Himiway Range Test

Hi all, I have had my all-terrain cruiser since mid March. Because of the unpredictable weather here in the Northwest and basic laziness on my part I've only put 100 miles on the bike. I've been curious about how much range is 17 1/2 amp hour battery will provide.

So after the last charge of the battery I reset the trip meter and just rode the bike until yesterday when I had gone 28.4 miles and I was down to one bar. The last bar was not flashing which I understand is when you should charge but living in the hills the remaining battery just did not have enough power to really get me up the hills properly.

The 28.4 miles was a mixture of pedal assist and throttle, pretty heavy on the throttle as I get a little lazy and use the throttle. My riding mostly consist of hill climbing and flat ground cruising. The actual climb to get to my home starts at about 50 feet above sea level and ends at over 350 feet. This climb is all within about 8/10 of a mile.
I took my new Cruiser on a 30 mile test ride to see how it would do. The bike had about 25 previous miles on it. The trail was the Jorden river trail in SLC, mostly flat but some up and down - overpasses, bridges and stuff - mostly paved. It was fairly crowded so there was lots of slow down and speed up situations. Some headwind for the first 15 miles. I am a big guy at about 280 lbs. and 6'1" (64 years old). We rode pretty fast when we could - 20 mph or so, probably averaged 13-15 mph. Did mostly pedal assist.

After the first 15 miles the battery still had 4 bars (out of 5), but it dropped faster after that. By mile 27 I was down to one bar (last bar) and it was still at one bar when we finished (31 miles). After I stopped it waffled between one and two bars. It was not the 40-60 miles advertised, but I was satisfied with the results being big and all. Wishing for a second battery...but oh the cost.....
 
I took my new Cruiser on a 30 mile test ride to see how it would do. The bike had about 25 previous miles on it. The trail was the Jorden river trail in SLC, mostly flat but some up and down - overpasses, bridges and stuff - mostly paved. It was fairly crowded so there was lots of slow down and speed up situations. Some headwind for the first 15 miles. I am a big guy at about 280 lbs. and 6'1" (64 years old). We rode pretty fast when we could - 20 mph or so, probably averaged 13-15 mph. Did mostly pedal assist.

After the first 15 miles the battery still had 4 bars (out of 5), but it dropped faster after that. By mile 27 I was down to one bar (last bar) and it was still at one bar when we finished (31 miles). After I stopped it waffled between one and two bars. It was not the 40-60 miles advertised, but I was satisfied with the results being big and all. Wishing for a second battery...but oh the cost.....
You didn't say how much throttle you were using or if you were peddling what pedal assist level you were using. Typically the easy bike manufacturers state their mileage using the lowest level of assist while pedaling in their max mileage listings. I have the same bike you do and typically get about 30 miles on a charge and I mix between pedal and full throttle and I also have to climb some serious hills getting home after each ride.
 
... typically get about 30 miles on a charge and I mix between pedal and full throttle and I also have to climb some serious hills getting home after each ride.
You're getting about what you should, of course, the more leg you put into it the more range you get. There are lots of ways to maximize range but that will never be your bike's strong point.
 
I call BS. No offense, but... that's very very improbable.
You can call BS if you want (no offense), it's not improbable at all if you know what you are doing. On PAS 1, I can easily attain 70 miles on mostly flat terrain. I have modified the computer settings from the default, much more conservative than as delivered. After having the bike for a year, I don't ride it at PAS 1 unless I am trying to make it last. I got 64 miles at PAS 1 before charging last week as I'm trying to get my legs ready for a long ride this weekend. I'll ride 40+ miles this weekend, starting with a full battery and end with over 75% of the battery remaining (as I did last year).
 
