Removing Bionx 20mph speed limit

"The instructions are:
Press and hold the mode and chrono buttons for about three seconds
The display should show four zeros. Use the a-key to change the first numeral to a 3.
Use the mode key to get to the next numeral.
Repeat until the code entered his 3773. At this point, the display should show Max alternating with Speed on the LCD. The number displayed should be 1. Use the g-key to change this to a zero. Use the mode key to get out of the menu. Your maximum speed problems should be a thing of the past."

Thanks for all the valuable information. I'm glad I found this place. Anyhow, I have a new system, and tried to remove the 20mph limit. When I pressed the "mode + chrono" buttons, a "lock" icon appeared. Then, I pressed 'any key' and the four zeros appeared. I then entered "3773" and the 'lock' icon reappeared. I'm not sure what that 'lock' icon is for. I really can't tell if the 20mph limit was removed or not. Any ideas?
Cheers

Morning All, a wannabe electro-rider here !! Great info thread, many thanks to all.

Soooo can you or can't you disable the top speed on new Bionx systems i.e systems that are currently for sale:

2008 250w -
2008 350w -
2008 500w -

I am going to go for a 350w if I can remove top speed or 500w if I can't... I live in Switzerland so hills are an ever present issue !!

Any answers much appreciated.

Sutski

Dave, I just called my BionX dealer and as far as he knows there is no lock on the controller that was not there before. He says the other guy must be somehow punching in the alarm lock. Has he set and changed the alarm lock pin from 0000 to his own personal pin? I think he might be pushing mode and A+(this gives him the padlock icon), somewhere at a time when he does not want it. My guy says the lock icon is still only for the alarm system. He might want to check the manual again on page 16 and 17 and just start over on it. The only other explanation is that somehow his controller has a glitch and it is not responding correctly to the entered code numbers.
JDJ

Hello Sutsky,

if you live in a mountain area you have no choice: 350W is the only one!

I live in Italy, on the Alps. Just by riding in my village where we have also slopes of 25% I use the full power of 350W. When I ride at 15 km/h on a steep hill the Bionx indicator shows "full power", and 350W engine is the one with the greater torque, so you really have no choice...

About the speed limit: I don't know if in my kit (bought in 2008) it is possible to remove it, but I'd say I even don't need it, if you live in a mountain area you don't need to go faster than 32 km/h uphill, so in practice I almost never hit the limit when pedaling (I hit it downhill, but there I am using the regeneration).

If you travel a lot on flat ground I agree that the limit is annoying, because there is a speed wall at 32 km/h.

But it depends: if you don't have flat ground, removing the speed limiter is just a theoretical question.

Hope this helps.

Hi Sutsky;
I bought 2 BionX units in 2008,(the last one in Sep) and DaveW's instructions on how to disable upper speed limiter are still correct and current. Also, you are correct that the 350 has higher torque than the 500. The 500 was put out originally in California to respond to their slightly higher permitted speeds for e-bikes but it is only an advantage on fairly level streets.
WE have been really happy with the performance of our 2 units and we are really looking forward to using them all winter in Florida on the "Rails to Trails" paved bikeways all over Florida. If you have never checked any of these out, I really recommend going to the Rails to Trails Conservancy site and the Florida Green Ways sites. I was in Flordia on business 2 weeks ago and had a chance to look at the "Withlacootchee State Trail" a 49 mile paved over railway line from Dunnellon to Trilby and I can hardly wait to get on it and the General James Van Fleet (30 miles) out thru the swamps and woodlands with nothing but bikes and walkers or rollerbladers on them. Here in Canada, we are so far behind the trend in this stuff. The Rails to Trails Conservancy has 13,935 miles of trails in the US alone.
Have a great day riding,
JDJ

Hey JDJ, Thanks! I will be checking out some Swiss mountain trails soon now as well !!!

I got this:

http://www.greenspeed.us/bionx_montague_swiss_bike.htm

Montague Swiss Bike Bionx PL350

WARNING:

BEFORE YOU PLUG IN YOUR CHARGER, ADJUST THE LITTLE MANUAL SWITCH TO 230 (IF YOU ARE IN EUROPE) !!!!

:o(

I guess you live and you learn eh ! As my brother says, "...Read the Instructions!

Got a new one downtown afterwork though so all good. First impressions are nothing short of incredulous. It is a really top system. Admittedly only did 10kms afterwork, and 10kms at lunch though...haha...never said that before !!

Will post again in a while as to reliability etc. I put a fat tyre on the front and added some lighting...also bought some bodyarmour and a full frontal helmet :o) ...Hey, these mountains ain't soft...

