Aprilia Enjoy

[drekkus]

I contacted the guy but he was reluctant to take it to his bike shop and ask about boxing it up and sending it to me in NSW.
He has listed it again on ebay. He reckons the battery is probably knackered from not using it for a while..I wonder if it may in fact be the controller issue again.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aprilia-Elec ... DefaultDom

My wife has ended up buying this so I guess I'll find out when we pick it up. The guy didn't didn't venture too much info so I hope its not too much of a dud . Fortunately I like to fiddle with things like this so I'm reasonably confident I can sort most problems out. Who knows it may be something simple and even if its not it gives me the excuse to convince my wife to let me modify it

[Samd]

Hey Drekkus, welcome aboard.

Easy to tell. Undo all the hex bolts and remove the two main plastic covers. Then disconnect the controller and briefly add 12volts from a car battery or the like directly to the motor and see if the back wheel comes to life. If it does, it's either battery or controller.

The controller is pish anyway. Cut it out and fit an LBD14 and throttle for under fifty bucks.

If the battery is ok you can save up for lipo. Tell your partner that with LiPo fitted, this bike is better value than anything on the market under $1500. Maybe more.

If the motor is shot sing out, I have spares.

Cheers....

[Hillhater]

Also, remember it is very hard to totally kill those Nimh packs.
Even after being left discharged for months, they can be revived with some care and effort.
Search this site and the net for way to revive them.
And there are lots of contacts / connectors both inside and outside the pack that can dry up / corrode to cause problems.
but as always, a lipo transfusion will make you smile !

[drekkus]

Hey Drekkus, welcome aboard.

Easy to tell. Undo all the hex bolts and remove the two main plastic covers. Then disconnect the controller and briefly add 12volts from a car battery or the like directly to the motor and see if the back wheel comes to life. If it does, it's either battery or controller.

The controller is pish anyway. Cut it out and fit an LBD14 and throttle for under fifty bucks.

If the battery is ok you can save up for lipo. Tell your partner that with LiPo fitted, this bike is better value than anything on the market under $1500. Maybe more.

If the motor is shot sing out, I have spares.

Cheers....

Thanks. The bike is supposed to be used by my daughter for a 6km trip each way to catch a bus to and from TAFE. It will be interesting to see if she can handle the size of it. Anyway it won't go to waste as it will no doubt become a "project" at some stage. I already have a controller on order in anticipation of some conversion work. With any luck it will work as is with a little work giving me more time to collect other bits. I think its being collected tomorrow.

[tonyontopofabighill]

Another one for sale in VIC (naturally).If one comes up for sale in southern NSW it is mine. My lipo's are going great!
http://melbourne.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff ... Z306379897

Cheers,
Tony.

[drekkus]

Got it home today and it looks in good condition. Just charging the battery to see if it will hold charge as a first step.

[Hillhater]

dont be surprised if it doesnt charge, or seems to be dead.
As i said, there are a lot of wire connections inside that pack that may have corroded "dry" and can fool you into thinking the pack is dead.
If it doesnt charge, you may need to disassemble the pack to fault find a little.

[Samd]

The fuses inside are worth a look. They are held in with a fancy version of basic spade connectors.

The controller uses as 12v supply i think tapped from the middle of the 24v pack. Might be a cause. Another reason to throw the controller out and swap it for a thumb throttle and 2wire controller.

Cheers.

[drekkus]

It did charge and the bike did work .... for about a minute. We'll see how a few charges/discharges go. I don't want to start opening battery packs up unless I have to.
Is it normal for the bike to become very hard to pedal when the battery goes flat or does it just seem that way in comparison to a good battery.

[Hillhater]

I don't want to start opening battery packs up unless I have to.

I understand, but opening these packs is only a screwdriver exercise. quick and easy.
Sound like you have some cells out of balance.

...Is it normal for the bike to become very hard to pedal when the battery goes flat or does it just seem that way in comparison to a good battery.

There is a roller clutch in the motor gearbox that should release when the pedals are moving faster than the motor. It may be stuck , but anyway , yes, these are heavy bikes to pedal with no power, due to drag in the Bbracket gearing.
You should also be aware that the front chainring turns at double the pedal speed !.

[tonyontopofabighill]

I have laughed when reading adverts for these bikes where sellers have said that they can be ridden like a normal bike when the battery goes flat..Yeah right..they can only be ridden with a flat battery when you are on dead flat ground with a tailwind or going downhill.


