Survivor Bites The Dust -- Clean Republic Kit Bike Failure

[Catalyzt]

So, took Survivor on an 8-or-10 mile ride last week no problem. I did forget to shut off the battery (which happens often-- basic kit, no auto shutoff) and I know it has fast passive drain, being a tiny battery, so I charged it up before taking it out yesterday...

And it died almost immediately. Different issue from the controller failure last time: The throttle activates the motor, it pulls weakly and briefly, and then cuts out.

I'll contact Clean Republic, but I'm kind of disinclined to have it repaired again (they replaced the last controller under warranty.) Glad that I wasn't on the back side of Griffith Park somewhere (though it's light enough to pedal most of the way home.) And glad I didn't do all the upgrades I was considering.

Maybe I should be talking to @PedalUma about doing another build, either on the Trek, or from scratch. Maybe a stealth Class III hard tail with a real, serious seat post suspension or something. I dunno. Disappointing for sentimental reasons-- that bike got me through the worst of the pando, rode the hell out of it in double-20. But it needs other work, too-- side-pull, non-hydraulic brakes are really hard on the arthritic hands, brake squeal is excruciating and never got fixed no matter how many times I took it in, and the 18-speed drive train has been chattering, the index shifters really imprecise, even before I did the conversion.

Who knows, maybe Clean Republic will come through and offer me 50% off a new kit or something. But I'm thinking of starting from scratch-- another custom build, involving this frame or another.

 

[PedalUma]

So, took Survivor on an 8-or-10 mile ride last week no problem. I did forget to shut off the battery (which happens often-- basic kit, no auto shutoff) and I know it has fast passive drain, being a tiny battery, so I charged it up before taking it out yesterday...

And it died almost immediately. Different issue from the controller failure last time: The throttle activates the motor, it pulls weakly and briefly, and then cuts out.

I'll contact Clean Republic, but I'm kind of disinclined to have it repaired again (they replaced the last controller under warranty.) Glad that I wasn't on the back side of Griffith Park somewhere (though it's light enough to pedal most of the way home.) And glad I didn't do all the upgrades I was considering.

Maybe I should be talking to @PedalUma about doing another build, either on the Trek, or from scratch. Maybe a stealth Class III hard tail with a real, serious seat post suspension or something. I dunno. Disappointing for sentimental reasons-- that bike got me through the worst of the pando, rode the hell out of it in double-20. But it needs other work, too-- side-pull, non-hydraulic brakes are really hard on the arthritic hands, brake squeal is excruciating and never got fixed no matter how many times I took it in, and the 18-speed drive train has been chattering, the index shifters really imprecise, even before I did the conversion.

Who knows, maybe Clean Republic will come through and offer me 50% off a new kit or something. But I'm thinking of starting from scratch-- another custom build, involving this frame or another.

Ask @m@Robertson what contact cleaner he likes best. It could be that simple. Go for the low hanging fruit of cleaning the contacts. At the end of January I am making one of these for a young man in S.D. His parents live here an both have bikes from me. I would give it a back swept bar so you don't have to hunch. The new duel clutch cargo motor is sweet and is an amazing climber. This bike is a Marin DSX. They are based here in Petaluma, just North of S.F.