Radcity 2020 Hub motor cracking sound

[pq2014]

Hi!

The motor on my radcity is making this cracking sound when the wheel is moving whether I pedal or not - video link below. It has about 500 km on it and had a tuneup last year in the summer.

Bike cracking sound - video link

Any guesses as to what it could be before I take it to the shop? I don’t know much about fixing bikes.

Thank you!

PQ.

 

[indianajo]

This Rad "known problems & solutions" thread is where you post this: https://electricbikereview.com/foru...ad-power-products-help-solutions-fixes.13196/
There are Rad owners posting and reading there. And everybody can count what problems Rad ships, which was 270 posts today.
I've owned 4 hub motors, and two did that, when the covers were loose. Had to put Keytite on the threads to stop screws from loosening once a year (2000 miles). Blue loktite didn't work.
Suggest you tap your spokes on that wheel to see if any are loose. A steel screwdriver blade is fine for tapping. Good spokes go ping with a pitch, loose spokes go thud. Lots of posts about stretched out spokes on Rad, especially several years ago. DT Swiss and Sapim real steel spokes have to be severely overloaded to stretch. Spokes on my Yuba required no adjustment since purchase 12/17. The cheapo ($221, $150) power wheels I added, did after 1000 miles or more.

 

[AHicks]

My bet would be loose spokes. That would be something that needs to be taken to a shop and taken care of sooner than later. When carrying the kind of loads you are carrying, proper spoke tension becomes even more critical. If left like they are, you're going to get into an issue with the spokes failing/breaking.

Just as an FYI, Rad has had spoke issues going way back. They have (had) a wheel builder not paying attention, so this problem is not unusual at all.

At 315lbs personally, I know about heavy loads like you have on your spokes and that back tire. As shown in that video, it's pretty clear that rear tire is under inflated as well. As is, if you happen to drop into a pot hole or hit something with a sharp edge, there's not enough pressure in the tire to protect the rim, and chances of the tire collapsing to the point where the tube is pinched hard enough to fail could end a ride right there.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Good advice by Al and Joe. The recommended tire pressures could be found on the sidewall of the tire. Use a hand held tire guage to ensure an accurate tire pressure is reached. Often, those guages on floor air pumps leave a lot of accuracy to the imagination.

Let us know the outcome!