Looking for ESC that can default to a specific profile.

Hi there.

Looked around for a bit, but couldn't really see anything that appears to do what I would like.

Relatively new to ebikes, but been looking around.
I've mainly been riding Esk8, but I'm now looking at building my own DIY Electric enduro bike.

I have extensive knowledge of using Vesc and other Esk8 tools for DIY, but none of them are suitable for ebikes.


I'm looking for a suitable motor controller, (or addons like cycle analyst)
That have the following requirements.

Capabilites for PAS and throttle (I think this is Basiclly all of them)
Suitable for really high power motors (Qs205 motors)
Able to controll front lights and rear brake lights.
Configurable (I.e first mode is a PAS only and upto a maximum of 15.5mph and 250w, 2nd is a medium power PAS and throttle, and 3rd is full power)

But the important part, the ability to default to a low power mode when turned off and back on, but can then be "unlocked" via Bluetooth app, to allow for high power. (no way to change the modes on the bike itself, and to allow me to make it road legal, when I go to ride it "on the road".)

*edit (reposted since was in wrong catagory)

Shred_Sheeran said:

That have the following requirements.

Capabilites for PAS and throttle (I think this is Basiclly all of them)
Suitable for really high power motors (Qs205 motors)
Able to controll front lights and rear brake lights.
Configurable (I.e first mode is a PAS only and upto a maximum of 15.5mph and 250w, 2nd is a medium power PAS and throttle, and 3rd is full power)

But the important part, the ability to default to a low power mode when turned off and back on, but can then be "unlocked" via Bluetooth app, to allow for high power. (no way to change the modes on the bike itself, and to allow me to make it road legal, when I go to ride it "on the road".)

*edit (reposted since was in wrong catagory)

Click to expand...

So "locking" via Bluetooth before you shut off the bike isn't an option?

If it were, then I think most of your specs could be met, except these two things don't go together:

• Suitable for really high power motors (Qs205 motors)

• Able to control front lights and rear brake lights.

Basically, high powered controllers do come with frills.

So, since high power bikes are illegal within the UK, I want a Motor controller suitable for a high powered motor.

The important factor is having the power mode reset to a low power mode after a power cycle (so i can descretely tone the bike down if I get pulled over).

Where I would then use a Bluetooth app to be able to load profiles of higher power levels.


Ability to have lights and brake lights are fairly important, as I ride nights quite a bit, but I can allways use an external module and have no brake lights.

I know the Vesc is capable of doing this, but Vescs are not designed for high ebike voltages (the higest ones are 75v max).

Shred_Sheeran said:

Ability to have lights and brake lights are fairly important, as I ride nights quite a bit, but I can allways use an external module and have no brake lights.

Click to expand...

It's easy enough to setup brake lights that work off whatever ebrake lever you are using, especially if that lever is just grounding a signal (very common). For those cases, you can use a low power 5v relay powered by that process (putting the coil in series with the brake signal), and then run your brake lights off the relay's NO circuit, connecting the relay's common to whatever power source the lights need (13-14v for typical automotive/motorcycle/etc lighting, so a DC-DC from the main battery down to that voltage).


Myself, I wouldn't want to have the controller actually running the lights; if something goes wrong with it you lose your lights, too. I'd recommend a separate system for those; even if they're run off the same battery. In my case, I'm powering the relay and brake switch from the "12v" lighting system, and using one set of contacts for the lights and another for the ebrake to the controller. But there's a number of ways to setup such a system.

Teklektik has a good set of posts about the lighting system for his Yuba Mundo (which includes turn signals, etc), and there are various threads about different parts of the lighting system, if you want to wire one up.


On my SB Cruiser I am using a standard turn signal blinker and some regular tail/brake and turn signal units, as well as downlighting and headlight, but I am also using some self-blinking LED strips designed as accents for head and taillights on cars (white with amber strobing turn front, red with amber strobing turn rear, that easily stick / tie / glue to the frame tubing. No blinker wiring needed, just a switch to engage a left turn or right turn or no turn. Can even use them as brake lights if you setup that relay to interrupt power to them, since they blink brightly several times for some models in this case. Some even have a brake input that brightens them like regular brake/tail lights. They're quite bright.

