When to service Bafang BBS01 Mid-Drive

[jb144]

I am coming up to 2K on my 250w BBS01 without any issues. However I would like to know when I should take the cover off to re-grease the nylon drive cog?

 

[LimboJim]

I am coming up to 2K on my 250w BBS01 without any issues. However I would like to know when I should take the cover off to re-grease the nylon drive cog?

No advice from me on when, but I'd clean out the old grease while in there, too, maybe even replace the gears and check the bearings, too. Otherwise the nylon particles will accelerate wear and tear on anything new...

I haven't been so fortunate in my BBS01 experience; my 2015 Biktrix came with one and started making loud noises within its first 100 miles. And my recently acquired, converted recumbent trike came with a BBS02, which completely failed 55 miles in.

 

[jb144]

Thanks for your reply Jim.... So far I done 1,500 miles on a Hy-Brid Claude Butler. Using a centre motor with a 15ah battery. No issues at all (touch wood) but like to be prepared for when it comes!

Regards John

 

[tomjasz]

Lubricatiing the nylon gear is somewhat difficult. And tipically not as important as the chainring gear.
we havent sold a replacement nylon gear this year. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bafang+bbs02+teardown+

 

[tomjasz]

No advice from me on when, but I'd clean out the old grease while in there, too, maybe even replace the gears and check the bearings, too. Otherwise the nylon particles will accelerate wear and tear on anything new...

I haven't been so fortunate in my BBS01 experience; my 2015 Biktrix came with one and started making loud noises within its first 100 miles. And my recently acquired, converted recumbent trike came with a BBS02, which completely failed 55 miles in.

The most common failure of 01 and 02 versions is user abuse. The 01 and 02 version are easy to overheat. They need to be ridden like acoustic bike. Ride like you would any geared bike. Never come to a stop without shifting to a gear you’d use if you had no motor. I own two 36v 350W and 2 250W BBS01B. As well as supporting scores of BBSXx riders.

 

[LimboJim]

I've ridden Brose motors for over 1000 trail miles, Shimano for over 1700, and Bosch and Yamaha for over 2500 each. None have had any problems, knock wood.

I didn't get to 200 miles on either of the two Bafangs I had before they began acting up... Maybe one motor's abuse is other motors' optimum riding style?

 

[dariusf2]

Hi, I have Motobecane eMulekick gravel bike with M800 motor. Just passed 1k miles on it and wondering if I should perform any maintenance. Not having any issues at all but I like to do preventative maintenance on all my mountain bikes to prolong parts life including fork and shock service.

I typically ride on level 1 assist for 90% of my rides and shift often. Average ride is 2 hours, 20 miles, mix gravel and asphalt with a number of climbs. Given its 200W with 55NM Torque I would think the wear on the gears is low. Thoughts?

If I do open it up I guess try to take the gears off, inspect for wear, clean and repack with grease? Is SRAM red military grease good given its used for gears and bearings?

Thanks

 

[tomjasz]

I've ridden Brose motors for over 1000 trail miles, Shimano for over 1700, and Bosch and Yamaha for over 2500 each. None have had any problems, knock wood.

I didn't get to 200 miles on either of the two Bafangs I had before they began acting up... Maybe one motor's abuse is other motors' optimum riding style?

Well the hread got resurrected and I just read your response. In 7 years of BBSxx series motors and sales your is an isolated incident. Out of curiosity, what year were those purchased? My 2 2014 BBS01 motors have over 3000 miles on each. Only lubrications have been done.

 

[tomjasz]

Hi, I have Motobecane eMulekick gravel bike with M800 motor. Just passed 1k miles on it and wondering if I should perform any maintenance. Not having any issues at all but I like to do preventative maintenance on all my mountain bikes to prolong parts life including fork and shock service.

I typically ride on level 1 assist for 90% of my rides and shift often. Average ride is 2 hours, 20 miles, mix gravel and asphalt with a number of climbs. Given its 200W with 55NM Torque I would think the wear on the gears is low. Thoughts?

If I do open it up I guess try to take the gears off, inspect for wear, clean and repack with grease? Is SRAM red military grease good given its used for gears and bearings?

Thanks

Googling Bafang M800 greasing yields this video. However I suggest Mobil SCH 100 as the better choice as discussed with Mobil product support. It is lithium based.

 

[dariusf2]

Thanks for the info, I did see it before but did not realize these two motors are very similar. I will buy the grease you suggested before taking it appart. Are you aware of any nylon gear replacement for the M800?

 

[tomjasz]

nylon gear replacement for the M800?

Why? Its a ridiculous internet continuation of a ridiculous urban legend. In 7 years of selling Bafang replacement oarts the nulon gears were the least ordered parts. Most if the metal gears were failures and those that didn’t were noisy. Another pile of horse pucky.

 

[dariusf2]

Guess if it ain't broken don't fix it. Will still get some lithium grease and open it up and see if I need to add any. I deep cleaned my chain which still tests great in terms of stratch and cassette and used good dry lube and the drivetrain feels really smooth and shifts great. Given its not a mountain bike I did not expect anything different after 1k miles.

 

[PedalUma]

Ride your bike like it is an animal you love and want to keep heathy. Not like an hour-rental Skidoo at Spring Break. Like a horse. When you ride your own horse you pace hills. You don't abuse it. So many want to ride something to death. And then blame the thing. Those metal gears are dumb and so loud. Melting the blue is prof of abuse.