Service from Kevin at www.greenspeed.us from Electric Cyclery in Laguna Beach was excellent by the way. Bike was in stock, I paid with paypal, it was shipped next day, arrived 4 working days later. Quality. Shipping was $550ish I think.

oh yes, by the way, did I mention:

WARNING:

BEFORE YOU PLUG IN YOUR CHARGER, ADJUST THE LITTLE MANUAL SWITCH TO 230 (IF YOU ARE IN EUROPE) !!!!

WARNING:

BEFORE YOU PLUG IN YOUR CHARGER, ADJUST THE LITTLE MANUAL SWITCH TO 230 (IF YOU ARE IN EUROPE) !!!!

Thanks for some great info so far folks, keep adding your experiences and tips !! Cheers !

sutski

Morning !!

Had a great ride to station this morning. 3773 worked fine and I am now whooshing around at 37km/h on the flat. Nice.

Not nice though was as I came into the train station, gliding just on throttle, I got a fairly large clunk, somewhat like a car when that slips out of gear, and then I lost all power, both from throttle and pedal assist and although the controller is on and shows battery strength, no speed or new mileage is registering even when pedalling...meaning I had to cycle to work old school style....now I know why I never cycled to work before....

Any suggestions ? I have of course unplugged, switched off, reconnected etc...

I keep seeing reference to the really important rear "notch" alignment, what is this please ??

Thanks !

sutski

UPDATE:

Problem solved. I put a kickstand on the back frame and this had made the wires I looped around it too short (underneath the neoprene covering near the motor) and they had become unplugged. I also did a forum search for the dreaded notch alignment issue and I have now found the thread about it.

Panic over and happy days once again ! Cheers !!

hi sutski,
I also live in switzerland. I 'ave had a 5oo HS for almost 6 month now. 2500 km and no problem so far. The 500HS is not as powerfull as the 350 so if you really are in a mountain region, I would go for the 350. Also, I think the 350 should have a better autonomy than the 500. I do 35-40 km per charge, using mostly 1 or 2 assitance, so this is not fantastic... but enough to get me to work without smelling like a pig !
gruetzy

macnobili

Hoi Macnobili! I am off the road at the mo as I need to go to strassenvehkehrsamt and get a moffashein ??!! i.e register it as a scooter at the DVLA!...Aaaaarggghhhh.....which means more than the obligatory 8chf bike insurance for sure! I called them and they said if it is 250w and 25kmh max and no throttle then it's still ok as a bike, mine is 350w, 35kmh and has a throttle :) going in tomoz to battle the redtape...

Hmmmmm, If I have the wiring & a controller on 3 different bike frames and just swap the battery/motor wheel between different bikes depending on my ride of the day, (e.g folding commute, or on my offroad downhiller) will i have to register all three bikes or is it the motor/battery I can license as realistically I can only use one at a time....hohum

Cheers!

sutski

P.S I just got a call from electro-shop and they fixed the charger. Nice.

Hmmmmm the electric bike laws in switzerland are pathetic!!! I was right, 250w/25kmh and no throttle are the rules to offcially keeping it a "bike". I told him he is going to be seeing a lot more of these kits and a new category was needed, especially as I want to change it between frames...."sure mate we will just make one right away"...not.....Unfortunately, you cannot even register it as a scooter either as a scooter need indicators, a fixed motor, and a host of other things a bike doesn't have....

In short, I have ended up re-limiting the max speed to 25km/h to stay legal, and I am now trying to switch off the throttle so I don't have to buy another controller with no throttle.... Is there a code for that ? I will of course only then use it when off-road ;)

P.S The charger being fixed cost 40chf....£15...so I have one at work now too :)

Hi DaveW,

I have just taken delivery of the 2009 PL350, and Bionx have made some changes, although the 3773 code is still accessible via the command console, toggling between 0 and 1 now makes no difference to the 20 MPH speed limit. Moreover, Bionx have instigated a new software control formula that Begins to limit the the available power assist going to the back wheel from about about 15 MPH onwards, and from here it drops off exponentially. My estimations (found via a observing the power bars on the console and the effort required by my legs)are as follows:

16 mph - 90%
17 mph - 75%
18 mph - 30%
19 mph - 05%
20 mph - 0 %

Speaking personally, this has made my Bionx next to useless when compared to the older PL350 (my buddies bike). My typical cruising speed for my commute (no power assist)is around 18 - 22 MPH, which happens to be right in the middle of the reduced or zero electric assist. I'm finding that for around 75% of my time spent riding the Bionx, I am getting not assist from it, but it gets worse, because of the added weight and drag (boinx can't freewheel) the darn thing actually gives me a slower time into work than with out it. So folks, has anyone got a crack for the 2009 bionx yet?

Regards,

Max

Dear Max,

I really can understand your anger about the new software!!
I can´t understand why they did it!
Gaining I little bit more range is no argument for me!

