Radrover Controller & Display Upgrade Kit

[Errol A Gettner]

That's where I got into the bad habit of full throttle all the time.

Anyway, I'm itching to upgrade the motor. It looks to be an easy upgrade, just 6 screws plus transfer over the freewheel. I saw a video on youtube a guy with similar upgrades on a Sondors, with a 35A controller but with a motor upgrade (750w bafang from Luna cycle), that he was able to hit 30mph on throttle and max out at 33mph, & over 20mph up a 6 percent grade hill on throttle only.

There is no way our current motor can come close to that.

Edit: couldn't resist the upgrade urge and ordered this on aliexpress. I measured the dropout width on my Radrover and it's 175mm, though Rad's spec page said 170mm. The nuts, washers, and connectors look the same. Supposed to take 8-16 days to the US, we'll see how that goes.

Do you know of another site to get the Bafang 48v750W motor, Aliexpress say's its no longer available?

 

[thatdude902]

Things to look are 48v, 750w, bafang, freewheel, 175mm dropout (installation width). This one at another aliexpress store looks to be the same motor.

 

[Sharkbait]

This controller upgrade has started me on a path of near $1000 of upgrades and I couldn't be happier. Controller + motor first, then hydraulic brakes, and now a 52V 17.5Ah battery. Bought this one on AliExpress (took 12 days). I got the 40A one, because why not it's just a little bit more. Unit Pack power seems to get some recommendations on reddit & endless sphere. It's about 2.2 pounds heavier than my old 11.6Ah battery.

Installing the battery requires some soldering, had to cut the wire on the controller & solder in the new connectors. Anyway, performance was amazing. I hit 31 mph on throttle alone, that was after I went a few miles already, including one stretch in the park where I went 30 mph up a slight incline (while pedaling). I went a little over 31 a few times pedaling. I was spinning ok (years on road bikes) so I'm not sure I'll get a bigger chainring yet.

Anyway, here's how that battery fits on our frame:

I like your set up the fenders and rack and headlight....were those rad or sourced parts? Interested in prob getting a rad and doing mods as opposed to endless searching for perfect bike. Thx!

 

[Sharkbait]

My Radrover is a 2019 and the upgrade kit works great. Others have used the kit on their 2019 bikes as well.

how long and difficult was the upgrade process ? As in plug and play, modular replace etc or was there wire stripping and connection and mcgyvering involved? Looking at a rover and modding rather than risking a juiced rip and dont know any other that would meet specs at price point of rad after mods even. ?? Thots??

 

[Sharkbait]

Finally installed that 52V 17.5ah AliExpress battery onto the radrover. Holly hell does this thing fly now. The battery upgrade yielded a slight bump in torque and a faster top speed. It's easy to get up to 50 km an hour on flats cruising pedaling with PAS3/4.
@thatdude902 were you able to mount the battery using 3 mounting screws, I could only line it up and get the bottom two screws only. A little worried that this heavier battery is less secure on the frame, not sure what I can do to resolve this.

Dont know if i missed it, but did u simply change the battery or do the whole kit? Id love to get away with just a simple battery upgrade!!

 

[Sharkbait]

If you change the battery from 48V to 52V, yes you will be adding power and your speed controller will be fine since 48V and 52V are close enough.

Also, I changed my 48V battery to AliExpress 48V battery (I own Juiced, not Rad Power, just so you know)
Despite the same voltage, my new battery added noticeable power.

This is because my new battery cells had higher discharge rate.

For example, suppose there are two battery packs, both rated at "48V 14Ah"
But more expensive battery packs tend to have higher discharge rate. So for example, some battery might take 2 hours to discharge full 14Ah, whereas some sophisticated batteries might have capacity to drain all the electricity in 30 min. (These are just made-up examples)
Of course, there are other factors like BMS, speed controller and all that to determine the power.

So are u saying the aliexpress battery uses better cells than the juiced or just the battery you had was degraded ?? I thot juiced used top5 battery suppliers....i totally understand the 52 vs 48 scenario i was just wondering if that was a one component fix for a little more power without the whole kit thing. What juiced do u have and what has ur experience been? They are on my list!!

