Vado 5 off-road in mud

[Nxkharra]

I took my Vado off road after we had a little rain last night. The trail was wet at some places and the mud was really sticky.
it did great except mud would collect between fenders and tires and prevent the wheels from turning.
After a good wash using my not so high pressure (nothing like commercial) nuzzle and lube the bike is as good as new. I was careful around battery and motor and also where the wires go inside frame.
After cleaning took the battery out to clean the housing and noticed no water in there.
lessons learned:
A little mud does not hurt a bike.
Vado performs better on the paved or dry dirt and gravel. Unless of course you take the fenders off. Like some of you friends have already done so.

 

[Sierratim]

I took my Vado off road after we had a little rain last night. The trail was wet at some places and the mud was really sticky.
it did great except mud would collect between fenders and tires and prevent the wheels from turning.
After a good wash using my not so high pressure (nothing like commercial) nuzzle and lube the bike is as good as new. I was careful around battery and motor and also where the wires go inside frame.
After cleaning took the battery out to clean the housing and noticed no water in there.
lessons learned:
A little mud does not hurt a bike.
Vado performs better on the paved or dry dirt and gravel. Unless of course you take the fenders off. Like some of you friends have already done so.

I use a 'plastic friendly' electronics contact cleaner on the battery and frame mounted contacts periodically. This resolved a 'motor error' I got. It's probably a good idea after any washing.

I can see where the close fitting Vado fenders could be problematic with mud. I've had them pick up gravel and throw it out the front. I image it would be better to replace them with mountain bike style mud/gravel guards if this is going to be your style of riding. The stock fenders do work great in the rain!

 

[Nxkharra]

I use a 'plastic friendly' electronics contact cleaner on the battery and frame mounted contacts periodically. This resolved a 'motor error' I got. It's probably a good idea after any washing.

I can see where the close fitting Vado fenders could be problematic with mud. I've had them pick up gravel and throw it out the front. I image it would be better to replace them with mountain bike style mud/gravel guards if this is going to be your style of riding. The stock fenders do work great in the rain!

@Sierratim what do you use as contact cleaner? And where? How?
what was the error? And the cause?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I agree Vado fenders are not the best for mud. These are great for the rain, as @Sierratim said.

 

[Sierratim]

@Sierratim what do you use as contact cleaner? And where? How?
what was the error? And the cause?

Check out the pic for details on the contact cleaner I use. It's a popular commercial cleaner used for all manner of electrical contacts recommended by my son the electronics tech. I use the 'straw' to limit over spray. I hold the battery vertical and spray the contacts, using a rag on the floor to catch drips. For the contacts in the frame I put the bike in the repair stand and rotate it so spray drips out of the frame. A 1-2 sec blast keeps the contacts nice and bright.

I was on a loop ride thorugh town running errands and getting some exercise. My last errand was at my 10 mile turn around point. I turned the bike off for maybe 10 minutes. Everything seemed normal when I turned it back on and coasted to the street. I was in Eco mode for a bit when the grade got steeper. I went to Sport then Turbo with the bike feeling like a brick. As I down shifted I checked the display and saw a message. When I pulled over I saw it read something like "motor error". I wasn't getting any assistance on any setting at this point with 10 uphill miles to go. I finally turned the bike off and waited about 30 seconds to turn in back on. It worked normally all the way home. I cleaned the battery contacts that evening. The problem has not occurred again. I will bring it up to my LBS when I take the bike in for its first annual tune up in a few months.

Can't really say what actually caused the error, but ditry contacts are always suspect in my book as they can easily cause communication errors between the firmware in the battery, motor and/or display.

BTW - I didn't check the bike's status in Mission Control before turning it off at the 10 mile point. When I 'rebooted' it, Mission Control reported that everything was happy.

 

[Nxkharra]

Check out the pic for details on the contact cleaner I use. It's a popular commercial cleaner used for all manner of electrical contacts recommended by my son the electronics tech. I use the 'straw' to limit over spray. I hold the battery vertical and spray the contacts, using a rag on the floor to catch drips. For the contacts in the frame I put the bike in the repair stand and rotate it so spray drips out of the frame. A 1-2 sec blast keeps the contacts nice and bright.

I was on a loop ride thorugh town running errands and getting some exercise. My last errand was at my 10 mile turn around point. I turned the bike off for maybe 10 minutes. Everything seemed normal when I turned it back on and coasted to the street. I was in Eco mode for a bit when the grade got steeper. I went to Sport then Turbo with the bike feeling like a brick. As I down shifted I checked the display and saw a message. When I pulled over I saw it read something like "motor error". I wasn't getting any assistance on any setting at this point with 10 uphill miles to go. I finally turned the bike off and waited about 30 seconds to turn in back on. It worked normally all the way home. I cleaned the battery contacts that evening. The problem has not occurred again. I will bring it up to my LBS when I take the bike in for its first annual tune up in a few months.

Can't really say what actually caused the error, but ditry contacts are always suspect in my book as they can easily cause communication errors between the firmware in the battery, motor and/or display.

BTW - I didn't check the bike's status in Mission Control before turning it off at the 10 mile point. When I 'rebooted' it, Mission Control reported that everything was happy.

I had my display replaced while back in Dec 2019. On my first ride I did get a motor error and I just restarted like you. I called the LBS and he said let’s wait to see if you get more error message. I never had one. Must have been a bad connection somewhere and corrected itself.