I am from germany and my concern is that BionX could have done the same to the european 25 km/h-version. I have already postet a thread in a german forum and i hope to get some information.

Hi Fellow Voltage Folk,

I had a long conversation with Alex at Bionx today, where I voiced many of my issues regarding the 09 Bionx. He was very sympathetic to my concerns, many of which he suggested were caused by altering the 3773 code on the command console to turn off the 32km/s restriction. Where this would have worked on the pre-09 PL350, there is little point attempting it on the post-09 version since it makes no difference to the max speed, however, it could potentially cause your system to misbehave in a number of ways, as I have explained in my previous messages.

I have to admit, (sorry Bionx), maybe I was a little too quick off the gun to be so critical of Bionx so fast, however, I had just spent a ton of money and wasn't getting what I expected for it. Alex, has promised me now that he'll work through my issues to my satisfaction. Cool....and I'll keep you updated.

Therefore, I'm now going to switch my code back to "1" (3773 - mode) this weekend, I have a 60kms ride on Saturday, I'll see if this clears up the auto assist problems and high speed re-gen (braking)coming on.

Of course, I chose the Bionx system after much research, and many of the good points are still very relevant, light weight, great user interface, high quality of manufacture, seamless integration (it still feels like a bicycle to ride) and ease of use are still very much true. It also "kicks ass" off the line and climbs hill with ease, if we can sort out the the way it reduces power in the 25 - 31 km/s zone (new software code maybe?), plus, and I'm hoping that the other issues go away with the speed code re-set to the factory setting, I still think that this can potentially be a great product.

Cheers,

Max

Yes, please, keep us updated!

I'd like to remind those who are having difficulty with the limiter, that you can thwart the system by lying about the wheel size.

If you tell the system your wheel is 5/8 it's true size, the computer will allow it to go 8/5 the actual revs required to go 32km/h. When the computer thinks it is going 32km/h, it will actually be going 32MPH. If you set the system to kilometres and pretend it is miles, you'll beat the limiter (but not the mechanical limitations of the system).

This cheat is proven and is easy. BionX cannot stop you from doing this unless they install a different firmware set for each wheel size and lock it down.

FWIW: I mentioned this trick earlier in this topic (a year ago) and got the setting backwards in my description.

I jist ordered one of these kits, i need to know if is less speed before the 20 limit now.

I have just installed the '09 kit to my bike and i can easily do the 32Kph on the flat. The speed check was against my Garmin GPS training watch... I only had time for 3K ride... Tomorrow i might get chance for a proper ride, Monday for sure... I'll post my findings then with a full GPS report for Bionx vs Human power on the same route,

The power band seemed very smooth and the cut in and out wasn't noticeable for me... but again i need more time to be 100% on the behaviour.

Here in Germany some owners of the new 2009-BionX-kit (firmware 3.xx?) have reported that the code 3773 (to make the System work beyond 25 km/h) doen´t work anymore. When they enter the code 3773 the console always switches back to the main menu. Does anybody know the solution for this problem? Maybe new codes to enter?

Question: I have the v3.4 software, and can't unlock it. Can I change the controller (on the handlebars) with one that has an older firmware version (3.2 allows 3771=0) and solve the unlocking problem?

Any luck with changing the wheel size?

On this page...

http://www.lightfootcycles.com/bionxprogram.php

the following statement seems to imply that wheel size resetting won't work...

"3771: Set wheel size (20" = #1596; 26" = #2075) Note: hubs hardwired for diameter, can't cheat"

Hi everyone

I've been lurking around for quite some times, special thanks to Davew for this great topic.

As maxrevs pointed out the 3773 code still works, but doesn't do much on the newer 2009 releases of BionX.

The first thing i did when i got my kit 3 months ago was to remove the limiter, by doing so I was able to go faster than the max 25km/h speed.
However as maxrevs pointed out, the rest of the way is on your own power, which is still great!, because now I know i can maintain speed of 32km/h on flats on my own power with an extra heavy + parachute speed dragging bike (using panniers + fat tires)

I commute aprox 45km each way, a round trip is 90km a day, pretty much the same as the guy up there that was doing 30miles a day

after 3 month of use and now coming from experience, i can say the new software is not as bad as people believe it to be.

I wanted an e-bike that rides and feels like a bike, and not an electric-Motorcycle as some people seems to desire.
If that is the case i'd have gone with one of those crystaline system with a huge LiFePod4 battery and stuff like that, but weighting it at insane sizes, and ugly looking bike which you wont be able to bike if the battery system ever dies out.

at least with the BionX system if it ever dies completely (it happened to me once, because i yanked out the wire by accident during a ride), you can easily ride home at your own power.

