Noisy motor, sometimes.......

[Kentrider]

Hi, my wife has a Haibike hardseven 1.0. It’s only done about 30 miles. I’ve noticed sometimes the motor is easy to hear and other times almost silent.... is this normal. I have a Specialized levo so not used to the Yamaha PW-SE, it rides lovely tho.
Thanks

 

[HikerDave]

Hi, my wife has a Haibike hardseven 1.0. It’s only done about 30 miles. I’ve noticed sometimes the motor is easy to hear and other times almost silent.... is this normal. I have a Specialized levo so not used to the Yamaha PW-SE, it rides lovely tho.
Thanks

Mine seems to make more noise at low assist levels. Overall, it seems to have gotten quieter with time, unless it’s just me getting habituated to the sound.

 

[steve_sordy]

My Shimano varies with cadence and the power I'm extracting from it.

 

[Kentrider]

Yeah this is more at the lower speeds and assists. Just wanted to see if it was normal. Don’t get me wrong it’s not really noisy, just nice to hear it from other riders.

Thanks

 

[steve_sordy]

Every day is a learning day. I learn lots coming on here.

 

[Rusty]

Yamaha motors are noisier than Bosch, Brose or Shimano - however, that is probably due to the Yamaha motor working a lot harder at the lower end of the cadence scale. The 2 times I tested Yamahas I was stuck on 25kph settings and not 32kph like all the other bikes I have tested. i understand from a couple owners that when set to 32kph they are noisier at the lower cadence then taper off quite a bit. Perhaps when you hear it as noisier your wife is lower in cadence?
My Shimano is a lot louder than my Brose through most of the cadence range but the Brose does get loud when in Turbo and working hard on a climb.
Next time you think about it - try the different assist settings at different cadence and see if you can reproduce it.

 

[Kentrider]

I think it is at the lower cadence as she isn’t a fast rider and likes to keep the assist low. It rides great, just nice to know for sure....

Just out of curiosity, do you have to grease up the motor gears?

 

[Rusty]

The lower range is where the Yamaha puts out max assistance so yes probably noisier in that range and would quieten out as the cadence goes over about 80sh.
The motors are sealed units with no user servicable parts. Actually your LBS doesn't do any servicing either - just sends them back to the importer.

 

[Kentrider]

Thanks all for the help ???

 

[Rusty]

Is what the eMTB community is all about. Reminds me of the MX community back in the 70's when the Japanese really started to pump out the units - an awesome friendly group of people.

 

[Pukmeister]

I must be lucky, my Yamaha is pretty quiet. Either that or my hearing is getting worse.

 

[HikerDave]

I must be lucky, my Yamaha is pretty quiet. Either that or my hearing is getting worse.

I didn’t mean to suggest that my Yamaha makes a lot of noise; it’s not bad and is masked by tire noise most of the time. Maybe motor noise is worse for people with better high-frequency hearing, though. I’m getting old.

 

[Rusty]

I must be lucky, my Yamaha is pretty quiet. Either that or my hearing is getting worse.

Probably the second

 

[Agamemnon]

I gotta admit—I force myself to go without my headphones only on the rare occasion of listening to see if the bike is making any unusual sounds.

That said my bike with its Yamaha motor is noticeable I guess... my knobs on the road make more noise though