Hi all,

I'm still hunting, and still haven't made a purchase yet.

I'm thinking I may buy a used ebike this year, hope to get a couple years out of it before I bite the bullet and buy something newer.

If I'm buying a used bike, what do I need to look for? I'm not very technical/electrical.

One I'm hoping to look at says the speedo is broken (presumably that means spedometer) but considering it can't do more than 32 clicks, I presume that's liveable. Horn is also broken but seller notes it can be replaced cheaply at Canadian Tire. (Again, I wouldn't know how to do that).

What are the obvious things I could be looking out for?

Tracy

Hi Tracy

One I'm hoping to look at says the speedo is broken (presumably that means spedometer) but considering it can't do more than 32 clicks, I presume that's liveable.

...and there is no requirement under Ontario law that requires a speedo(meter) on ebikes anyway... Chances are that "broken" speedometer is just a loose wire/connection somewhere.

Horn is also broken but seller notes it can be replaced cheaply at Canadian Tire. (Again, I wouldn't know how to do that).

Ya can just add a $5 bicycle bell to conform to the law. That "broken" horn is probably (again) just a loose or broken wire or switch.

What are the obvious things I could be looking out for?
Tracy

I wonder why the seller is selling? Anywhooo... most EVs are sold with tired batteries. And you don't know how they have been treated either. Expect to replace the battery pack in the not-too-distant future. The nice thing about little EVs is that their systems are not complicated at all... The mechanicals are mostly just "bicycle technology", and the electrics are just wires and switches and other bits like lightbulbs. They're really pretty low tech.

If you know the make of the vehicle, look up a local dealer and tell the person selling the ebike that you will buy conditional on taking the ebike to the local dealer and getting a (reasonably) clean bill of health report from the dealer? Just a thought.

Tell us watt the make and model is please.

Cheers
Lock

Thanks Lock,

It's a Daymak Gatto. I had taken one for a test-drive in the spring, at the Daymak store, and I quite liked it. I liked the scooter styling.

The only draw backs (if I recall correctly) was the weight limit, and the battery pack (I think) was not removable.

Weight limit was 260 lbs. While I'm just under 140, if I were to put one of my daughter's on the back (just under 120) I think it was too taxing for the machine. Add a bag and you're at the limit. It didn't seem to be obviously built for two, but I'm wondering how many times I'd actually take a daughter somewhere. Most of the time, it'd just be me.

Battery pack: Seller says the battery is new this year. He says the bike is two years old. Not sure why he's selling. We're playing phone tag right now. The guy at Daymak told me that I'd have to store it inside, in a heated area over the winter. This doesn't sound overly appealing to me - hauling it into my basement for the winter. I don't have a lot of room to put it inside. I have an outdoor (unheated) shed, but the fella at Daymak said it was a bad idea.

Any more thoughts?
Tracy

While I did not buy it at Daymak, I own one almost identical to this. It is also essentially the same bike sold by Mobility Unlimited ( http://www.mobilityun...) as the Volare. This is my 4th summer with it and overall, I have been quite pleased:

My comments:

• This is a retrofitted Gas scooter - a Chinese knock-off of the Yamaha Vino 50 gas scooter
  The good of this is that it is quite rugged and designed to run (and stop with disc brakes up front) at speeds well above 32kmh
  
• I would not be concerned about the weight limitation of 260lbs
  
• There are 2 bad things about this design:
  
  
  
  • The batteries are "built-in" to the bike and you pretty much have to disassemble it to change them. I have done it and, for an amateur it's a 2-3 hr job. There are actually 2 batts under the seat near the back and 2 under the floor near the front. However, having them placed like this gives good weight distribution.
    This is where leaving the bike outside in winter means leaving the batteries outside (unless you want to do the disassembly). This is not ideal, but I have done it.
    
  • Riding with pedals is almost not feasible. Certainly using them is impractical, but even having them attached can be a problem when turning corners. They are too close to the ground (part of the retrofit issue).
    
  
  
• Re the speedometer, it is probably a cable..loose or broken..no big deal.
  