 

[Sharkbait]

I have a Juiced CrossCurrent Air (with updated CCS speed controller), came with 10.4Ah 48V battery, and it was powered by Samsung.
Although I'm not certain, I think it was powered by Samsung 26F cells.

Now, I got an AliExpress battery, with Samsung 35E cells, 14Ah 48V and has much higher discharge rate.
The AliExpress seller was Eunorau, if you need to know.

My Juiced is not reliable, to be honest.
I don't mind it because I know fix the stuff by myself, also Juiced's price is good for the performance you get, so I can put up with it.
If you look at Juiced Forum on EBR, I think you'll find it pretty obvious that they need some help on customer support.

That said, some of the Juiced owners are happy, perhaps they improved their quality control?

Yes this has been my struggle. The bikes with great specs have no support and the bikes with less than great specs have great support so prob better to go reliable in my case and upgrade at my leisure than try to buy high performance on start and have problems. I need reliability first and foremost. Being out a week or two with no parts and calls and emails is not ideal. Single parent two teenagers? Ha. I hardly have time to work. Lol. So i will go for either a rad or look for a lbs that has anything comparable that is realistic to work with. I think the rover will prob be the ticket.

 

[spmckinnon]

Dont know if i missed it, but did u simply change the battery or do the whole kit? Id love to get away with just a simple battery upgrade!!

I changed, the controller, the motor and the battery!

 

[thatdude902]

I like your set up the fenders and rack and headlight....were those rad or sourced parts? Interested in prob getting a rad and doing mods as opposed to endless searching for perfect bike. Thx!

Unfortunately the company that made those fenders is no longer in business. It was a company called "Big O." Rad made some bit later that looked very similar but they stopped making those (maybe too expensive? it was ~$159) and their current fenders aren't quite as full-looking. And the headlights were just some 12V light I got on Amazon and used a voltage regulator.

 

[AHicks]

Yes this has been my struggle. The bikes with great specs have no support and the bikes with less than great specs have great support so prob better to go reliable in my case and upgrade at my leisure than try to buy high performance on start and have problems. I need reliability first and foremost. Being out a week or two with no parts and calls and emails is not ideal. Single parent two teenagers? Ha. I hardly have time to work. Lol. So i will go for either a rad or look for a lbs that has anything comparable that is realistic to work with. I think the rover will prob be the ticket.

Coming from the same kind of background you describe elsewhere, I can suggest that kinda like dirt and road bikes, watching what is available in the way of performance enhancements might help make your choice a bit easier.

 

[AHicks]

yeah I know what you mean, but as many people have posted on motorcycle forums all over internet,

Pick Two:
CHEAP
FAST
RELIABLE

If you change the battery from 48V to 52V, yes you will be adding power and your speed controller will be fine since 48V and 52V are close enough.

Also, I changed my 48V battery to AliExpress 48V battery (I own Juiced, not Rad Power, just so you know)
Despite the same voltage, my new battery added noticeable power.

This is because my new battery cells had higher discharge rate.

For example, suppose there are two battery packs, both rated at "48V 14Ah"
But more expensive battery packs tend to have higher discharge rate. So for example, some battery might take 2 hours to discharge full 14Ah, whereas some sophisticated batteries might have capacity to drain all the electricity in 30 min. (These are just made-up examples)
Of course, there are other factors like BMS, speed controller and all that to determine the power.

I just wanted to note that the stock '18 Rad battery is pretty capable of a sustained 1000w, and will support bursts in excess of 1300w - first hand experience using 35a KT controller and MAC 12t geared hub motor on a Rad City.

And I do agree one needs to select one of your 3 choices to start, but further, would suggest that with careful shopping, one CAN start CHEAP, then add money in sufficient quantities to satisfy ones need for speed. In my case, I would stack the resulting reliability up against anything available. This does assume average or better DIY'er abilities.

 

[ROCebike]

I just wanted to note that the stock '18 Rad battery is pretty capable of a sustained 1000w, and will support bursts in excess of 1300w - first hand experience using 35a KT controller and MAC 12t geared hub motor on a Rad City.

And I do agree one needs to select one of your 3 choices to start, but further, would suggest that with careful shopping, one CAN start CHEAP, then add money in sufficient quantities to satisfy ones need for speed. In my case, I would stack the resulting reliability up against anything available. This does assume average or better DIY'er abilities.

