Hey folks,

Got a question about my Luyuan Condor. Over the past several weeks I've been finding that my top speed, range (battery life), and torque have all seemed to decline, and I'm trying to determine between a few possibilities, which one is the cause. I have noticed that at times the bike is a bit louder than I recall it being before, too.

I recall reading in the Mobility Unlimited manual that the Condor's hub motor requires oil/lubricant to be changed periodically; after the first 300km, and then 3000km or so after that. Can anybody confirm this? I've had the bike since about mid-June, and I ride it every day for an average of at least 10km, so I wouldn't be surprised if I've actually put a good 800-1000km on the motor, possibly a decent amount more.

Where can I get this done, if my dealer doesn't do this? (I need to call and doublecheck, but I thought he told me once that it wasn't necessary...) I don't want to mess with anything that may damage the motor, and I want to make sure the right product is used.

Thanks!

I've actually put a good 800-1000km on the motor...

This is *nothing* for a motor... gearbox maybe. W/September cooler temps, are yer tires still inflated to the max? Mid-June to now, daily, only 100 cycles on the pack so far, and at 10kms each approx., no big deal for the SLA batts in theory... Definitely no dragging brakes?

Lock

Your Condor does have a gearbox and has approximately 100cc of light duty oil in it that needs to be changed once a year. I suggest you get the oil changed next summer. Your Condors oil was changed once during the Condors prep when it was assembled by the E-Bike technician before you bought it. If you bought it in June then I would not worry until next June. The oil can be purchased from any Mobility Unlimited dealer or from other Luyuan dealers such as Blue Avenue or Daymak for around $5.00 for a small bottle of oil which is all you need.

Ken Finch

Thanks Lock and Ken, I'm glad to know I don't necessarily need to change the oil right now. However, how can I be sure that the oil *was* changed at time of assembly? I guess I could simply ask, which I'll be doing this week.

As for the dragging brakes suggestion-- this is a good question, as I do sometimes feel like there's more resistance in the bike than there should be, and always have. However, I would assume this is attributed to the geared motor. I was used to the Ecoped, which had little torque but flew down hills like a banshee, whereas the Condor has much more torque but tends to resist downhill runs a bit more.

I think I'll take the bike in on a day off this week and just have it looked-over, to make sure all is well. I'm still concerned about the reduced battery life more than anything else, although again, this is hopefully just due to the cooler temperatures as of late.

Hi All, I don't ride a Condor, I have a Motorino Xpv, but I had a similar thing recently. I had taken my bike in because my brakes were on the "loose" side and I wasn't sure how to tighten. I have front disk, and a rear drum, and it was the rear that I was able to pull to the handlebar. Anyway, a quick adjustment later and I was on my way. What I didn't realize is that she had overtightened them slightly, and my brakes were dragging some. Long story short, they fixed it up.

Anyway, mine is just a screw adjustment on the rear drum (I haven't learned how to adjust the ABS brake on the front)... I definitely noticed dragging, and lack of acceleration just like you have. Worth a check!! andrea

AgentX,

Any phased electric motor has a bit of resistance to it when power is applied, it is called cogging I believe. It is caused by the interaction between the magnets and the field coils in the phases. The more powerful the motor the more cogging effect because there is more magnets and stronger field coils. The weaker the motor the less cogging effect. That is why the Ecoped 45E had less drag from the motor then your Condor because it has less powerful phases and less or weaker magnets.

As for your brakes, on the front and back drum brakes there is a thumb screw nut for tightening or loosening the brakes, clockwise to tighten the brakes and counter clockwise to loosen the brakes. Works the same way for the front and the rear brakes.

Ken Finch

Makes sense to me.

I've been checking my brakes, and everything seems fine there, I've had to re-tighten them twice (or at least for the left handlebar) but otherwise they seem to be working properly. Perhaps just as an experiment I'll loosen them to see if it does help my acceleration/top speed.

Thanks again guys.

Ackkk! Just for the record, I never said to loosen yer brakes <grin>... But serious about tire pressure! W/the fall temps and cooler pavements, mushy tires can make a huge difference. Make sure at least this is not part of the equation!
tks
loK

Lol, no worries Lock, I was careful. :P

Interestingly, I did adjust my brakes and loosen them up slightly, and the ride home did seem a bit faster with less resistance. However, this could just be my mind playing tricks on me, and the fact that there was practically no wind tonight. I'll have to test it out some more over the next day or two.

Tire pressure is something I haven't checked in a while, but I did squeeze the tires tonight and noticed they had a little more "give" to them than they did before, but only a very slight amount. I'll be filling them up a bit more tonight/tomorrow. I tend to keep them in around the 33-35psi range, although the tires have a 40psi recommended pressure on them. I'm a bit paranoid about overinflating, especially with my weight and the rough roads around here, but perhaps I should put aside that thought and just do it?

So, after further riding and other interesting circumstances, it's looking *very* likely that, as feared a while back, my battery pack is damaged/dying.

I will still be needing to take the bike in to have the pack looked at, but particularly over the past few days I've noticed that my battery's charge is diminishing. Straight off a full charge, as soon as I touch the throttle, the battery meter will dip down by about 1/3, and although it does gradually go back up as I get up to speed, it does not reach full as it used to. I only get about 10-15km or so out of the bike before my battery power drops considerably.

Secondly, my top speed, as mentioned before, has definitely dropped. The ride in to work today was considerably slower than usual, and in high-gear felt like I was riding in low-gear. Where the bike would usually be capable of using up to the 20Ah at full throttle, it was sticking around the 12-15 mark, and when I tested it in low-gear, the meter barely went above 0 even when going up-hill, and on even ground I doubt I was moving faster than 10kph tops. There is definitely something wrong here.

I suppose I should have brought the bike in as soon as the charger issue occurred, might have saved me this trouble.. but nonetheless, I'm a bit discouraged by the problem, as I love this bike and it's my main transportation. Hopefully replacing the battery packs (and likely the charger itself, to be safe) won't cost too much, if they do indeed turn out to be the issue. Man, I'd be willing to shell out the cash for an official LiFePO4 solution if they were viable and available yet. Just not worth it to me until they can be charged onboard...