Need help deciding on a reliable motor.

[crsb]

So as stated in a previous post by myself, I’ve gone through 2 Shimano EP8 motors in 315 miles. This has really put me off e-bikes in general, but I just love riding them!

I ride mostly red and black runs, jumps, drops, rock gardens, etc. Everything that rattles a bike around, so part of me thinks this may be the cause of the motor failures. I mainly ride Bike Park Wales (which finished off the last motor at 155 miles).

I want to hear from people who ride similar stuff and what bike and motor they have and if they’ve had any issues or not?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tubby G]

So as stated in a previous post by myself, I’ve gone through 2 Shimano EP8 motors in 315 miles. This has really put me off e-bikes in general, but I just love riding them!

I ride mostly red and black runs, jumps, drops, rock gardens, etc. Everything that rattles a bike around, so part of me thinks this may be the cause of the motor failures. I mainly ride Bike Park Wales (which finished off the last motor at 155 miles).

I want to hear from people who ride similar stuff and what bike and motor they have and if they’ve had any issues or not?

Thanks in advance!

Killed a Bosch motor in the Tweed valley a couple of years ago

Recently had a few days up in Dumfries, Ae Forest, Mabie etc, rocky terrain. Both mine and my partners EP8 motors have died since.

Just bought two leg powered bikes as I’m beginning to think emtb’s just can’t handle the rough stuff! Pedalling up hill without a motor is hard work

 

[VWsurfbum]

Are you pedalling up at BPW or still using the uplift?

 

[yorkshire89]

I'm on my 4th Bosch gen 4 (non smart) motor now. All replaced under warranty.
I ride in all weather but don't let the motor get dunked, and I'm careful washing it.
I still think it's water getting in the motor somehow.

I've bought the Bosch grease so I'm going to pull the crank seals off and top it up every few months to see if that helps.

 

[Paulquattro]

BPW Fanatic here too (no uplift as i bring my own )
My mate runs a Yamaha motor and i run Bosch 2k in and no issues touch wood LOL
I had an e8000 before that and it had 3.5k on the motor and no issues
I think you have just been unlucky but we all experience different things with all sorts of consumer goods in general .

 

[Tubby G]

I'm on my 4th Bosch gen 4 (non smart) motor now. All replaced under warranty.
I ride in all weather but don't let the motor get dunked, and I'm careful washing it.
I still think it's water getting in the motor somehow.

I've bought the Bosch grease so I'm going to pull the crank seals off and top it up every few months to see if that helps.

Have your motors generally died after wet weather or after rough rocky terrain ? It was bone dry & dusty when we were up in Scotland for that bank holiday weekend recently, but it was very wet when my Bosch motor died a couple of years ago

 

[Wiltshire Warrior]

the bearing man fits improved sprag bearings in the levo motors which can be damaged by pedal strikes - Ive got and upgraded 1.3 off him in my HT and it works awesome

 

[yorkshire89]

Have your motors generally died after wet weather or after rough rocky terrain ? It was bone dry & dusty when we were up in Scotland for that bank holiday weekend recently, but it was very wet when my Bosch motor died a couple of years ago

I can't remember the first two but the last one was just after a wet ride. I saw an error 500 come up on one of the last trails but it kept going. After I got it home it would give me errors 500 and 550 on startup and would just shut down.
I remember the first motor wouldn't connect up to Bosch diagnostics at all so they couldn't run a report.
On the last one the Bosch report came back to say short circuit on a current transformer.

I think water is getting to the circuit board but since you can't open the motors up you never find out what the issue is.

Not sure about rough tracks, when I did my euro trip last year I took it down some of the roughest tracks it's seen and it didn't miss a beat. That was on bone dry dusty trails.

If Bosch would let me I'd actually buy a second motor and keep it as a spare so I could just swap it straight out while they investigate. It's always a worry when you've got a big trip planned and want to use the Ebike!