- The Plus side of using the new software is that you are more aware of how fast you can go on your own.
- Saves battery longer rides, i can do the 90Km round trip on 1 charge, if i keep it easy on A1 or A2
- it helps you tone your muscle, when you ride back on a normal bike, they feel feather light and you can go really fast
- you sweat less in summer, or no sweat at all during the nicer days. On a normal bike you'll be sweating to reach the same speed.
- you get up to cruising speed faster without wasting too much effort. thus sweating less.
- can go on for longer rides without worrying of needing a recharge or another battery pack.
- easily go up any steep hills.
- it helps you train arms and back muscles, after a couple of weeks of lifting the bike up and down stairs, 55lbs seems a lot lighter than it used to be :D
- great build in computer!!! in fact i'm addicted to it, i can't seem to find other computer for normal bikes that works this good.
- good for long treks outdoors
- etc.

- The Cons... the system still feels like a drag after you reach high speed past 35km/h
- it seems to kicks in some automatic breaker after you hit 50km/h the motor always engages to slow you down, when going very steep down hills where normal bikes could easily reach 70km/h
- it's heavy
- on regular size bikes frames it only fits well on 17" (medium) sizes, if you want to set the battery pack on the triangle water bottle cage area.
I had to rig something up on my own since i ordered a 15" bike, at least now i can snug fit the battery in without any fastening.
- slow
- it has a safety breaker that kits in when you hit 50km/h

... that's it can't think of any wrong about it.

It'll be nice to be able to compare it to the order systems, and see if i can gain any benefit from using the old software, other than draining the battery faster by doing the same thing i can do on my own transparently.

That means from what i've read seems like you guys were able to stay on the throttle on and keep it past 31km even when it was suppose to only be limited to 25Km.

I can keep my throttle always on even now, but i see no significant benefit on my pedalling after i hit 35km/h with or without the assist.

in fact as maxrevs pointed out, the faster you go the less assist you get, whenever i'm past 30Km/h the bars is at Zero, even if i manually engage the motor with the throttle i do not feel any faster.

It'll be nice if i can go to 40Km/h as i know by hitting 50Km/h it triggers some sort of build in safety system in the system, and it engages the engine breaking.
(any suggestion on getting to 40Km/h? i have a pretty much stock 08 Dahon Matrix chain system FSA Dynadrive 48/38/28T, with a 11-32 freewheel, it was originally a 11-32 cassette)

Can i expect any speed increase going for a higher crank like the ones used on my 08 Dahon Mu SL that uses some 56T or something like that (i'm not very technical on bike language)

It'll be nice if we could disable that safety system, as i'd like to take advantage of those looooooooong downhills and get those 70km/h top speed like a regular bike can do.
One of the major reason why i went for a bike with Disc brake system, else i'd have slapped the BionX PL350 on my 08 Mu SL.

I'm tempted to get the PL500 for the Matrix, and re-spoke the PL350 hub for my Mu SL.

Now that i'm more familiar with my own bike, I'll start playing around with changing all those custom settings and see if it makes things better or worse :p

Am i doing somthing wrong, the only code that works is 3771 which then takes me through wheel size then km or mph then screen says 24KMH nothing adjustable next screen regen breaking amount max 64% ?. But any other code does nothing but return to the main screen after pressing mode on last digit is this normal cause am abit lost thanks :)

Did you follow DaveW's procedure in the first post on this thread - including using the G-key - before pressing Mode to finish?

whats the code to derestrict it i read on another forum someone had it not stop assisting at any speed.

Just buy a male xlr and run another pack of same voltage in parallel with your bionx pack ....it will triple your distance.

I can't turn off the speed limit in Menue 3771 either. Seems fixed in the ROM of the controler as 25km/h Hi-Speed ON. Solution to the problem, that works for me, is to divide the mm. circumference of the motored wheel by 1.6 and enter it into Menue 3771. Keep Menue 2001 in KM. Digits on speedometer will now read out in mph even though units are in km. Your system thinks it is now going 36 km/hr but it's now going 36 mph. Don't know why this works but it does on my PL500 Rev. 4.0 and eliminated the 25km/h speed limit. Give it a try!

I can't turn off the speed limit in Menue 3771 either. Seems fixed in the ROM of the controler as 25km/h Hi-Speed ON. Solution to the problem, that works for me, is to divide the mm. circumference of the motored wheel by 1.6 and enter it into Menue 3771. Keep Menue 2001 in KM. Digits on speedometer will now read out in mph even though units are in km. Your system thinks it is now going 36 km/hr but it's now going 36 mph. Don't know why this works but it does on my PL500 Rev. 4.0 and eliminated the 26km/h speed limit. Give it a try!