• You can buy a new 12V horn for about $10.00 if this one is broken. Not hard to replace.
  
• It is very hard to know how fresh the batteries are. Does the seller have a a receipt that would show when he bought them?
  

All in all, if you like this style, it is a good bike. Just be sure the savings from getting a used one are worth the risks. As the summer moves on, the dealers may be more inclined to offer discounts on new ones.

Hi Tracy,

I myself bought a second hand ebike scooter about a year ago. I just wanted to try the bikes out and tinker with them. So when I bought it I wasn't really thinking of doing anything serious with it. But it became my main mode of transportation within a few days on me owning it.

I'm going to list so thing from my own experience with my bike. Make sure that peddles work and are attached. Some people take the whole thing out. On mine I had to reattach the peddles. Reason to look out for this is that some people have been pulled over by police to verify that the peddles do work.

Then there's the tires. They wear out over time and need to be replaced. A worn out tire can be a nightmare in slick conditions. I took a tumble a few months back. I wasn't seriously hurt but it made me realize that good tires are important.

My speedometer and odometer don't work anymore either. They did when I first got it. But to be honest I didn't consider fixing it. My display show 0 to 50KM, now when I was going 30KM the needle would be at 50. I do miss the odometer as it would help me judge my range. But the probable cause here is a broken speedo cable. Not a serious issue.

You say your horn doesn't work. Most likely a loose wire. Which should be too overly difficult to fix.

The Daymak dealer is right. The batteries are indeed not removable...actually technically they are removable...but it's tricky. The batteries are under the seat bucket and you'd need to remove that part of the bike to get at them.

The Daymak Gatto and the Mobility Unlimited Volare are identical. Not sure if they're the same model but they are similar.

http://www.daymak.com... Gatto
http://www.mobilityun... Volare

One more thing to check is the brakes. Both to see if the bike stops properly and also to make the motor stop. There are little switches in the brake levers that cut power to the motor when the brake are applied. There's can sometimes brake so it's work checking.

That's all I can think of right now.

-Vic

Thanks Lock,
It's a Daymak Gatto. I had taken one for a test-drive in the spring, at the Daymak store, and I quite liked it. I liked the scooter styling.

You should use the search box here to search the old messages for the word "Daymak"...

The only draw backs (if I recall correctly) was the weight limit, and the battery pack (I think) was not removable.

Unfortunate that the pack is not removeable. This does reduce options for recharging or for storing the pack (only) indoors for the winter.

...Daymak told me that I'd have to store it inside, in a heated area over the winter. This doesn't sound overly appealing to me - hauling it into my basement for the winter. I don't have a lot of room to put it inside. I have an outdoor (unheated) shed, but the fella at Daymak said it was a bad idea.
Any more thoughts?
Tracy

Winter storage outdoors is problematic because a fully charged SLA battery can freeze when the temperature reaches minus 36 degrees Celcius...

OK, waitasec..... Minus THIRTY SIX???

Basically, as a fully charged lead acid battery is discharged, the acid inside is converted to water. Fully discharged and the liquid will be almost all water. And we know that water freezes at zero celsius...

The trick here is just to keep your batteries fully charged when the weather is at freezing and below (unless you know something we don't? That next winter Toronto will see record low temperatures???)

Think of all the cars in Toronto with lead acid starter batteries that are parked ouside all winter long... Only the batts that are tired and run down don't start the car in the morning eh? Would Daymak recommend all car drivers store their starter batteries indoors at night too???

SLA batteries typically will self-discharge at the rate of a few percent a month. Daymak recommends that if their scooter is stored for some length of time that the batts be charged weekly. This means probably if you plugged the scoot in weekly the charger might report the pack fully charged in as little as a few minutes... I'm thinking once a week is a bit "overkill" and that once a month would be fine...

(In fact the rate of self-discharge actually *decreases* as the temperature of the stored battery is lowered.)

Does your unheated shed have electricity? Or could you run a good quality heavy-duty extension cord from the house? The reason why I ask is because you *could* store the Gatto in the "unheated" shed but wrap the part of the scoot that has the batts with a heating pad (!) or shine an infra-red heating lamp on it (!) then put pad or lamp on a heavy-duty outdoor ("Christmas lights") timer so it only switches on for a few hours early in the morning each day, just to keep the chill off things.

