Yamaha has a new motor for 2023

[Djangodog]

A nice, fairly small advance. Lighter, more powerful and smaller with an automatic mode.

Yamaha launches new mid-drive electric bike motor with more power in smaller package

Yamaha has just launched a new mid-drive e-bike motor known as the PW-S2, which delivers more power, and is a smaller and lighter package.

electrek.co

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

It looks like they are following the latest market rage of light-lighter-lightest. I guess that's fine for those concerned about total weight of the bike. But for myself, a happy owner of a 2016 model year PW drive system with no problems, it'd be nice if Yamaha would look at backwards-compatible upgrades in higher capacity batteries for their older PW drives that are still out there, running strong in 2022. Their last upgrade like that was when they put the 500wh external battery out on the market. Meanwhile, there is a German battery maker that has designed and built a 745wh external battery that has been on the market for at least 3-4 years now. But it's not readily available to the North American markets.

Do I expect Yamaha to look into upgrading drive systems no longer in their current catalog? No, not really. But I can dream!

 

[Bicyclista]

It looks like they are following the latest market rage of light-lighter-lightest. I guess that's fine for those concerned about total weight of the bike. But for myself, a happy owner of a 2016 model year PW drive system with no problems, it'd be nice if Yamaha would look at backwards-compatible upgrades in higher capacity batteries for their older PW drives that are still out there, running strong in 2022. Their last upgrade like that was when they put the 500wh external battery out on the market. Meanwhile, there is a German battery maker that has designed and built a 745wh external battery that has been on the market for at least 3-4 years now. But it's not readily available to the North American markets.

Do I expect Yamaha to look into upgrading drive systems no longer in their current catalog? No, not really. But I can dream!

I agree with you. I also have a 2016 Yamaha PW motor with over 15,000 miles and no problems. Nevertheless, I had the seals and gears replaced as preventive maintenance. It's good for another 15,000 miles.

It would also be great if Yamaha made backwards-compatible adapters so you could mount a new motor on an old bike. But I don't think they even sell motors to consumers...

 

[Prairie Dog]

Oddly the Sync Drive Pro 2 motor (based on the Yamaha PW X3) on the new Giant Trance and Reign emtbs comes in lighter at 2.75 kg and cranks out 85 Nm of torque. Although I have to admit that the PW-S2 does appear to sport a smaller footprint and which will likely be used on their branded gravel bikes and Cross Core models. I do like the direction that bike manufacturers are gravitating towards. ie lighter models with more compact motors/ higher torque specs. It will be interesting to see where this new motor will show up on other makes/models outside of Yamaha’s own house brand. Giant has certainly made it clear that it’s sticking with Yamaha but who’s to know for certain.

 

[Captain Slow]

I agree, it would be nice to have updated batteries.

I like the trend of smaller and lighter motors.