Ebikes and wet weather

[ntemp]

Just a heads up for anyone who happens to ride in the rain. I live in the Seattle area and yeah, it rains here a lot. I ride a Rip Current S that I purchased in May of 2022. The bike is my main mode of transportation. I'm retired and I ride 15 miles total to a part time job every day. The bike has close to 6,000 miles on it. It sits outside for two to three hours while I work. With the ride that is about three to four hours a day in the rain, except on the occasional rainless day. I bring it in the house when I am at home.
When I got the bike, I contacted Juiced Bikes and told them my situation and asked them if they had any recommendations for wet weather riding. They told me to "check the internet for suggestions". I did that and could not find anything on the subject. If you happen to of read my other post, you know how I feel about Juiced Bikes. Ther support is worthless, but I won't get into that now.
Two weeks ago, the bike started to drag when I was coasting. This was very pronounced. It felt like I was hitting the brakes. So, I got online and did not find that much. I found a guy who mentioned loose magnets in the motor so, I decided to open the motor up and take a look. When I did that, to my shock, about a half cup of rusty water came pouring out. it's a wonder the motor worked at all. Everything in the motor housing was rusty and corroded. There were no gaskets or any type of sealant on the housing. I found that a little odd. I would expect Bafang to seal these motors, but they do not. The motor is a write off.
Juiced bike wants $550.00 for a new motor. AliExpress has the motor for $230.00.
So, if you ride in wet weather I would suggest putting a little sealant on the access plates of your motors. I will be sealing my replacement motor and covering my bike when it sits outside. I am sure some will say I should have done that to begin with. Anyway, get yourself some silicone and hopefully you can avoid this situation.

 

[FrankR]

Interesting. And thanks for sharing very useful info.

Some of these companies will claim a certain water resistance, but I always suspected they made it up. If that's a Bafang motor and rusted, it means Many of us have the same concern.

We generally don't intentionally ride in the rain, but stuff has happened. When there is any threat, we cover the displays with a plastic baggie and rubber bands. Never gave much thought to water getting Inside the motor. Ugh. Again - thanks for sharing that. A whole lot of us have Bafang motors in our ebikes.

 

[Annieolnie]

Hi, can I recommend you get some Permatex 82180. It's only around $6.00 on Amazon. It's oil resistant, heat resistant and flexible, all things you will need, especially when you have to get in there to re-grease. I rebuilt Jeep transfer cases with it, so I know it can take abuse and heat when alot of other sealants can't. Some of the Bafang motors during the pandemic came through with very little sealant or grease. My BBs02 motor started singing songs after only about a 100 miles. Hopefully things have improved. Other then that I love the motor. It's a work horse.