... I'll ride 40+ miles this weekend, starting with a full battery and end with over 75% of the battery remaining (as I did last year).
Of course, you will sweetheart. And no offense taken I'm not "A" little girl with easily bruised feelings. So you're saying you can get 160 miles on a full charge on your SUV by crawling along at 6 mph? In that scenario, any ebike can ride an unlimited distance on a single charge, by just not using it... right? 1000 miles on a single charge! 10,000 miles! I'm sure with all that riding you do you should have some documentation to show your mileage, speed, range, and charge levels before and after a ride... or not. If I had someone that I disliked enough to give them a Himiway I'd suggest going on a ride sometimes to test those fantastic claims for "pink slips" so to speak. We (you and I) are fairly close, maybe when I finally get my Piston Pro X rack this month I can drive down to Oregon for the day to have you take me on a long ride. Stay safe.
 
This place used to be a fun place to hang out, share experiences and help others. Recently, not so much.

I do have "receipts", not that anyone here would take them at face value. I never said making the battery last that long would be fun for most people as it takes a lot of leg work, nor do I recommend running the battery down that far on a regular basis. Have fun.
 
This place used to be a fun place to hang out, share experiences and help others. Recently, not so much.

I do have "receipts", not that anyone here would take them at face value. I never said making the battery last that long would be fun for most people as it takes a lot of leg work, nor do I recommend running the battery down that far on a regular basis. Have fun.
Not sure what you mean by receipts, I was actually talking about ride data, and charging data. So you are saying that any ebike, all ebikes, have unlimited range? And you choose to lunk a Himiway the SUV of ebikes around for fun on leg power. Ok, that's cool. Crawling around on soft or muddy surfaces is a blast on wide rubber, with a 1 h.p. mid-drive turning an IGH, and a big battery. I'd really love to have you ride with me for a couple of hours sometime. I'm sorry you think I should live in a world where I don't question things I suspect are pure... ahhhh, in a world where something being said goes against everything I have learned for myself in nearly 40K miles of ebike riding. I don't live in that world, dude. Stay safe.
 
I'm new in this forum, we can make it fun and educational or we can talk stories about our wonderful ebikes and keep it real
When you've wasted a couple of thousand dollars on something lame because the price was more important than getting a quality product maybe it's natural to BS about how good it is. I knew one hooker in Germany in the 90s that was spectacular! Beautiful... rode like a dream. Maybe not the best analogy, maybe it is,
 
If your vehicle has a 2" hitch receiver, you might consider one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/400-lb-receiver-mount-aluminum-motorcycle-carrier-62837.html - there are many video reviews on YouTube if you want to check it out in detail.

I just finished assembling, modding and figuring out the rigging on mine, which was only $138 delivered (search on coupons; there is always a 20% discount out there). Since the wheelbase on my Rad Mini is only 55", I had to drill out the rivets on one of the horizontal support bars and shove it over to allow the rear tire to drop a bit more into the framework. Not all the way (there's another bar in the way that can't be moved), but enough, and the front wheel is fully dropped and clamped into place. Once I figured out how to properly rig it with four ratcheting tiedowns, and locked out the front suspension so it can't bounce, it's solid as a rock. Your Himiway might not need any mods if the wheelbase is 60" or thereabouts; my guess is that it's somewhere around there.

This carrier is designed for motorcycles over 300 lbs, so an e-bike is nothing to it, yet since it's aluminum it weighs only about 45 lbs without the detachable ramp, so it's easy to attach and detach (there's even a spot at the rear to clamp down and carry the ramp). Comes with an antisway bracket too; when that's bolted down (two 3/4" wrenches takes care of that), nothing moves. It's really easy to load my MiniST as well, thanks to its throttle I just let the motor carefully drive it up the ramp into place, as well as for unloading (the ramp moves to the other side to drive it off forward-facing); no heavy lifting necessary.

I like it a lot; here's a couple pics taken during rigging adjustment, before I snipped off the excess strapping. The antisway clamp wasn't tightened down, so it looks a bit crooked - squares up nicely when it's tight. It's not centered left/right on the vehicle, and that would take significant modification to change, but most of the weight of the bike is toward the rear, so she's pretty well balanced and I'm happy.

I'm planning to add reflective tape to the rear-facing edges of the rack and the ramp, and have a set of temporary-towing stop/turn lights when necessary, to bungee to the rack (they're magnetic, but the rack frame is aluminum). Also ordered a bike cover to help keep out dust and rain on longer trips; will need to see if it fits and can be kept from flapping in the wind.
Have a look at what I just posted showing how I adapted the Harbor Freight 500 lb motorcycle rack.
 

