mostly sub zero F temps. My biggest problem is staying warm at >15mph. My rides are kinda a worst case, live in the hills where the temps are highest, ride in the cold valleys, then the final push is a 800ft uphill after the battery has cold soaked, the grease is getting stiff, but the bike has never let me down. Eventually I'll want a brighter light for commuting, wiring in a buttoned cyclops will be good. The more light the better on roads.

 

[Bike_On]

Can I substitute a brighter light for the factory light? Where does one get a wiring diagram for a particular ebike? As the manufacturers all seem to use very similar controllers and dashboards it can't be too complicated (or maybe it is?). Are there fuses somewhere? Just one fuse?

Looking at the voltages in the leads to the light I see ~6.5vdc when the light is switched on but ~30vdc (!?) When the light is toggled off. Not what I expected. Ideas?

I expect the light is loading down the voltage source, and the circuit may have a current limiting resistor. Can you experiment on the light with a different battery source? Running off the main battery is ideal. I found the quality of the light and wiring to be subpar to a good bike light.

 

[dane]

up graded shifter, hand grips,handel bar extensions and pettels.