Since I am slowly approaching the 2000 km mark on my little old (well, 1 3/4 yrs.) E MAX Sport I thought I would give all of you on my favorite forum the heads up what's been going on:
1.) Bike runs as it did when brand new.
2.) Battery range is way down, I guess by now around 9 miles for the most (if I ride it no-compromise, stop and go etc.)
These are the original silicones b.t.w. I just chose to ignore the range and charge it on my 4 household timer routine.
The batts ALWAYS come back into balance that way!
3.) Have gotten lazy in re-tightening screws and polishing the bike, but it doesn't seem to mind (as of yet)
4.) It is still the same fun to ride and the only thing I had to replace was the rear tire back about 6 months ago.
After reading about the Vectrix' horrific track record in initial failures, I can't find the willingness to shell out anything above 4-5 k for a better ride. Am intrigued by the retro-Zapino with LiFePo or whatever they have.
I travel a lot across the US and wherever I go, I see this country caught up in such deep "dinosaurial" thinking and acting on the streets (especially Florida) that I find any significant change within about 10 years to a sustainable infrastructure downright unthinkable, given the incredulous uninformedness of folks out there.
This being said, I know that the US alone could turn this thing around in a new york minute, if the news outlets would cooperate. That's about all you need. Ask any dictator. ;-)
Hoping you all have smooth rides, everlasting battery life and kind drivers around you !
GC,
Thanks for the update. It is a good time for an update on my two e-maxs too.
The first ("his") scooter has 8870 km and saw near daily commuting an errand use for eight months last year. Two of the original silicone batteries went bad at about 4700 km. So, I replaced the whole pack with BB EB20-12's at the start of the riding season last year. The better-condition silicones are still seeing use as "booster" batteries for selectable 60 volt usage, and as spares for the other scooter. The second pack may be getting weak with only 4200 km on it. It may mostly be just be the cool weather, but I ran it for an unknown number of cycles without noticing a bad powercheq balancer, so this may be affecting the battery life.
No other problems, although the cheap front struts got a bit weak, so I changed the oil in them, adjusting the oil quantity for a firmer ride. New Perelli SL20 3.5x10 tires really helped the ride.
The second ("her's") scooter has 2970 km on the same battery pack, although one battery went bad and was replaced with one of the still good batteries from the old battery pack from the other scooter. Range is decreasing a bit. It can't quite make the 20 mile round trip to the food-co-op and back without an opportunity charge. It got the same new tires and strut maintenance.
The second scooter will be the probable candidate for an upgrade to Thundersky LiFePO4 cells. The cells arrive next week. I will provide updates on how this project goes.
Still get the usual mocking as I ride by, and acquaintances are still buying big pickup trucks and SUV's for their 100 mile round-trip commutes.
Paul D.
Pittsburgh, PA
I bought an Emax-Sport motor and the tire is 3.0x10. Did you change the rim to put 3.5x10 tire ?
Jean-François
Jean-François
No, the existing rims work fine. The rear rim even works fine with a tubeless tire.
But, some modifications are needed to the rear fender and rear fork. The fender must be removed from the rear swing arm, and re-attached to the lower and middle battery box corners. The fender bracket is then removed from the swing arm to provide clearance for the tire.
Finally, new holes can be drilled rearward of the existing holes in the brackets that attach the front end of the swing arm to the scooter frame. This moves the swing arm about a cm rearward, and allows just enough additional suspension travel to fix the problem of the tire hitting the fender on bumps.
Great !
In fact i don't need to modify anything because i've placed the motor in replacement of my 750w motor which is mounted with a 3.50x10 tire. I was a little disappointed by the size (and tube type) of the Emax Sport tire but now, i feel better, thank you.
By the way, i have noticed something that could dammage the motor wires : the counter-torque plates of the Sport motor are completely useless !! (At least mine) It only have a round hole but not combined with a rectangular hole which prevents the stator axis from rotating by locking its flat part.
Jean-François
Jean-François
Jean-François,
Bit late a reply, but the things you call "counter-torque plates" are actually intended to be just safety retainers. The hub motor axle should not be rotating under motor torque if the following is observed:
1. The flat-spots machined on the threaded ends of the axle should not be able to rotate when inserted in swing arm drops.
2. The axle nuts should be tightened to 75-85 N-m. Use torque-wrench.
But, as additional insurance against the axle rotation. I also added a slender screw and nut to keep the the drop from being wedged apart by the flat spots on the axle under high motor torque, as shown:
To illustrate :
Left side Emax - Right side my scooter.
The square shape on the right plate matches exactly the flat area on the motor axle and so safely prevents the axle from counter rotating.
That's why i said the original Emax plate is useless with its round shape.
Jean-François