 

[Tubby G]

I can't remember the first two but the last one was just after a wet ride. I saw an error 500 come up on one of the last trails but it kept going. After I got it home it would give me errors 500 and 550 on startup and would just shut down.
I remember the first motor wouldn't connect up to Bosch diagnostics at all so they couldn't run a report.
On the last one the Bosch report came back to say short circuit on a current transformer.

I think water is getting to the circuit board but since you can't open the motors up you never find out what the issue is.

Not sure about rough tracks, when I did my euro trip last year I took it down some of the roughest tracks it's seen and it didn't miss a beat. That was on bone dry dusty trails.

If Bosch would let me I'd actually buy a second motor and keep it as a spare so I could just swap it straight out while they investigate. It's always a worry when you've got a big trip planned and want to use the Ebike!

I’ve got a fairly new (236 miles) Bosch Gen 4 CX motor with a 625W battery up for sale at the moment in the used bike section. It comes attached to a Cube Reaction hardtail but might be a cheaper way to get your hands on a spare motor and battery

 

[yorkshire89]

I’ve got a fairly new (236 miles) Bosch Gen 4 CX motor with a 625W battery up for sale at the moment in the used bike section. It comes attached to a Cube Reaction hardtail but might be a cheaper way to get your hands on a spare motor and battery

That's a really good deal for the bike! Do you know if it's a horizontal or vertical battery?
Ideally I need to buy one with a warranty though, knowing how fast I seem to go through them...

 

[Tubby G]

That's a really good deal for the bike! Do you know if it's a horizontal or vertical battery?
Ideally I need to buy one with a warranty though, knowing how fast I seem to go through them...

Not sure if it’s horizontal or vertical as I’ve only seen the one type, but it clips into the bike by pushing the width of the battery into the frame, if that helps. I was being tongue in cheek when I suggested you buy it for a spare motor, no idea how much 2nd hand Bosch motors go for!

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

My understanding is that when you buy a bosch motor, it will first need to be configured (programmed) for your specific bike by a bosch dealer/LBS which can be done remotely or via USB using your bike's original container (CCF) file created by the bike manufacturer. Motor swapping will most likely require some prior config work.

 

[yorkshire89]

Not sure if it’s horizontal or vertical as I’ve only seen the one type, but it clips into the bike by pushing the width of the battery into the frame, if that helps. I was being tongue in cheek when I suggested you buy it for a spare motor, no idea how much 2nd hand Bosch motors go for!

I thought you were haha. The only difference is the end plates, I have horizontal in mine:

You could just sell me the battery and motor. You could still have a great bike with storage for baguettes and wine

 

[Tubby G]

I thought you were haha. The only difference is the end plates, I have horizontal in mine:
View attachment 115626

You could just sell me the battery and motor. You could still have a great bike with storage for baguettes and wine

Yeah it’s the horizontal battery

I wonder how many Gregg’s sausage rolls it will hold with the battery removed

 

[crsb]

Are you pedalling up at BPW or still using the uplift?

Pedalling

 

[VWsurfbum]

Pedalling

Thats a big ask, just look at how many vans BPW kill going up that hill constantly.

 

[Bones]

Pedalling

You must be mad

 

[cozzy]

Kenevo. I only ride bikeparks and only in the dry. I think that's the key.
Still on the same brose 2.2 after nearly 3 years.

 

[maker]

On 4th Geb 4Bosch after water ingress and a software problem

 

[RJUK]

Does make you wonder why they don't just coat the electronics with the same stuff that they coat the insides of waterproof phones with... Effectively ScotchGuard for electronics...

 

[Truckee Robert]

the bearing man fits improved sprag bearings in the levo motors which can be damaged by pedal strikes - Ive got and upgraded 1.3 off him in my HT and it works awesome

Who is the bearing man and how do I get in touch with him?

 

[maker]

Does make you wonder why they don't just coat the electronics with the same stuff that they coat the insides of waterproof phones with... Effectively ScotchGuard for electronics...

