Ariel Rider Kepler, Greasing the Hub Motor Gears after 1000 miles
Vložit
- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- * EXTRA NOTE:
- Tighten the motor bolts gently, from one side to the other, then proceed to tighten them up completely, like you would a car tire rim or the head on a gas motor.
- Perhaps I should have included more detail on putting the wheel back on; I figured everyone knew how to do that, so I focused on the motor...next time.
I took a short ride with a GoPro right next to the rear wheel; it was pretty windy. I didn't really notice much difference in sound in real time or in the GoPro footage, but it might be a touch quieter.
Ariel Rider Kepler, Greasing the Hub Motor Gears after 1000 miles.
00:00 Intro
00:40 The Gear Side
00:52 The slotted washer
01:04 The Brake Side
01:48 Removing the motor
03:03 Planetary Gears
03:20 Motor Housing
03 40 Clean the gears
03:45 Lubricant
04:00 Lubricate the Motor Housing Gears
04:17 Lubricate the Planetary Gears
04:25 Reassemble motor, Tighten the motor bolts gently
04:43 Replace wheel
05:15 Replace Brake Caliper
05:35 Test the Motor
Thanks for the excellent instructional video! Sincerely appreciate you taking the time and effort. Huge Thank You!!
You're welcome! Thanks very much for the comment!
Ron you do such great videos. This one was well done and you clearly pointed out important points and parts. Thank you!
Thanks very much for the comment!
And you're welcome. :-)
Another cool video! 👏🏽👍🏽 was nice to get peek inside the motor!
Thanks! I always wondered if it had enough lube in there; at least now i know. I haven't ridden it yet, it has been raining all day. Still interested to see how it sounds.
Nice tutorial. I am inspired to do the same now.
The thought of it was worse than the job, as is so often the case. About 80 minutes from first photo to the test video at the end, including taking photos. It's a good time to check brake pads since it's easier to replace the wheel with the caliper removed.
Thanks for the comment! :-)
Ron,
No need to remove the sprocket on the drive side at all, in order to dislodge the motor from it’s casing, right?
@@bpoydras1503 , correct, the sprocket stays on the wheel.
@@RonNehrig
Thank you. Will be giving my hub a Lube this week too.
There are a few extra notes in the description, there's always something I could have said and didn't.
For anyone that needed more detail on replacing the wheel, I apologize for leaving that out; I focused on the unknown motor bits, and figured everyone would know how to replace the wheel or could find that in many other places.
I really appreciate your video. I will have to watch a few of your others to see what kind of riding you do. I have a similar style bike I am upgrading. and one question I have always had is how long do nylon gears last under what stress. I am changing out stock 22 amp controller for a 45 amp one. I have seen brass gear sets and I’ve seen one that was both nylon and brass. But if nylon lasts I know it would make less noise. I swapped the 4” beach cruiser tires for 3” street/sport tires they made the bike feel 50# lighter and the best part was the silence.
Thanks very much for the comment, I appreciate it! 🙂
Motor Gears
A possible trouble with metal planetary gears is that they could cause more wear in the metal gears cast into the motor hub, which would be difficult to replace. Since they are only lubricated by a smear of grease and not a lubricant bath, as on a car, this seems more possible. The nylon gears will wear before the metal and are easy to replace, though I haven’t looked into finding them as spare parts. I didn’t see any wear on the Nylon after 1000 miles, but 1000 mile greasing will make me feel better about them, and it didn’t take long. It might be nice to have a grease fitting where we could inject a small amount of grease to top it off, but there isn’t one (I've pondered the possibility of adding one). I expect nylon is also quieter as you noted.
Tires
As you'll see in my riding videos, I encounter a lot of different surfaces; some smooth pavement, a lot of patched or degrading asphalt, gravel, both packed and deep and loose, slippery forest trails, and some mud, when I can’t avoid it. So I've tried to find tires that handle all of that in a reasonable way. I don't use knobbies (like the CST that came on the bike) because I don't consider them safe for higher speeds on pavement (and, as you noted, they are noisy, not very smooth riding, and won’t last long on pavement). I tried a Vee Tire Speedster on the front, and it was nice on pavement, but squirrely on loose gravel, and did not inspire confidence on slippery dirt, mud, or sand, allowing the front to slip out.
I switched to a Fenix 26" x 4.0 P-1215 on the front, currently unavailable, but available as a Wanda P-1215, as seen in the ebay link included below. I like the solid center ridge for smoother and quieter performance on pavement, combined with some good closely spaced knobbies for gripping off road when turning. I use this on the front only because it is 4 ¼” wide at the widest point, which might brush the chain on the rear on my bike, compared with the other tires which are 4”.
www.ebay.com/itm/204126510538
So I put an Origin8 Supercell 26 x 4.0 on the back. It’s a nice tire, very good on pavement, handled other things reasonably well, but I was riding a lot of forest trails with loose leaves over wet dirt, like the videos on Oak Ridge, Reynolds Ridge, Pea Ridge and some others so I kept looking.
www.amazon.com/Origin8-Supercell-Wire-Tires-Black/dp/B012EIXCWI
Then I saw an Innova IA-214 on ebay, a nice chunky compromise tire, and that is what I have on the back now.
Unfortunately, they may not make them anymore and this ebay seller is out of them at the moment.
www.ebay.com/itm/204161622513
I used this tire on the video “Side Trails of Pea Ridge”, and all of the ones after that, including the higher speed farm road videos, where it also worked very well.