Tony.

[drekkus]

The battery is getting better, I now get 5 minutes use out of it . It makes it hard to get a decent impression of the pedal assist but I can certainly see the attraction of throttle control.

[tonyontopofabighill]

G'day Drekkus,

I used my Aprilia's with the pedal assist for about 4 years and quite enjoyed them.The only time it wasn't much fun was going up big hills when the motor would stop working and the LED display would start bipping at me.I found all I had to do was turn the ignition off and on again and I would be on my way again.It was also a bit irritating having the pedal assist cutting in and out all the time .The only other situation with the pedal assist was going into a headwind,it would cut in and out then as well and it made riding a bit tedious.
That is all in the past now. The first thing I did was to change the controller and get a throttle.I kept the original battery and used this system for about 2 years. It worked much better than the standard set up but in the end the battery got a bit tired so I made the change just recently to the LIPO battery. Wow! what a difference! The bike is now great fun to ride and I look forward to every outing.

Cheers,
Tony.

[drekkus]

G'day Drekkus,


That is all in the past now. The first thing I did was to change the controller and get a throttle.I kept the original battery and used this system for about 2 years. It worked much better than the standard set up but in the end the battery got a bit tired so I made the change just recently to the LIPO battery. Wow! what a difference! The bike is now great fun to ride and I look forward to every outing.

Cheers,
Tony.

Unless the battery is dead my wife won't let me modify it so I have to make an attempt to revive it. I have ordered a controller already just in case I'm partial to to thumb throttle but where to you put it on the handle bars; right or left ?
In regards to a new battery I'd want to keep it simple otherwise I'll get complaints about how easy it is to use. Keep the original case. Would staying 24v rather than 36v make it easier to fit in new batteries.? Speed wouldn't be the main consideration, range would be.

[tonyontopofabighill]

G'day Drekkus,

I'll let the other guys fill you in on the electrics side of things. i just followed what the others have done with the batteries,controller etc.I have got a twist grip throttle like a motorcycle and it is the same as on a motorcycle, it is on the right side of the handlebars.
If you look through the posts you will see how Samd has worked out how to use the original battery box. i have done this and it works a treat.Hopefully you will get your battery going and you may not have to do any mods to your bike.

Cheers,
Tony.

PS I was going to get the bike you got off ebay if you had not bid on it.I had been in contact with the seller and they were going to bring it to NSW on their next caravaning trip.I am glad someone on here got it in the end.

[drekkus]

G'day Drekkus,

I'll let the other guys fill you in on the electrics side of things. i just followed what the others have done with the batteries,controller etc.I have got a twist grip throttle like a motorcycle and it is the same as on a motorcycle, it is on the right side of the handlebars.
If you look through the posts you will see how Samd has worked out how to use the original battery box. i have done this and it works a treat.Hopefully you will get your battery going and you may not have to do any mods to your bike.

Cheers,
Tony.

PS I was going to get the bike you got off ebay if you had not bid on it.I had been in contact with the seller and they were going to bring it to NSW on their next caravaning trip.I am glad someone on here got it in the end.

Yeah, I've been looking at some of the stuff thats been done wrt the batteries and I think I'm getting the general idea. As for the throttle I was asking because the gear selector is on the right hand side and I was wondering how it all fitted together as space seems like it would get tight.

We were meant to bid on the bike the first time around but stuffed up our times and missed out. There was lots of humming and haring about spending that much money on something which might not work. Even if the battery does turn out stuffed it does look like its still a good buy given you don't have to rely on buying another original battery. Regardless there will come a time when you will have to replace the battery.

[tonyontopofabighill]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I moved the gear shifter to the left side of the handlebars and learnt to change gears in reverse ,only took a short time to get used to that.I used to ride motorcycles so that is why I did that.Maybe the thumb throttle is the way to go as an alternative.
I have never priced a new standard battery but I have heard that you need to mortgage your house to afford one.You could just replace the NMH batteries inside the battery box but they are pretty pricey.The LIPO batteries are way lighter than the NMH unit as well.

[Hillhater]

A new replacement NiMh pack from the Aprilia agents was $1100 + at last time of asking !
Thumb throttle can be squeezed in on the RH side with the shifter grip and seems very intuitive after a few min's.

