I purchased a used Giant Suede E for my wife and it appears to have a problem. When you attempt to ride it, there is a resistance in the front wheel that almost feels like you are riding with the front brake applied and it sort of shudders a bit. The front wheel has been replaced (which is where the motor is ) and the battery is fully charged. When you attempt to ride it, the resistance is constant and then the LED lights on the ON/OFF switch that indicate the amount of battery charge will blink then shut off after approx 3 to 5 minutes ( which according to the owners manual means it has overheated). The odd thing about it is that if you unplug the motor, the front wheel turns as it should. Does anyone have an idea what the issue might be or how I can diagnose the problem... This is the first electric bike of any kind that I have owned so my knowledge is very limited. My electrical knowledge is also relatively basic... I would be grateful for anyones input and help.. Thanks
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It sounds as if you have more than one problem. Did you ride the bike before you bought it? I'm sure you did, and did it behave properly then? From the indicators, it sounds as if the battery has very little capacity to start with. Either that or something is wrong in the hookup to the hub motor, and it's draining the battery quickly enough to trigger the electronic cutoff, the safeguard that prevents further drain of a depleted battery. I rode a Suede E yesterday, one with a practically dead battery, and it seems to have little more resistance in riding than a standard bike. I think it would be virtually impossible to install the hub motor backward, but that, and a nearly flat battery, would produce the symptoms you describe. There might be just enough power in the battery to try to spin the wheel (backward in this case) and that would produce a braking effect as well as stall the motor and trigger the electronic cutoff. Read the info on this page for more: http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3640-quotshudderingquot-hub-motor