I only have pics of the front ones; those are installed on the handlebar "brush guards", one pic of all white, one of the amber engaged on the left side. Those pics are in daylight in late evening--bright enough to wash out the cheap camera.

The other pic that shows the red strip is the older much dimmer plain LED strips--they work but they are only red, and have no blinker, etc. But it gets the idea across for where they are on the trike.

amberwolf said:

It's easy enough to setup brake lights that work off whatever ebrake lever you are using, especially if that lever is just grounding a signal (very common). For those cases, you can use a low power 5v relay powered by that process (putting the coil in series with the brake signal), and then run your brake lights off the relay's NO circuit, connecting the relay's common to whatever power source the lights need (13-14v for typical automotive/motorcycle/etc lighting, so a DC-DC from the main battery down to that voltage).

Click to expand...

Yeah, using a buck converter makes the most sense from a safety standpoint, as it separates it.

The only thing left for me to decide is what motor controller to use.
The ability to have it default to road legal descretely is just too important for me. Or a plug and play module like cycle analyst (but more upto date) and with the ability I'm after.

Shred_Sheeran said:

So, since high power bikes are illegal within the UK, I want a Motor controller suitable for a high powered motor.

The important factor is having the power mode reset to a low power mode after a power cycle (so i can descretely tone the bike down if I get pulled over).

Where I would then use a Bluetooth app to be able to load profiles of higher power levels.


Ability to have lights and brake lights are fairly important, as I ride nights quite a bit, but I can allways use an external module and have no brake lights.

I know the Vesc is capable of doing this, but Vescs are not designed for high ebike voltages (the higest ones are 75v max).

Click to expand...

Got it. How do they typically test the bike when you get pulled over?

Shred_Sheeran said:

The only thing left for me to decide is what motor controller to use.
The ability to have it default to road legal descretely is just too important for me.

Click to expand...

I haven't checked the project recently, but the Opensource FirmWare for the KT series of controllers and displays (see casainho's and/ or stancecoke's threads for these and other nifty OSFW projects) may support this. There's also one for some LiShui systems.

I'm not sure which regular controllers do these days. I know that the Fusin "LiShui" controller with Kingmeter display I tested a few years back would always default to level 1 assist when powered on, and you had to increase that with buttons on the handlebars manually. It didn't have any real configurability but I'm sure some modern ones do.

Or a plug and play module like cycle analyst (but more upto date) and with the ability I'm after.

Click to expand...

The CA isn't exactly plug and play. There's a fair bit of setup and whatnot involved; you have to be sure to go thru all it's menus and either disable or setup each function, and then test to be sure the interactions between each function behave the way you want. You may also have to change connectors on either the CA or the controller, throttle, etc., to hook everything up, since there's no universal standard. (the Higo version of the CA probably matches many of the Higo controllers and accessories though). And if the controller doesn't have a "CA connnector" you may need to wire one in or use an external current-sensing shunt and wheelspeed sensor.


Also, there isn't anything else like the CA regarding the functions you're after, unless you make it yourself. There are some opensource and other DIY projects around ES and the web that do some of the things (look up stancecoke's recent posts). If you know coding it would be pretty easy to take an arduino Nano or the like and use it to monitor speed and limit throttle output. Monitoring power / current would be a little harder, but probably not that much (would need external hardware plus the nano).

If it's just the UI / display of the CA that bothers you, don't stick it on the handlebars, and just keep it in your bag/etc that everything else goes in. If you require access to the presets, just put buttons for them where you want, or a knob, and hook that to it's Aux in port. (see the Grin site in the CAv3 documentation for how this works). YOu can do all your setup in advance either thru the menus, or the computer-based setup program via USB-serial cable.

There are some projects around ES to add BT output to the CA's serial port and then display user-chosen data (speed, etc) from that on an android device, if you still need to see some of the info from it.