I purchased my Wabash about 3 weeks ago. I have been riding it quite a bit (love it) and currently have 350+ miles on it. Lately I have noticed that with little load on the motor, it makes a scraping sound that has been getting worse. It occurs in all boost levels but I notice it most in ECO+. Turn off the motor or put more load on it and the noise goes away. It’s not a “grinding” sound, more like something is dragging. Is there some sort of clutch to slowly engage the motor and could it be the source? It’s become annoying enough that I have been turning off the boost until it’s really needed. Anyone else experience this and perhaps have a solution?
Noisy Motor
- Thread starter StmbtDave
- Start date
You're right. The Wabash comes with a PW-SE motor. I don't remember the scraping noise when I first bought the bike, it was more of a hum. The hum has turned into a scrape and it's getting louder. I've emailed the dealer (60 miles away) and am waiting for a response.
I'm now over 700 miles and the noise is getting worse. I took the bike down to the dealer and he rode it around for a couple miles. He agreed that the motor was noisier than normal so he took a few videos while he was riding to record the noise. He sent a video to Yamaha so now I just wait to hear what corporate has to say. The dealer said they don't work on the motors so I hope corporate says it's a new motor.
Dave
Dave
I don’t know what the dealer’s problem is but they claim they still haven’t heard back from Yamaha. It’s been 6 weeks since I first reported the problem and still no resolution. Yamaha may have a 3 year warranty but it’s worthless if you try to make a claim.
I've considered that but the Yamaha website says all warranty claims must go through the dealer.
tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
Desperate times demand desperate measures. It's STILL worth a go. How do we think corporate finds out about problem dealers?
Since the dealer is over an hour away, I've been doing all the communications over the phone. It's been over 6 weeks since I first reported the problem and I got fed up. I loaded the bike onto the rack and drove down to speak to them in person. The mechanic I had been dealing with had left for the Thanksgiving holiday but the owner was there. I explained my situation and he was aghast, claiming he knew nothing about it. He had me leave the bike and promised I would have it back shortly with a new motor taken from a bike on the sales floor. We'll see how this goes...
Well, I picked up my bike from the dealer on Wed and they said it had a new motor. There’s still over a foot of snow on the ground from last week’s storm so my only test ride was circles in the parking lot. It did sound better, still a bit noisy but no longer scraping. Today I was able to ride the sidewalk out of our development as the streets are still snow packed. Once on the main roads I was able to get in a chilly 17 mile ride. I was concerned when starting as the motor seemed noisy but I think (hope springs eternal) the noise lessened as I put in some miles. Perhaps the new motor just needs some running to loosen up and wear down the rough edges.
I was nervous that I hadn’t recorded the original motor’s serial number so I could verify that I now had a different motor. When I returned from today’s ride I scrolled through the display options and noticed that my bike no longer had 1,300 miles on the odometer, rather it now only had 106 miles. I knew the display hadn’t been changed as I had added a zip tie to the wiring and my odd zip tie was still attached. The display data must be stored on the motor control board. I am now satisfied that I have a “new to me” motor. It probably came off one of their demo bikes which had some miles already recorded.
It took almost 8 weeks but I’m now happy with my bike again.
Dave
I was nervous that I hadn’t recorded the original motor’s serial number so I could verify that I now had a different motor. When I returned from today’s ride I scrolled through the display options and noticed that my bike no longer had 1,300 miles on the odometer, rather it now only had 106 miles. I knew the display hadn’t been changed as I had added a zip tie to the wiring and my odd zip tie was still attached. The display data must be stored on the motor control board. I am now satisfied that I have a “new to me” motor. It probably came off one of their demo bikes which had some miles already recorded.
It took almost 8 weeks but I’m now happy with my bike again.