 

[dariusf2]

Ride your bike like it is an animal you love and want to keep heathy. Not like an hour-rental Skidoo at Spring Break. Like a horse. When you ride your own horse you pace hills. You don't abuse it. So many want to ride something to death. And then blame the thing. Those metal gears are dumb and so loud. Melting the blue is prof of abuse.

Honestly I dont know what gears the M800 has but its really quiet. Surprisingly stealthy both sound and looks with the slim battery.

 

[PedalUma]

Looks like an 11-42 in the rear. With 40 on the ring. Nice. Don't lug it. Keep cadence high and light. See a Pedal Like A Pro vid. Sweeping back and up is the key. This prevents spikes in the controller and gives much longer range. Spin. Spin, Spin. Slogging it hard down slowly left and right will kill the clutch and bearings. Select the lowest gear that feels good spinning fast and lightly. Way down-shift before stops 5-7 clicks.

 

[dariusf2]

Looks like an 11-42 in the rear. With 40 on the ring. Nice. Don't lug it. Keep cadence high and light. See a Pedal Like A Pro vid. Sweeping back and up is the key. This prevents spikes in the controller and gives much longer range. Spin. Spin, Spin. Slogging it hard down slowly left and right will kill the clutch and bearings. Select the lowest gear that feels good spinning fast and lightly. Way down-shift before stops 5-7 clicks.

Yes, thats the setup. I'm running simmular on my mountain bikes except 32T on fronts and 30T for fat bike in snow. The stock gearing is perfect for me and the gravel trails I ride this bike on. I did take it on single track several times but being full rigid and now running 45mm tires, its quite challenging. Got to really pick the lines and hard to get over logs, roots and rocks. As far as spinnig, thats more or less what I do. I never really down shift before stops and don't think I will, not sure how that will impact longevity of the clutch and bearings. Just passed 1567 miles on it and still going strong. With temps in the teens I'm down to about 25 mile range although with colder temps and snow I'm mostly back on the normal bike.

 

[old guy 666]

I have the old non-electric mulekick and was happy with it. Nothing broke, or even wore, in 5,000 miles of road riding. But my wife would get a nice break every 5 miles waiting for me to catch up. I smoked for years and it takes a while to recover from hills. Then I got the M800 version. The other day we did 45 miles and she never lost me. I went into settings and dropped the assist to min. On the ride I set the boost level to 1 about 1/2 the time.

 

[dariusf2]

I have the old non-electric mulekick and was happy with it. Nothing broke, or even wore, in 5,000 miles of road riding. But my wife would get a nice break every 5 miles waiting for me to catch up. I smoked for years and it takes a while to recover from hills. Then I got the M800 version. The other day we did 45 miles and she never lost me. I went into settings and dropped the assist to min. On the ride I set the boost level to 1 about 1/2 the time.

Happy to hear you enjoy your eMulekick. I have been doing a lot more mountain biking now that my last ankle surgery was a year ago. Just past 1200 miles this year. I did over 160 miles the past 3 weeks on the eMulekick as I bruised my heel and was back on crutches so no way I was going to ride trails. I now have 2400 miles on it and the M800 motor knock on wood is as smooth and quiet as when I got it. The battery also is back to about 35 mile range now that the temps are in 80/90s. Really happy with it. I still have to open it up and repack with fresh greese but was swamped with work and 3 weeks on crutches.

I did get a set of DT Swiss wheels for the eMulekick with 55T ratchet upgrade and plan to swap them on along with SR Suntour Mobie 45 gravel fork. Will post some pics when I get to it but will be a while as I'm starting to build another mountain bike (Ibis Mojo 3) and the gravel bike upgrade will be after.

 

[dariusf2]

Speaking of wifes, I just got her Specialized Turbo Como 4.0 ebike which has 250W Specialized 1.2 motor and 500Wh battery so she doesn't take my eMulekick when we ride or complain she has no assist Had no time to get it setup and try it out yet, but really want to compare it to the Bafang M800.

 

[m@Robertson]

I did get a set of DT Swiss wheels for the eMulekick with 55T ratchet upgrade and plan to swap them on along with SR Suntour Mobie 45 gravel fork. Will post some pics when I get to it but will be a while as I'm starting to build another mountain bike (Ibis Mojo 3) and the gravel bike upgrade will be after.

I would not use a 55 tooth ratchet with a mid drive-powered bike. Its great for quick performance but you are giving away the biggest part of the benefit of the ratchet engagement mechanism: Ability to survive mid drive power forever. I have several BBSHDs tied to custom DT350-hub'd wheels, both the Hybrid version and the Classic. The Hybrid, which is strengthened for ebike and tandem use, has a 24T ratchet that DT considers optimum given the increased duty cycle. I have one with a 36T (overland mountains/forest on a Surly Big Fat Dummy) and its a bit fragile when subjected to power, long term. Going up to 55 beyond 36 is a rider's choice but bad when you factor in a motor.

All of my 350 Classic wheels except that one with the 36T are either Hybrids with the 24T, or were upgraded from the stock 18T or were upgraded to the 24T. The same goes for the other huge upgrade you have to have: The steel cassette body. I have pics of an alloy body torn into bad at 1000 miles, and another one with only 50 miles on it that is also dug into enough it can't be sold on Ebay as I planned, had I been smart enough to never run the damn thing at all.