Plan B would be to just disassemble the bike enough to remove the batts and store them in your basement. Ya wouldn't need the pad or light at that point, just the regular weekly or ? trickle charges to keep them topped up...

I stored a scoot outdoors some years ago all winter long and rode it most days. No real harm done except when the batts are really cold effective range is greatly reduced...

Lock

"Does your unheated shed have electricity? Or could you run a good quality heavy-duty extension cord from the house? The reason why I ask is because you *could* store the Gatto in the "unheated" shed but wrap the part of the scoot that has the batts with a heating pad (!) or shine an infra-red heating lamp on it (!) then put pad or lamp on a heavy-duty outdoor ("Christmas lights") timer so it only switches on for a few hours early in the morning each day, just to keep the chill off things."

Lock, yes, the shed does have electricity inside. Seems odd to run an electric blanket or heating pad in the shed, BUT, if I could learn how to disassemble the bike enough myself, I think the 2-3 hour investment each season would be worth not having the Gatto compete for space with the washer and dryer ;)

BTW, I did use the search box for Daymak, but it essentially gave me a google-like result, it didn't pull the relevant threads from here.

Really appreciate the discussion!

BTW, I did use the search box for Daymak, but it essentially gave me a google-like result, it didn't pull the relevant threads from here.

Really appreciate the discussion!

That seems a little strange. Try this http://www.ebikerider...

-Vic

BTW, I did use the search box for Daymak, but it essentially gave me a google-like result, it didn't pull the relevant threads from here.
Really appreciate the discussion!

That seems a little strange. Try this http://www.ebikerider...
-Vic

...I'm not surprised. From the Main Page here there is a RED search button that looks for other MeetUp(TM) groups only... From the Main Page ya have to first select "Discussions" then "Message Board" from the drop down menu before a second GREEN search button presents, and it's this second green search button that looks through the messages for this meetup group...

Tracy... It's true, the first time ya disassemble the bike to remove the batts might take an hour or two, but the second time will take ten minutes max.

Ya only have to remove the "whole" pack including the little/short "jumper" wires that will connect the positive from one batt to the negative of the next... These three connecting wires join the four 12V batts together "in series" to make up the 48V system. Watt the "last" wires that connect the first and last battery to the controller look like I do not know but they *may* end in a plug that connects to another plug connected to the wires to the controller, in which case you could remove the batts as a pack with interconnecting wires between each batt still connected PLUS the last two wires to the controller (plug that connects to the plug wired to the wires from the controller)

Then to charge this pack in your basement using your usual 48V charger ya would need to make up a little "thingee"... a plug that plugs into the plug from the charger then either terminates as another plug that mates with the plug from the battery pack OR just two "alligator clips" etc that plug/clip directly to battery #1 and battery #4 in the string of four batts...

Hard to explain! Might have to draw you a picture Like removing the batts, hard the first time but totally simple once you see how it can be done...

Lock

Tracy... It's true, the first time ya disassemble the bike to remove the batts might take an hour or two, but the second time will take ten minutes max.

Ya only have to remove the "whole" pack including the little/short "jumper" wires that will connect the positive from one batt to the negative of the next...

Not to belabour this, perhaps I am just a klutz, but anyone who can do this in 10 mins is a magician. I have done it 3 times and it takes me perhaps 45 mins to disassemble and more to reassemble. You need to remove most of the fairings, the seat and seat bucket, the rack at the back, etc. As with most things, it's easier to take stuff apart than put it back together...especially with Chinese "quality" parts. This bike does not have a "whole pack" with all 4 batteries in it. As mentioned, it has two batteries near the rear behind the seat cavity and another two closer to the front and lower down in the frame (near the controller), joined by a longer set of wires.

As an aside, when I changed my batteries, I actually installed (ie jammed in) a heating pad inder the batts with the power cord coming up thru a hole in the underseat storage. I may use this with a timer as Lock describes this winter.