Dave
Mike TowpathTraveler
Well-Known Member
Noises on a bike are a tricky kind of thing to diagnose. I can tell you that my Haibike Full FatSix, PW drive, always made a funny noise when I used the lower power levels Eco and Eco+; a "churning" kind of sound that I can only attribute to as being a heavier load placed on the internal drive gears that go away when higher power is applied. Again, describing a noise is a tricky deal as your "scraping" noise could very well be my "churning" noise! 
At High Power and Standard Power, that churning noise goes away, replaced by some high pitched whirring noise that really gets blocked out because of the louder whining noise coming from the fat tire's tread blocks. I suppose a camera or microphone down low, like what Court does in his ride videos would better isolate where these noises are coming from. Though I am concerned about the true long term operation of these internal nylon gears inside our motors, right now at 9400 miles, I've been more then happy with the Yamaha drive train. I can't imagine any other brand being better then what I have experienced.
What is worrisome and irritating is reading how you were treated by the seller once you reported your issue. It is in this area of ebiking where I see the ugly side of customer dissatisfaction. And it's not only constrained to the lower end brands. Not from what I've read on these forums.
Yamaha is a multi-billion dollar company. You bought a brand new Yamaha that had some kind of issue within the motor. The warranty should have provided a new motor in kind to replace your motor; which would be sent back to Yamaha, broken down and inspected. Not replaced by some motor off a demo floor model with over 100 miles on it! And at that, it took 8 weeks to address this issue.
The dealer was not being a very good advocate for you, the customer. Or maybe Yamaha Power Assist Bicycles is not being responsive towards their dealers. Either way, somebody dropped the ball on you, the customer.
The big ebike players in the game here in the US, Yamaha, Haibike, Stromer, Trek, etc, need to have some kind of human representation on these forums who can read these posts and maybe react a bit quicker then the 8 weeks it took you to get back on the road again. Maybe then we can find where the disconnect is located after the sale has been made, between customer & selling dealer.
Good luck and keep us informed how the bike goes for you!
At High Power and Standard Power, that churning noise goes away, replaced by some high pitched whirring noise that really gets blocked out because of the louder whining noise coming from the fat tire's tread blocks. I suppose a camera or microphone down low, like what Court does in his ride videos would better isolate where these noises are coming from. Though I am concerned about the true long term operation of these internal nylon gears inside our motors, right now at 9400 miles, I've been more then happy with the Yamaha drive train. I can't imagine any other brand being better then what I have experienced.What is worrisome and irritating is reading how you were treated by the seller once you reported your issue. It is in this area of ebiking where I see the ugly side of customer dissatisfaction. And it's not only constrained to the lower end brands. Not from what I've read on these forums.
Yamaha is a multi-billion dollar company. You bought a brand new Yamaha that had some kind of issue within the motor. The warranty should have provided a new motor in kind to replace your motor; which would be sent back to Yamaha, broken down and inspected. Not replaced by some motor off a demo floor model with over 100 miles on it! And at that, it took 8 weeks to address this issue.
The dealer was not being a very good advocate for you, the customer. Or maybe Yamaha Power Assist Bicycles is not being responsive towards their dealers. Either way, somebody dropped the ball on you, the customer.
The big ebike players in the game here in the US, Yamaha, Haibike, Stromer, Trek, etc, need to have some kind of human representation on these forums who can read these posts and maybe react a bit quicker then the 8 weeks it took you to get back on the road again. Maybe then we can find where the disconnect is located after the sale has been made, between customer & selling dealer.
Good luck and keep us informed how the bike goes for you!
president13
New Member
Hello JayVee, reading that post, I have noticed your comment above.
Could you tell me if this "wowing" noise you mention is the same than the one in that video :
my winora bike equipped with a pwse motor makes a lot of noise during speed up, but well, quite normal when reading comments. However, at assistance speed limit, if I stay at that speed of 25 kph, I got that oscillating noise not so beautiful…whatever the assistance level and selected gear.
I would like to know if that noise is normal.