Both of these tires are 60 TPI and are heavier than the 120 TPI Speedster or Origin. I also have tubes and "Flat Out" in them since I am usually off in the boonies somewhere, so there is some weight involved, but it is a price I put up with for greater security.
Thanks again for the comment.
Great video. By any chance do you know what the dimensions are and how many teeth there are on the the planetary gears? I wana be proactive and order replacements gears when they eventually wear down on my bike
Thanks! 🙂
No, I didn't pay attention to gear sizes; I didn't see any wear so the thought didn't cross my mind. Hopefully if they're kept lubed they will go for a long time, I expect you'll have a chance to get in there long before you need them.
Hey Ron have you heard about an ebike called wicked freedom they kinda compare it to the kepler with big hub motor and wattage etc etc goes about 40 so might have lil more pop then kepler still think kepler is hard to pass up seems like the kepler has allways done good for you 👍
Also allways enjoy your content
Thanks for the comment! :-)
Someone mentioned the CitizenCycle videos of the Wicked Freedom, but they weren't very complete so I don't know a lot. He only used PAS 2 at around 23 mph, similar to what the kepler would be doing in 2 at 58kph, then he added throttle. He didn't show the speed with a full battery, only when it was low at 31 mph, he said it went 40 but didn't show it; downhill? Don't know. They say 33-35 on their spec sheet, more believable, but it is 60 volt so who knows. Maybe a more thorough review will come out.
There are two bikes. the Freedom and the Cruiser which has a step through; much as I might like rear suspension, I don't need a higher bike to get over.
- 60V system, very nice.
- 52T chainring, good.
- 4 bar battery indicator :-(
- Don't see adjustable PAS in the pretty long and sort of difficult to read manual. Hard to tell about other adjustments, think I'd have to use one to figure out what the manual is trying to say.
- Luggage rack looks tiny and weak on the Freedom, and not much better on the Cruiser, and I do like a good luggage rack; maybe it could be changed.
- Don't know anything about the Star Union brakes, but they do have a website.
would you happen to know if these hub motors are the same as the hub motors on the x52 v1?
I don't know, but i'm guessing the structure is the same.
ron , good video;the kepler is suppose to come with metal gears ;it was one of their selling points did you see any metal gears while you were in there,i think it was plantary gears that arieal rider said was metal i have a kepler also with less than 200 miles on it ,but when it reaches 1000 i plan on greaseing the motor thanks for the info
I don't recall them saying anything about metal planetary gears in the Kepler and didn't see it on a brief look at their specs just now, but didn't look at the manual.
You saw what I saw, Nylon Planetary Gears, with the housing gears being metal, of course; there are no other gears.
Thanks for the comment! :-)
@@RonNehrig Agree they have never claimed metal gears & nor has anyone else to date besides a company called Wicked which just changed hands & it now called Wired. The Wired Freedom is a look alike with more power & metal gears for only a hundred bucks more. I'm in the market & have done endless days of research but I'm steering towards the Kepler because the company has been around. Even though the Freedom is better in every way a new company could be bad in the future. I mean they have already changed names. 🤷♂️
do you know where can i replacement for the planetary gear?
No. Have you asked Ariel Rider?
I didn't take mine off when I greased it, so I didn't look for a part number, but that might be a good start if AR doesn't have any.
Is yours worn? If so, how many miles is on the bike?
Ron, why does my cable not come off after unscrewing it
I guess you're referring to the connection to the motor? All I can think of is make sure it's unscrewed all the way, then gently wiggle it to free any corrosion that might be sticking it.
Hey Ron, do you need a freewheel removal tool to get the gears off? Which one?
Which gears are you referring to? The cassette doesn't need to come off. I didn't see any reason to remove the planetary gears, so I didn’t try that.
@@RonNehrig
Ariel Rider sent me a new controller and motor. I'll slip the motor out of the new assembly (hub) and into the old one. But to do that I'll have to remove the freewheel assembly from the old motor and install it on the new one.
I'll figure it out. Thanks.
@@garyderoy Oh! That sounds exciting! Now we'll know who to ask about that! 🙂
@@RonNehrig
🤔
@@RonNehrig
Ron, I just watched your video again. You had to remove your gears (freewheel) in order to take your motor apart. You've got the brake rotor on one side which you left on, and the freewheel (gears) on the other side. Aren't the gears are attached to the axle?
Probably best to wash your bike before doing maintenance.
Good idea! Been freezing here since my last ride, just now raining, that's why I’m doing maintenance in my living room. 🙂
My RR has 3500 miles on it and have never done this !
Yeah, i'd say it is likely to be one of the often overlooked maintenance jobs on ebikes, but it didn’t take long to do. Mine seemed pretty dry, but, instead of becoming obvious, the nylon gears will just get worn until they don’t work anymore, and that will be more of a bother. Nice to have it done.
I have no idea why people don't just buy a bike repair stand
Haven't seen any good ones for such a heavy bike, and i'm sure not going to lift this one up into the usual kind, even if it was strong enough. Haven't found a better solution yet, other than turning it upside down. Still keeping my eye out.
Plastic gears are so much more inferior to metal gears. Wish they had some hobbed steel gears in there. And I say this as a man that makes plastic gears for a living.
Yeah, all the hub motors I've seen taken apart were nylon planetary gears, at least these are pretty beefy ones; and I suppose Insufficient lubrication is less likely to damage the teeth on the metal housing. which would be more trouble to replace.
I have an X class 48 V it supposed to have metal gears I have never taken it apart, but that was their claim to fame with that motor