Hi guys. I just read thru the thread and think I understand the info. I’m in the market for a new ebike and now hesitating based on OEM torque specs. Buying online without a test ride is hard to get a feel for “sufficient” torque for me. I’m 6’2 and 230 lbs.

The 2020 Rad City shows 750 W, 40 Nm with stock 48V battery. If I just bought the Bolton controller (with brake light) will it fit this bike? His site says “probably” but no hard confirmations.

Would you expect a noticeable torque improvement with everything else stock?

BTW, the 2020 vs 2019 only changed headlight, bars and grips, and added bosses for cafe lock

 

[diffindiff]

Torque improvement, yes . Fit, likely, but the new kit with tail light is still sold out at the moment...

 

[AHicks]

Hi guys. I just read thru the thread and think I understand the info. I’m in the market for a new ebike and now hesitating based on OEM torque specs. Buying online without a test ride is hard to get a feel for “sufficient” torque for me. I’m 6’2 and 230 lbs.

The 2020 Rad City shows 750 W, 40 Nm with stock 48V battery. If I just bought the Bolton controller (with brake light) will it fit this bike? His site says “probably” but no hard confirmations.

Would you expect a noticeable torque improvement with everything else stock?

BTW, the 2020 vs 2019 only changed headlight, bars and grips, and added bosses for cafe lock

When starting with a clean slate, I would suggest you settle down with a firm decision on your drive system as your first move. There's an incredible difference between the direct drive rear hubs (like the City uses), and the gear driven rear hubs (like the Rover uses), especially when shopping from a performance perspective. The gear drive is much peppier in low speed stop and go, as well as hills. The direct drive seems gutless here, but when allowed to stretch it's legs a little at speeds over 15mph on fairly level land, the direct drive starts showing it's stuff.

This lesson learned the hard way here. My '18 City was up-fitted from stock to a 1500 watt direct drive and electronics similar to Bolton's at 6 weeks old, then a 1000+watt gear driven rear hub (MAC 12t) a year later. If I had fully understood the advantages of a gear drive hub from the start, I would have bought one of those from the start!

 

[ROCebike]

Really good point. With a geared motor I can essentially double the torque of RadCity with Amego’s Infinit’s Plus
Pretty good kit @$1700. Even Ride1Up 700 has about 50% more Torque, alas it’s frame is too small for me but maybe my daughter.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[AHicks]

Juiced Bikes, if you haven't already checked them out, may have some options you'll find interesting as well. As a Rad owner it's hard to say, but Juiced to me seems like a Rad done right. Geared drives, battery options, hyd. brakes, etc.

 

[AHicks]

Not picky there either. Companies offering the GMAC "done right" are going to sell a lot of bikes. These won't be to first time buyers though.....

 

[Errol A Gettner]

Finally installed that 52V 17.5ah AliExpress battery onto the radrover. Holly hell does this thing fly now. The battery upgrade yielded a slight bump in torque and a faster top speed. It's easy to get up to 50 km an hour on flats cruising pedaling with PAS3/4.
@thatdude902 were you able to mount the battery using 3 mounting screws, I could only line it up and get the bottom two screws only. A little worried that this heavier battery is less secure on the frame, not sure what I can do to resolve this.

Hi, after the 52v battery install, did you change the setting for C12? Battery cutoff voltage, for 48v the setting is 4, did you change this to 5 or 6?
Thanks

 

[spmckinnon]

Hi, after the 52v battery install, did you change the setting for C12? Battery cutoff voltage, for 48v the setting is 4, did you change this to 5 or 6?
Thanks

I left it as is.

 

[Longj582]

Hi Guys,

I've got a 2018 Rad Mini.

I've searched the forums and online and for whatever reason can't find visible proof (picture etc.) of someone's actually been able to add the Bolton RadPower Upgrade Kit to a Rad Mini. I ordered the kit last night (in addition to the bigger motor) but am getting concerned that there may not be a place to mount the controller on the bike due to the mounting location of the battery.

If anyone has actually added this kit to a Rad Mini - would love some to see some pictures or get info on where the controller is mounted (I'm sure the Bolton controller is way too big to fit where the stock controller was mounted on the 2018's.)

Thanks!