Dartmoor killed my bike

[Dawnrazor]

I took my son Kane (15) out for a ride on Dartmoor at the weekend. I was on my KTM Lycan 274 and he was riding my very first ebike - a Gepida Asgard. Both Bosch, with 500w batteries (The gepida has now covered 2400 miles). The trouble with Dartmoor (if you've never ridden there before) is that its really hard to gauge what the tracks will be like. As we've had little rain the usual bogs that you can disappear into have gone but the boulder fields remain. We started at Hexworthy bridge and climbed the hill, then headed out towards the 'Crock of Gold'. Big drop offs and steps made it tricky going but fun. My son struggled a bit with the rock steps not having the upper body strength to keep lifting the front wheel and I think he actually pulled a muscle in his stomach. The route gets even more tricky before you get onto a long climb up towards 'Holming Beam'. At this point I decided to cut the route short as the bridleway out across 'Black Dunghill' looked as gnarly as everything else we had ridden and Kane look quite dejected. We did a bit of road through 'Two Bridges' before turning into the woods at 'Bellever Tor'. This was great riding until we tried to find the bridleways heading back towards Hexworthy. One they were non existant (I use viewranger which is very accurate - and there were no sign of the tracks on the ground) and two - my bike switched itself off! I carry a spare powertube battery so changed it over with no joy. I tried everything else I could think off, removing the display, checking the sensor but it was well and truly dead. So the final 3 miles back to the van were unpowered. Ouch. At least my son got to overtake me and laugh. Total distance was 21 miles and approx 2000ft of climbing, but its the terrain that saps the battery. I used 60% before the bike died. Kane used only 40% but he weighs the same as one of my legs.

Dartmoor is a great place to ride and there is a huge variety of tracks and trails just make sure you have all the gear if you tackle the open moors.

My KTM will still not switch on so is booked in on Wednesday. I'll update on the diagnosis in case anyone experiences the same. Just glad I was close to the van

 

[SteveVentoux]

Sorry to hear about the bike, hope you get it sorted. Never ridden Dartmoor, sounds pretty challenging, perfect weather to give it a try I guess!

Now how do I encourage my 12 year old son to come out and ride with me, offered him an afternoon out at Swinley on Saturday but turned me down

 

[Dawnrazor]

Sorry to hear about the bike, hope you get it sorted. Never ridden Dartmoor, sounds pretty challenging, perfect weather to give it a try I guess!

Now how do I encourage my 12 year old son to come out and ride with me, offered him an afternoon out at Swinley on Saturday but turned me down

Cheers Steve. Yes its a cool place to ride. Pick up my new bike tomorrow so no hurry for the KTM - I bribe my son with pizza!!

 

[Doomanic]

Now how do I encourage my 12 year old son to come out and ride with me, offered him an afternoon out at Swinley on Saturday but turned me down

1. Did you offer to hire him an eBike or let him ride yours, or did you expect to swan round on your moped while he slogs his guts out trying to keep up?

2. He's 12. You own his arse, just tell him he's going.

 

[lightning]

So what was the fault with the KTM in the end then?

 

[Dawnrazor]

So what was the fault with the KTM in the end then?

Faulty Head unit - had it replaced under warranty

 

[Olof Bike Adventures]

Didn't understand a thing when I first read the post, I thought you were talking about the bike brand Dartmoor! ? (Have a Dartmoor Cody)

Seems like a very nice place to ride!