Greetings, everyone.
My wife and I are on our second week as new Daymak Austin (or XB-600) electric bike owners, and we're very happy with our new modes of transportation.
I've been using mine to commute in to the office every day and it's been performing wonderfully. So far, I've saved myself $10.00 in gas by going electric for commute to the office.
If anyone is interested in reading more about my experiences, I've been blogging about them here
Interesting!
Looks like it isn't ~exactly~ an XB-600, but it's just about an identical twin. The batteries are listed as 17AH (the standard for that form factor), and the motor is rated as 500W. The luggage rack has been "tweaked" a bit as well, and I like the red detailing on the wheels.
I was amused by some of the ad lid-a-cher: a "working style throttle control" (That's a load off my mind). A "Climbing Angle 12-15 Degrees." Really? With a human on the seat?
Has anyone come up with the actual Chinese manufacturer?
Does yours have the controller/chain clearance problem I saw? I see you've got the pedals mounted; have you tried them? (Cough, cough.) If you must keep them attached, you might be able to replace the pedals with smaller, "puck type" pedals that would be easier on your ankles if you are pushing it.
Your blog indicates that you found a local supplier; that will be a big help unless you have a LOT of experience with small vehicles. Most US buyers (I deduce) are getting theirs mail-order and "flying blind."
Welcome to the "club."
Thanks! I've been reading and learning alot from the forums here. I'm looking foward to sharing more about our e-bike experiences with the group.
There's a name stamped on the end of one of the handle bars. It says "Wuxing" and there is also some information about Wuxing electric bikes when I Google the name. So I can only assume that this is the actual manufacturer.
As you said, the Austin isn't an exact duplicate of the XB-600. From the reading I've done on the web about these manufacturer's in China, they do "special orders" for many distributors. So, I'm guessing that Daymak's models are made slightly different than other models going to other distributors... just to say that they're different.
On the two bikes we bought, there was no problem with the controller/chain clearance. And yes, I did try using the pedals, but they're not practical at all. ;o) These pedals that are on our bikes can collapse (the plastic part that your foot sits on), making them stick out less. I'll take a photo when I get home this evening.
Although the hills are pretty minor, here on the prairies, all of the inclines I've riden on so far have not slowed the bike down much. There seems to be lots of power to tackle them, although I couldn't tell you what their inclines are at.
The dealer we order through (BMS Power Sports) sells mostly ATVs, but has been dealing for Daymak for several years with good results. We were very comfortable buying from him and he seemed to know about Daymak's products very well. I certainly feel "safer" buying from him than one of the big box stores (Walmart or Canadian Tire) who are selling e-bikes... as they don't support the bikes after purchase. They leave you to contact and deal with the manufacturers yourself (at least from what I've been able to find out).
I also have the same bike, in the same colour, bought from the daymak store at dundas west and bloor in toronto, ive got about 600 miles on mine and have added 20ah of ping lifepo4 batteries to it under the seat.
They're a nice bike, aren't they? We like ours very much.
Actually, when my wife and I bought our bikes, Daymak accidentally sent us dual batteries (we only ordered single batteries). Well, instead of paying to ship the extra batteries back to Daymak, the local dealer (BMS PowerSports) offered them to us at a much reduced price. It worked out pretty nicely, actually.
So we keep the extra batteries as backups.
My understanding of the Chinese manufacturing system is that there are a lot of parallel companies making components. "Taizhou Huangyan Wuxing Motorcycles Co., Ltd." seems to be primarily an plastic parts manufacturer, though I suspect that they also assemble full scooters.
Here are photos of the collapsible pedals....
are your pedals totally useless? mine fall off as soon as i try to pedal the bike, or back up the bike
Well, they don't fall off when I use them. But, that's not to say that they're all that practical to use. I find them to be too far apart and too far back to be used comfortably.
You do need to give them a good "smack" when putting them on, so maybe yours are falling off because they are not quite in place. Possibly?
There's also a ball detent, like a socket wrench retainer. They probably hold better if the detent ball is on the side of the crank with the hole.
I am not sure of the laws in your location, but if you are happy with the way the bikes perform now, I am sure you would LOVE them with some modifications. The "shunt" mod REALLY improves performance and acceleration, and if you can, adding a 5th battery for the approximate 5mph increase is a nice easy mod to pull off.
These mods are very useful if you have to be able to keep up with the flow of traffic for safety reasons etc. as long as it is still legally an e bike.
PS. the shunt mod does NOT change its classification, only the 5th battery would do that w/o having the limiter engaged.
Dave ; Tennessee
XB-600.
I also have the austin and with the solar panel my bike is in black and white If you ever decide to get the solar panel don't go over any bumps mine flew right off..