Lectric XP 2.0 grinding noise from motor. Any ideas? (Possibly solved)

SDGuitarMan

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I hate for my first post here to be about a problem but unfortunately I do have a small problem. I bought a pair of Lectric XP 2.0s, one regular, one step-through for me and the significant other. The bikes are exactly two weeks old.

Both came with poorly adjusted brakes but I was able to fix that. Hers, the step-through, also came with a bent rear wheel that couldn't be trued, at least not by me. I made a video of it and sent it to Lectric who promptly sent a replacement wheel+motor.

Here's where the real problem began. The replacement wheel+motor makes a short grinding noise when accelerating with the throttle under load such as when going up hill. It's mostly at low speeds, happens between 4 and 10 mph. It's a quick noise that sounds like a shovel being dragged on asphalt (a description I saw someone else give for a similar problem). It only lasts for maybe a second when the bike hits a certain torque point or resistance level, then everything goes back to normal.

The original bent wheel did not do this nor does the other Lectric we have (mine). I've checked all the nuts, bolts, screws, etc.. and everything is tight. It's not a rattle, it's not the brakes scraping, it's a grinding noise from inside the hub. You can also feel a vibration coming through the whole frame when it happens.

Here is a video of it. The audio is kind of low so you may have to turn it up to hear it but the noise happens at the 4 second mark.


I've emailed Lectric with this video and am still waiting to hear back from them. Any ideas on what this might be? Do they need to send me another rear wheel? Should I keep the original wheel (bent) that doesn't do this and pay to have a bike shop try to straighten it? Any other suggestions?
 
That doesn't sound good at all :oops:

Welcome to our humble home, by the way!! :cool:
 
That doesn't sound good at all :oops:

Welcome to our humble home, by the way!! :cool:
Thanks. Today it happened while pedaling up a hill in pedal assist level 2. It lasted about 4 or 5 seconds. Definitely coming from inside the hub. Not sure if it's the motor or something else but hopefully Lectric can either tell me how to fix it or they send me another wheel. It would be the second replacement wheel for this bike. Everything else about it has been great.
 
Well... Lectric is trying to tell me this is normal. Sorry but no. The original wheel didn't do it, the other Lectric I have doesn't do it, and the fact that you can feel it reverberating through the frame and is accompanied by a slight loss of power, which was noticeable when it did this for several seconds rather than just a brief instance makes me 100% sure that this is not normal.

Anyone know how easy it is to replace the motor? I still have the original bent wheel that didn't do this and if it's easy enough, I wouldn't mind just swapping the motor from that wheel to the new wheel.

::edit:: After further discussion with Lectric, they are sending a new wheel. Hopefully third time's the charm.
 
I hate for my first post here to be about a problem but unfortunately I do have a small problem. I bought a pair of Lectric XP 2.0s, one regular, one step-through for me and the significant other. The bikes are exactly two weeks old.

Both came with poorly adjusted brakes but I was able to fix that. Hers, the step-through, also came with a bent rear wheel that couldn't be trued, at least not by me. I made a video of it and sent it to Lectric who promptly sent a replacement wheel+motor.

Here's where the real problem began. The replacement wheel+motor makes a short grinding noise when accelerating with the throttle under load such as when going up hill. It's mostly at low speeds, happens between 4 and 10 mph. It's a quick noise that sounds like a shovel being dragged on asphalt (a description I saw someone else give for a similar problem). It only lasts for maybe a second when the bike hits a certain torque point or resistance level, then everything goes back to normal.

The original bent wheel did not do this nor does the other Lectric we have (mine). I've checked all the nuts, bolts, screws, etc.. and everything is tight. It's not a rattle, it's not the brakes scraping, it's a grinding noise from inside the hub. You can also feel a vibration coming through the whole frame when it happens.

Here is a video of it. The audio is kind of low so you may have to turn it up to hear it but the noise happens at the 4 second mark.


I've emailed Lectric with this video and am still waiting to hear back from them. Any ideas on what this might be? Do they need to send me another rear wheel? Should I keep the original wheel (bent) that doesn't do this and pay to have a bike shop try to straighten it? Any other suggestions?
What I would do is that the motor out of the bent wheel and put into the new wheel and swap the noisy motor into the bent wheel. This is easy to do just remove the several screws/bolts holding the motor to the wheel hub. Usually these fasteners are located on the same side the motor cable goes into the motor.
 
What I would do is that the motor out of the bent wheel and put into the new wheel and swap the noisy motor into the bent wheel. This is easy to do just remove the several screws/bolts holding the motor to the wheel hub. Usually these fasteners are located on the same side the motor cable goes into the motor.
Would removing the motor affect the tension on the spokes? If the spokes end up hanging loose when the motor is removed I can see that being a nightmare.
 
Would removing the motor affect the tension on the spokes? If the spokes end up hanging loose when the motor is removed I can see that being a nightmare.
No not at all, again look at the side of the motor where the power cable goes into the motor. There should be several screws/bolts around the circumference you need to remove to pull the motor out. There are videos on Youtube show motor swaps that may be helpful to you.
 
Ok, now I'm stumped. I got the replacement wheel and although now the noise is slightly different, it's still making a rattling/buzzing/vibrating noise when accelerating. You can feel it through the frame but unlike before it doesn't feel like the motor is struggling, it's just a vibration coming from somewhere. It goes away once you reach speed but it's still there. It's the bike I got for my gf and she's not happy even though at this point I don't think it's a safety issue, just an annoyance when accelerating.

I've tightened and retightened every nut, screw, and bolt I can find but that didn't change anything. Obviously I can't ask Lectric for another wheel and I don't think another wheel would fix it anyway.