[drekkus]

Still no joy with the battery. Charges up for about an hour and half but just dies very quickly when in use. Looks like the the LiPo option is becoming the way to go. I have opened up the battery case and all the wires look good.
As for the throttle I guess I can just buy one and see which way fits best for me.Its not as if they are expensive.

[drekkus]

I've noticed that most are going for 36v over 24v LiPo. Whats the advantage of this ? Anything really wrong with staying 24v ? I've looked at these http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... 0C%5F.html
which whilst only 24v seem to be a good fit for the battery box without too much hacking being needed. Anyone see any problem with 2 of these in parallel .

[Samd]

More volts means more speed. And most 24v controllers will cut out at 21.5 volts, so you will not get to use all your amp hrs.

8s, which is 33.6 volts is great. You will save a fortune in petrol.

[gtadmin]

I've noticed that most are going for 36v over 24v LiPo. Whats the advantage of this ? Anything really wrong with staying 24v ? I've looked at these http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... 0C%5F.html
which whilst only 24v seem to be a good fit for the battery box without too much hacking being needed. Anyone see any problem with 2 of these in parallel .

Hi drekkus, welcome to the aussie Aprilia owners club Where do you hail from mate?

It depends on whether you are going to ride the bike at 50km/h everywhere or not! If that's the speed you want, then 8S is the way to go. If not, then 6S will get you about 38 tops. If this is ok, then I don't see the problem.

...
And most 24v controllers will cut out at 21.5 volts, so you will not get to use all your amp hrs
...

21.5 ÷ 6 = 3.58V While you CAN run these cells lower, why would you want to? And the packs drekkus has linked to are 8Ah, so 16Ah for 2 in parallel for a safe range of 30km

Cheers guys,
GT

[Samd]

Because if he uses a 6s cell on a 21.5 volt cutout (could be as low as 21.0V based on the stated tolerance) he will take his packs below 3.7volts and they either won't last, or cook his balls. Or both.

[drekkus]

I've noticed that most are going for 36v over 24v LiPo. Whats the advantage of this ? Anything really wrong with staying 24v ? I've looked at these http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... 0C%5F.html
which whilst only 24v seem to be a good fit for the battery box without too much hacking being needed. Anyone see any problem with 2 of these in parallel .

Hi drekkus, welcome to the aussie Aprilia owners club Where do you hail from mate?

It depends on whether you are going to ride the bike at 50km/h everywhere or not! If that's the speed you want, then 8S is the way to go. If not, then 6S will get you about 38 tops. If this is ok, then I don't see the problem.

...
And most 24v controllers will cut out at 21.5 volts, so you will not get to use all your amp hrs
...

21.5 ÷ 6 = 3.58V While you CAN run these cells lower, why would you want to? And the packs drekkus has linked to are 8Ah, so 16Ah for 2 in parallel for a safe range of 30km

Cheers guys,
GT

The bike is primarily not for me. 50kmh would be far too fast for the intended users, even I would baulk at those speeds on a bike. About half the intended route is dirt roads so speed isn't the big concern. Anything around the 20-30kmh would be fine. Its range which is important as its a 15km round trip which may become more in the future. I can hear the complaints now if it died on the way home

I know what you're saying about the cut out being potentially a bit too low but don't you still get the same problem with the 36v packs. You will always have to monitor things to be safe.

The other thing that attracts me to the 24v packs I've linked to is that they look like they would be a snug fit in the battery box with only minimal filing out. I could do some hacking to fit different batteries but at this stage I rather avoid it to keep the peace.

[Hillhater]

Still no joy with the battery. Charges up for about an hour and half but just dies very quickly when in use. Looks like the the LiPo option is becoming the way to go. I have opened up the battery case and all the wires look good.
As for the throttle I guess I can just buy one and see which way fits best for me.Its not as if they are expensive.

did you check individual cell voltages ?
I am guessing there is a lot of variation in their state of charge and will need individual balancing. That should "rejuvinate" these NiMh cells. ..they take a lot of abuse before they are useless !!
Oh, i would suggest you dump the controller and "pedelec" / torque sensor systems first. You would be surprised how much more performance there is when all those are eliminated ...even with 24 volts
Lipo is great ( 40+v), but you will not be able to... "plug and forget" ... charge like you can with the original NiMh pack.