My bike has 400km.
thanks a lot!
president13
New Member
Well, there's a slight difference here. If I understood correctly, yours is a PWSE cutting off at 25km/h whereas mine is a PW-45. Mine starts to hit the "rev limiter" at about 85 RPM in ECO. But yours is a PSWE and so will start hitting the limiter at around 95 (still in ECO mode). It's when I hit the 85RPM limiter in ECO that I get that noise. It's the sound of a drive cutting on and off. It sounds much more dramatic than what's in your audio clip.
I'm not a Yamaha musical expert, but I'd say yours sounds a lot more pleasant than mine.
hi, thanks for your feedback.
well, I recorded that sound yesterday evening, with my phone sliped in my sock
we can ear the friction of the phone in my trouser (oscillation friction).
The motor noise is much more in background.
But listening at time 4:26 with high volume, you can get that sound of "cutting on/off".
It makes like a two metalic plates in friction on each other.
This morning, that sound was more noisy than in the video.
I could increase my speed up to 26 or 27 to avoid that noise, unfortunately I'm living in a town where the wind is almost present everyday.
Consequently, with headwind, it is hard to go over 25, and naturaly the speed is stabilized at the speed limiter.
I didn't find any post of such noise on the web. It seems PWSE motors are not so many on the market.
I could be interesting to share your noise, if you can record it, could be nice to compare.
Mike TowpathTraveler
Well-Known Member
President13: Yep, normal, familiar noise, exactly what I'll hear with my Haibike Full FatSix, PW drive, at the lower speeds on the trail or on asphalt.
I ride mostly in High Power cause, well, it's more fun! But I've noticed from Day One, when I use the lower power levels, there is almost a "can of rocks" sound within the "crankcase". No big deal and all the more reason to power up as pedaling around on a 60 pound fat bike with bags and gear in Eco is not what I call fun. There is some kind of clutch within the internal drive, so between that and the plastic gears, we've got a little Yamaha symphony going on.
Coming up on 9600 miles on the odometer. And not a lick of trouble with the drivetrain. I figure motor noise is part of the charm of having an ebike.
I do have a solution. Trade in your bike for a fat tired Yamaha. Let me tell ya, those fat tires on asphalt sing a song of their own on asphalt. And they completely drown out any noises coming from the drivetrain. Great fun when you are coming up on another bicyclist out on the road, the tire noise always gets their attention.
I ride mostly in High Power cause, well, it's more fun! But I've noticed from Day One, when I use the lower power levels, there is almost a "can of rocks" sound within the "crankcase". No big deal and all the more reason to power up as pedaling around on a 60 pound fat bike with bags and gear in Eco is not what I call fun. There is some kind of clutch within the internal drive, so between that and the plastic gears, we've got a little Yamaha symphony going on.
Coming up on 9600 miles on the odometer. And not a lick of trouble with the drivetrain. I figure motor noise is part of the charm of having an ebike.
I do have a solution. Trade in your bike for a fat tired Yamaha. Let me tell ya, those fat tires on asphalt sing a song of their own on asphalt. And they completely drown out any noises coming from the drivetrain. Great fun when you are coming up on another bicyclist out on the road, the tire noise always gets their attention.
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president13
New Member
@[LEFT][B][SIZE=16px][FONT=Open Sans][COLOR=rgb(128, 182, 0)]Mike TowpathTraveler[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/B][/LEFT] :
Thank you for your feedback.
Your "can of rocks" sound seems effectively different than mine.
As you say, it is part of the charm of having an ebike.
9600 miles without trouble is really good, overall when having such noise.
It comforts me.
Changing tires is a good tip
The wind in my ears are also another one
regards,
Thank you for your feedback.
Your "can of rocks" sound seems effectively different than mine.
As you say, it is part of the charm of having an ebike.
9600 miles without trouble is really good, overall when having such noise.
It comforts me.
Changing tires is a good tip
The wind in my ears are also another one
regards,
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