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Like I said I get lazy, and don't pedal as much as should most likely. I'm 75 yrs old here and weigh around 200 lbs +or- depending. Combining those two most likely have a lot to do with our range differences. I definitely need to work more on the pedaling aspect of riding, which was the whole reason for buying the bike, but like I said I get lazy.

Thanks for the input I too really think I bought the right e-bike for my uses, but like most people I'm looking to see what I be missing for some other designs.
I don't see how anyone can get 70 miles range on a Himiway Cruiser with the stock 48V x 17.5Ah battery. Himiway promo BS says 60 miles. Typical puffery. That would be on a calm day with no wind at all on all flat hard asphalt. I checked mine today. I went 73.4 kms (45.6 miles) on real life varying terrain (probably equally 1/3 inclines, 1/3 declines and 1/3 flats), and I had 11% battery left. As you can see I've changed my stock Himiway display to the KD718 display. I can likely get a bit more than 50 miles before completely powering out on my battery.
 

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I don't see how anyone can get 70 miles range on a Himiway Cruiser...
Puffery... I like that. Never heard it before but understood what you meant instantly. No one is getting 70 miles out of a Himiway without fulling cooking the battery and killing themself pumping an SUV around. Pure puffery. We (Americans) call that pure bull s**t.
 
Puffery... I like that. Never heard it before but understood what you meant instantly. No one is getting 70 miles out of a Himiway without fulling cooking the battery and killing themself pumping an SUV around. Pure puffery. We (Americans) call that pure bull s**t.
Yea puffery. I first heard the word a long time ago when someone on TV was describing exaggerated claims of performance, quality and reliability made by auto manufacturers which seems unbelievable, lies but legally permitted for some reason.
Dictionary definition of puffery:
exaggerated commendation especially for promotional purposes : hype.

Having said that, I do have another eBike. I work overseas and I have a Trinx 24 speed (8x3) mountain bike which has a 500W rear hub Bafang motor, and a 48V x 13Ah battery that I can get a real 80-90 kms (50-56 miles) per charge. I bought a backup 48V x 20Ah battery and I can get 130-140 kms (81-87 miles) from that battery. I was quite pleased that I got such good range from both of these batteries. I don't know if it is the gearing of the bike and/or motor or what. The bike is also quite a but lighter weight than my Himiway Cruiser. Trinx is a popular brand in Asia and the Far East for bicycles and eBikes. This bike wasn't a DIY. It came from the Trinx factory as I bought it.
 
Yea puffery. I first heard the word a long time ago when someone on TV was describing exaggerated claims of performance, quality and reliability made by auto manufacturers which seems unbelievable, lies but legally permitted for some reason.
Dictionary definition of puffery:
exaggerated commendation especially for promotional purposes : hype.

Having said that, I do have another eBike. I work overseas and I have a Trinx 24 speed (8x3) mountain bike which has a 500W rear hub Bafang motor, and a 48V x 13Ah battery that I can get a real 80-90 kms (50-56 miles) per charge. I bought a backup 48V x 20Ah battery and I can get 130-140 kms (81-87 miles) from that battery. I was quite pleased that I got such good range from both of these batteries. I don't know if it is the gearing of the bike and/or motor or what. The bike is also quite a but lighter weight than my Himiway Cruiser. Trinx is a popular brand in Asia and the Far East for bicycles and eBikes. This bike wasn't a DIY. It came from the Trinx factory as I bought it.
A polite way of calling BS... not my style, but I get it. Fat tire bikes have the rolling resistance of a tank, they were designed to crawl around with not to be fast, or agile, or light. Reduce the weight, reduce the massive rolling resistance, put the torque from the motor into the chain where it belongs and you can start getting more and more extended range. I use a pair of 58.8V 35Ah (2058Wh) triangle packs that could easily ride between 150 and 200 miles on my heavily loaded bike if someone wanted to ride that long. I'd love to see pics of where you ride sometime, dude. Stay safe.
 