My problem was rusty bearings

 

[Truckee Robert]

I ride enduro/DH in the Lake Tahoe region and race tve Ca enduro series. I love my Yamaha PW3. Racing I use full boost and go as hard as possible, no problems. I ride rough and rugged singletrack using the 5 power modes and often come back with more battery than my buddies. Over 1000mi no issues. Giant is a great value as well.

 

[RJUK]

My problem was rusty bearings

Bearings are often the problem. The bearing man recommended changing them o the Bosch annually to keep everything running nicely. Seems like a good idea to me. And pack a ton of marine grease in there whilst you're at it!

 

[h3rrm]

If Bosch would let me I'd actually buy a second motor and keep it as a spare so I could just swap it straight out while they investigate. It's always a worry when you've got a big trip planned and want to use the Ebike!

One of the reasons why I still ride a rather „old“ Canyon Neuron from 2019 with Shimano E8000, which is prone to torque sensor failure (error e010.

You can get E8000 replacement motors starting at approx. 600€ (I always take a spare motor with me when on holiday) and it is possible to configure the E8000 with the emax software on my laptop and a usb cable by Shimano (fit wheel circumference, angle, region code etc.).

This will btw also work for the Shimano EP8 (but probably not the new version EP801).

 

[Plummet]

2 things that electronics really hate.
Water and heat.

For you guys burning motors, what's the typical ambient temp? Where you ride?

How much elevation do you ride per ride?

How wet is it in average?

Let's, try to determine if a trend emerges.

 

[Bob Orbea Rise]

Dont we all

Mines been fine to be fair fingers crossed touch wood do a dance.

They all have their failures

Brose, two Levo in our group. 5 motors between them, both now have silly glitches that still won’t clear.

Mate in another group. Bosch spent lore time in the shop than in the owners garage.

Another mate has a giant Yamaha engine been fine.

But I’m sure if you speak to another person you’ll get the opposite. There’s no machine ever made that is fault free. They all ops up sooner or later, no matter what it is.

Heat really helps the battey range on mine. Obviously there’s limit, but the only performance issue I have seen so far is cold, giving almost half the range in winter below zero.

It’s been through fords streams and filthy bad weather and mud up to its axles. No issues except an odd daily code which I think I caused turning the bike on while moving. It’s not come back

 

[getbusyliving]

I ride with a large group of frequent e-bikers, riding various bikes. Among our group, the Bosch CX has been most reliable by far. I put 3,500 miles of hard riding on my Trek Rail with Bosch, and motor was still as good as day 1. Then I got a Levo and had to replace my motor after 500 miles. Several others have replaced their Levo motors as well. The Shimanos have been OK, but less reliable than Bosch, and not as battery-efficient as the Bosch. I and most everyone else in our crew also like the overall performance of the Bosch system the best. But you also have to face that we're still in the relatively early days of e-bikes, and overall they are certainly not as reliable as they will eventually be. The fun far outweighs the annoyance IMO.

 

[getbusyliving]

One very credible source in support of Bosch is that I know one of the main guys at Ibis Cycles, and they did a lot of motor research and testing before they came out with their Oso fairly recently. They settled on the Bosch CX for both performance and reliability reasons.

 

[Gilbo]

So as stated in a previous post by myself, I’ve gone through 2 Shimano EP8 motors in 315 miles. This has really put me off e-bikes in general, but I just love riding them!

I ride mostly red and black runs, jumps, drops, rock gardens, etc. Everything that rattles a bike around, so part of me thinks this may be the cause of the motor failures. I mainly ride Bike Park Wales (which finished off the last motor at 155 miles).

I want to hear from people who ride similar stuff and what bike and motor they have and if they’ve had any issues or not?

Thanks in advance!

I ride the same stuff ,on my 2nd bike with a Bosch motor and never have any problems. I don’t go near it with a power washer and clean the crud out from behind the chainring and the cranks once a month. Friends have had same probs as you with shimano and Yamaha motors all gone to Bosch motors with no issues and follow my maintainable routine.