Chipping E bike

bikeit65

Mate has a Trek Ebike and is thinking about getting it chipped, anyone know how much the battery will decrease?

Munsford0

Not quite as much as the warranty would decrease...

kingstongraham

There must be a motorbike forum to ask about this on.

photonic69

I've been to Chipping Sodbury and Chipping Norton....

I'd ask at a bike shop that sells eBikes but obvs NOT the one you bought it from. I know a few people in the club with road ebikes that have them chipped just so they can keep up with the pace of the group. All the 'chip' does is to fool the speed sensor it is going half the speed it is so the limiter doesn't kick in.

veronese68

Having ridden a Lime bike I can see the appeal in having one chipped so it will do about 22 rather than 15mph, being able to keep up with traffic in a 20 limit seems reasonable. The standard format gets you to 15 really quickly then to go any faster you're battling increased weight and drag. A non electric bike is much easier at those speeds. But I'd expect it to half the battery life.
As for those ridiculous things lots of deliveroo type riders are on doing 30 without pedaling and huge batteries, they really are motorbikes.
The problem with any of these is you're on something faster and heavier than a bicycle, but only have bicycle brakes.

PMark

Running the motor at a higher speed will cause it to drain quicker, so I assume you are going to recharging it more often, which will shorten the life of the battery. But unless you are also messing with the voltages (so it develops more power than it was designed for), it shouldn't break the bike. As to how much, it all depends on how much you ride it.

Personally batteries are the main reason I won't buy an ebike with a European motor (even though Bosch generally make the best ones), they are all restricted so you have to buy their batteries You can't just replace the cells which saves a lot of money and cuts down on waste.

bikeit65

Guys anyone know what a speed box is for?

shirley_basso

If you have an LiPo battery and increase the draw from the motor by overriding the software, you can damage the battery quite badly, quite quickly.

daniel_b

My partner has a mahoosive cargo bike with a huge box on the front, and it has two batteries and a bosch motor - I've yet to ride it though.

It has a speed sensor on the rear stay, and a magnet on the rear wheel - it's that simple.

The way to 'chip' it is to by a new magnet, and stick it, or cable tie it to the outside of the crank arm, then move the sensor from it's position on the rear stay to one where it can pick up the magnet on the crank arm instead - hey presto, it takes the crank revolutions as being those of the wheel instead.

Having said all that, she won't let me try it out :-(

To my mind the 15mph limit is ridiculous, I can easily travel at 40mph downhill, and 20mph + on the flat, so why not a limiter that allows higher speeds based on the roads you are on, identified via gps location for example.

I'd almost certainly buy an ebike for my commute IF I could travel at 25mph on the flat with some assistance, and it could help propel me up hills with my panniers and rack bag - as it stands my commute is about 1h 20, and I tend to avoid a steep hill as I feel bad about holding up motorists, but if I could use the motor to power me up there at 20mph, I'm not overly be holding anyone up and my journey would both be shorter and quicker.
I think it could easily be an hour or less with motor assistance.

I'd also then be more likely to commute in more times a week, and if I felt tired I could mostly let the motor do the work on the way home, and cruise.

slowmart

Not a lot to go on however

If you have an app on your phone that links to the bikes ecu then you maybe able to relocate your position by using a VPN. If the bike were Chinese and you utilised a Chinese based server the ecu would then limit the bike to the local regulated speed.

This issues remain around battery life for the ride and lifespan of the battery.

If you physically chip the bike and you’re involved in an accident and subsequent claim. In simple terms you are legally fucked. Don’t think the insurance companies are unaware of chipped/modified E bikes, if they can negate a claim, they will and chipping an E bike will probably make the bike an electric motorcycle in law which then requires you to have a helmet, insurance and a license plate. Any doubt and most manufacturers run diagnostic capability which will be able to determine mode of power, turbo/ power/ Eco or whatever and speed including historic data which will indicate beyond reasonable doubt if the E bike is modified.

I’d suggest staying legal until the law catches up with market demand.

A sure way to get pulled by the police is using a throttle on a ebike and propelling yourself up hill without pedalling while holding the throttle open. Bye bye E bike, 6 points in your driving license and a world of pain trying to get insurance for a vehicle there after.

kingstongraham

slowmart said:

A sure way to get pulled by the police is using a throttle on a ebike and propelling yourself up hill without pedalling while holding the throttle open.

I have never seen this happen and I see loads of people on these motorbikes riding like this.