A polite way of calling BS... not my style, but I get it. Fat tire bikes have the rolling resistance of a tank, they were designed to crawl around with not to be fast, or agile, or light. Reduce the weight, reduce the massive rolling resistance, put the torque from the motor into the chain where it belongs and you can start getting more and more extended range. I use a pair of 58.8V 35Ah (2058Wh) triangle packs that could easily ride between 150 and 200 miles on my heavily loaded bike if someone wanted to ride that long. I'd love to see pics of where you ride sometime, dude. Stay safe.
Gotcha... I've got a 52V x 17.5Ah and a 52V x 20Ah that will give me 1950Wh. I could have gotten bigger output batteries but I'm in Canada and the seller had these in stock in their Canada warehouse. To get larger output they would have to be shipped from China and would have cost a lot more and took longer to get. Right now I'm waiting on delivery of a battery blender and adapter cables for the setup. Gotta get rid of that range anxiety...lol
 
...Gotta get rid of that range anxiety...lol
I always tell people to get the largest pack that will fit on their bike since a single large li-ion pack has advantages over multiple smaller packs... but, you might want to ride a century or two before investing for range capability that you won't use.
 
I have a Himiway fat tire cruiser and my wife has a step thru fat tire cruiser and we have ridden almost 300 miles in all types of terrain mostly in the mountains of PA. Most charge we ever lost was 2 bars on 40 miles of big time elevation change. When we ride on the local rails to trails don’t even drop a bar on twenty miles and thats a combination of pedal assist and just throttle.
 
I have a Himiway fat tire cruiser and my wife has a step thru fat tire cruiser and we have ridden almost 300 miles in all types of terrain mostly in the mountains of PA. Most charge we ever lost was 2 bars on 40 miles of big time elevation change. When we ride on the local rails to trails don’t even drop a bar on twenty miles and thats a combination of pedal assist and just throttle.
I think you'll find that if you check what mileage you can get, that generally you'll see if you start with 5 bars that you can probably go at least 40%-50% of whatever your actual maximum battery mileage might be (which you think should be around 2-1/2 bars, but it won't be) before you drop even 1 bar. So using 100 miles as a round number for example purposes, you will likely get 40-50 miles before you drop 1 bar, leaving 4 bars showing. But after that your bars will drop exponentially faster and at less miles. Maybe to drop another 1 bar it will take only 20 miles, leaving 3 bars showing. Then to drop 1 more bar it might take only 10 miles or less leaving 2 bars showing, etc., etc, If you get to just 1 bar left you better be close to home or your truck with the bike rack cuz pedaling 100% manually is a lot harder than with a regular bicycle cuz you're always manually driving the motor also even though you've got no battery power.
 
Hi all, I have had my all-terrain cruiser since mid March. Because of the unpredictable weather here in the Northwest and basic laziness on my part I've only put 100 miles on the bike. I've been curious about how much range is 17 1/2 amp hour battery will provide.

So after the last charge of the battery I reset the trip meter and just rode the bike until yesterday when I had gone 28.4 miles and I was down to one bar. The last bar was not flashing which I understand is when you should charge but living in the hills the remaining battery just did not have enough power to really get me up the hills properly.

The 28.4 miles was a mixture of pedal assist and throttle, pretty heavy on the throttle as I get a little lazy and use the throttle. My riding mostly consist of hill climbing and flat ground cruising. The actual climb to get to my home starts at about 50 feet above sea level and ends at over 350 feet. This climb is all within about 8/10 of a mile.

UPDATE 11/2022: Since this post I have moved to Southern California Beach City where everything is basically flat. On a recent battery range test with the same Himiway setup I was able to get nearly 50 miles on one charge having one solid bar left. This was a mix of Pedal Assist, full on throttle and no power pedaling. A big difference fro the test I ran in my home town in the Northwest that had lots of steep hill climbs.
I have gotten 26 miles up the steep central Pa mountains using pedal assist and not even dropped one bar with my Himaway cruiser?
 
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