Macscooter's blog

I took my scooter out on the open road for the first time today. I was pleased with its performance.
It maintained a top end of 55kph/35mph and was not affected much by the head-wind. No severe inclines on this route so I don't know how that would affected performance. I only road about 10k/6.25miles but the battery was not particularly depleted. I still got areading of 40V on the meter.

While trying to figure out why my battery pack wouldn't charge, I opened up the cases that hold two 12V cells each. I discovered that the cheap plastic dividers that were supposed to separate the top and bottom cells were completely smash so the top battey was sitting right down on the leads from the bottom battery. It didn't look good to me so I made a separator out a piece og 3/8" ply, 3"X3" and taped to the tops of the bottom bateries so the leads were not in contact with the batteries above. I don't know if it made any real difference but it's something that you might want to try.

For all you BE500 owners who are complaining about lack of power. I'm not trying to brag and I have no idea how to "soup up" one of these bikes. Once I got my battery properly charged, I'm now scooting along at 25mph/40kph. I only weigh about 150lbs but I'm not losing too much speed on the grades either. So take comfort. There is hope for these bikes afterall.

Mark,
I had to go get myself a voltmeter in order to repond to your question. I have checked the battery pack just as the charger shuts down and it shows 45-50V. I guess that's about right. It seems to be consistent in that range.

I discovered that a lot of people have had trouble with the BE 500 charger not turning off with the result that the batteries got fried.
Mine wouldn't turn off either. I know nothing about electronics but took the cover off the charger to take a look. I discovered two little phillips screw heads. I thought they must adjust something. I fiddled with them and discovered that by turning one of them slightly, I could get the charger to shut off. Maybe an answer.</>

Just purchased a Baja Motorsports BE 500. I have noticed a lot of complaints about charging the batteries. I discovered, after trying unsuccessfully to recharge mine, that there is a Canadian version of the owners' manual onlne. It is almost identicle to the US version but it says,"make sure the MASTER SWITCH is turned ON when charging". This is the reverse of what it says in my manual. I tried it and the batteries immediately started to charge. Just thought I'd pass that on. I don't know how that important detail was overlooked. I hope it helps you out.