Ariel Rider X-Class Stock Display Pinout

[StreetlightShaman]

1st post here. I can't believe with as long as I've been interested in electric vehicles, renewable energy, battery storage, power conversion, etc., that I've never heard of Endless Sphere until I bought an e-bike... Sorry. :lol:

Feels stupid asking, because there's only 5 pins, but does anyone have a pinout for the stock Ariel Rider X-class (or 52V) display? I'm looking to hack open an extension cable so I can wire in the output from a combination key-lock-and-throttle like the one below to shut off power to the controller when the switch is in the OFF position. I LOVE my X-Class 52V, but this feature missing from a $2400 e-bike seems like a whiff on their part... Maybe they figure removing the battery is a good enough theft deterrent.

Extension cable: https://www.amazon.com/BAFANG-Display-Extension-Cable-Female/dp/B07T36877W
Throttle with key switch (example; they're all the same): https://www.amazon.com/YWNYT-Thrott...ip+key&qid=1657774373&sprefix=,aps,256&sr=8-3

Now, this would be a really simple DMM exercise to figure out the signals I need, but I've seen tons of folks on Reddit struggling to e.g. add lights to the system, customize things, in addition to adding keyed locks above; I'm hoping to decypher as much as I can about the electrical system so I can answer these questions when I see them.

From what I gather, there will be the following signals on the cable, but I don't know the order:

• Battery+
• Battery-/GND
• Tx
• Rx
• +5V

Tx and Rx are the real problems here, since a DMM won't tell you which is which, nor even would an oscilloscope with a serial analyzer package. Maybe it's just because it's late, but I can't reckon how to distinguish the two offhand. Maybe pull one and start pushing buttons, seeing if the controller responds appropriately, or seeing if the speedometer stops working?

Any information would be appreciated. Wire colors would be fantastic to know as well, to avoid confusion as to which connector (male or female) and the orientation being described. If I figure this out before somebody replies, I'll post my findings. Thanks all!

 

[amberwolf]

Wire color within an extension cable will depend on which colors that particular manufacturer decided to use on that particular day. :/ They might or might not use "typical" wire colors; even black and red might not be ground and power.

It's highly likely that the pinout is the same as other similar controllers/displays (but not guaranteed), so depending on the specific connector used, it probably matches one of them; they are in various display/etc threads here, or on google, such as some of the results in this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=5+pin+ebike+LCD+pinout&tbm=isch

You can measure continuity from the bike's battery negative pin (without the battery attached) to find the ground wire. Same for the battery positive pin.

For your purpose, you only need to know which wire is main battery power, as that can be keyswitched to cut power to the display (which also then cuts power back to the controller's keyswitch/ignition (KSI) line, preventing the controller from turning on).

If you want the display to still operate but not the controller, you'd put the keyswitch in the KSI line instead, but this means the display is still able to use power / drain the battery.


If you require knowing which function is used for the other wires, then if both of those match one of the pinouts, you can then test for which of the remaining wires matches as well (if they do). To test which is TX and which is RX without opening anything up, you would need to power just the controller, jumper battery power to the KSI wire to turn it on, and then see which of those two lines has a signal on it (with a multimeter, this will show as around 2.5vdc, on an oscilloscope it'll be a pulsetrain). That one is then the TX from the controller (RX for the LCD). The one with no signal is the TX from LCD (RX for the controller).



Regarding theft deterrents....if it's still got pedals, it could still be ridden away, and it is probably still light enough (especially without the battery) could also be carried away (if slowly). If the battery is still on there (or they have their own), and know what they're doing, they could easily bypass a bar-mounted keyswitch. It's pretty tough to really make something "worth stealing" hard to steal for determined people. (there are some threads about various deterrents, though).

 

[NamorX]

This is the pin out for the 52v Xclass display. I swapped it out with the Bafang 500c color display. Credit goes to Michael Bush from the Ariel Rider mods and upgrades on facebook.