Suggestions? I'm thinking maybe I can take it to a bike shop and see if they can figure it out and if it's a problem with the bike, maybe I can get Lectric to reimburse me the troubleshooting costs.

I'm also thinking about removing the rear rack and the fenders to see if that makes any difference. But it almost sounds like it could be coming from the cranks or something like that.

I don't know.... I'm really stumped and open to suggestions.
 
Does it sound different than yours? If not let her ice yours so she can she that is the way they sound.

If that doesn’t do the trick I have no idea how you can deal with that.
 
Does it sound different than yours? If not let her ice yours so she can she that is the way they sound.

If that doesn’t do the trick I have no idea how you can deal with that.
It does sound different than mine but the frames are different. Hers is a step-through, mine is a high-step. It's possible the different frame geometry might be a factor and something on the step-through vibrates but the straight bar frame doesn't do the same thing. I know some of these had a problem with the batteries rattling. Maybe it's the battery rattling? I am also going to fold it then unfold it to see if maybe something in the hinge mechanism is vibrating.
 
So....I "think" I may have found the problem. Last night I spent about 3 hours in the garage putting my troubleshooting skills to work. I swapped the rear wheels between my bike and hers. No difference. That ruled out the wheel. I then started going over every screw, nut, connection point, etc... and confirmed that they were all tight. I went over the frame with a fine toothed comb to make sure there were no visible cracks. I rechecked the latch tightness.

Something caught my attention though. The screws that attach the rear fender to the frame were as tight as possible but I noticed that the fender is held directly against the metal of the frame. Metal fender directly touching metal frame = possible source of metallic rattling/grinding sound.

Rather than spending even more time dismantling and removing the fenders I decided to put a thin black plastic washer between the fender and its mount on the frame. After doing this I took the bike out for a spin and the noise was pretty much gone. I still haven't tested it under load going up a hill but after I swapped the wheels I rode it around the neighborhood and it did make the noise. After adding the washer it did NOT make the noise.

Here's a picture showing the fender attached after I added the washer.

Lectric Rattle.jpg


I can't imagine I'm the only one who has experienced this and if this does turn out to be the cause, why isn't Lectric aware of this potential design flaw that might be fixable with by simply adding a washer? I've found several complaints from other Lectric owners of similar noises but haven't seen anyone mention this as a possible cause.
 
Wow.....something so simple.....glad you got the problem fixed.......I have a step thru and have never had a problem......I agree....seems others would have experienced this as well....go figure. In any event....go ride....enjoy...be safe.
 
Wow.....something so simple.....glad you got the problem fixed.......I have a step thru and have never had a problem......I agree....seems others would have experienced this as well....go figure. In any event....go ride....enjoy...be safe.
I'll know for sure after this weekend when I'll have time to take it out for a longer ride and to the hills where the noise was the worst.

As for other people having experienced this, there's another thread, I think it's on another forum, where someone complained of a very similar issue.

Also, I suspect the number of Lectric owners who post on ebike forums are a very small subset of the number of Lectric owners. And if any of those people who don't frequent the forums contacted Lectric about this kind of noise they were probably told that the noise is normal and they either didn't pursue it further or didn't post about it on a forum.
 
I'll know for sure after this weekend when I'll have time to take it out for a longer ride and to the hills where the noise was the worst.

As for other people having experienced this, there's another thread, I think it's on another forum, where someone complained of a very similar issue.

Also, I suspect the number of Lectric owners who post on ebike forums are a very small subset of the number of Lectric owners. And if any of those people who don't frequent the forums contacted Lectric about this kind of noise they were probably told that the noise is normal and they either didn't pursue it further or didn't post about it on a forum.
Could be......just glad you solved your issue. Interesting enough......last night I saw my first Lectric TV commercial......they must be seelling a lot of ebikes to afford that advertising.....will be interesting to see how their future goes.
 
Could be......just glad you solved your issue. Interesting enough......last night I saw my first Lectric TV commercial......they must be seelling a lot of ebikes to afford that advertising.....will be interesting to see how their future goes.
So...turns out I didn't exactly solve it but I did make it better. This morning I had a chance to take it out for a longer ride with more hills. It still made the noise while under load but it was definitely reduced. Although in the process of taking the wheel off and on a million times now something else is vibrating. Just my luck! lol... but it's encouraging that adding the washer to the lower mounting point on the rear fender did help. Next time I take the wheel off I'm going to add a washer to the higher mounting point.

The step-through frame is basically full of rattles and buzzes. I may just have to live with it. At least it's better than it was. Maybe over the holidays when I have more time I'll continue with my plan of taking every attachment off the bike to see if I can finally pinpoint the exact cause.
 
So...turns out I didn't exactly solve it but I did make it better. This morning I had a chance to take it out for a longer ride with more hills. It still made the noise while under load but it was definitely reduced. Although in the process of taking the wheel off and on a million times now something else is vibrating. Just my luck! lol... but it's encouraging that adding the washer to the lower mounting point on the rear fender did help. Next time I take the wheel off I'm going to add a washer to the higher mounting point.

The step-through frame is basically full of rattles and buzzes. I may just have to live with it. At least it's better than it was. Maybe over the holidays when I have more time I'll continue with my plan of taking every attachment off the bike to see if I can finally pinpoint the exact cause.
Good luck....glad it's better. I haven't had any issues with noice......hope you get it figured out.
 
Good luck....glad it's better. I haven't had any issues with noice......hope you get it figured out.
Thanks. At least I feel like I'm on the right track with the washer.

Out of curiosity, anyone know if the motors for the 1.0 and 2.0 are the same?
 
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