Replacing a stock controller in a production ebike

[Simplyfly]

Hey Guys,

I currently have a DIY CYC X1 pro on a 2018 Commencal Meta V3. Its a great bike, and I love it...

Thing is, the battery integration and so on... What I would love to do is grab a production bike, like the new Meta power, or even for that matter the new Yamaha YDX... and either build a custom bracket to mount he X1 pro into the frame, or perhaps simply remove the controller, and use an aftermarket controller for the stock motor...

End goal would be to have something with similar power to my X1 pro, even somewhat less, so long as the bike is fully integrated.

So, is it possible to just disconnect the stock controller, and wire up an after market controller for something like a Yamaha , Bosch or Shimano motor?? I mean, its just a matter of connections, right?

 

[Chalo]

Those bikes are specifically designed for you not to be able to do what you're suggesting. The display won't talk to another kind of controller; the battery probably wants a secret handshake before it will turn on. Even things like lights and throttle may need to interface with something different than you can provide.

On top of that, the motor won't have the heat handling qualities or cable gauge to push a whole lot more power than stock. The battery won't do a lot more than what it did in its original setup.

If you undertake this kind of project, you'll likely turn a needlessly expensive bike into a problematic pile of junk, if you even get it to work at all. And this just so you can have the battery stuck inside the frame somewhere? There are easier ways. Pay a good welder to graft a compartment into a real bike frame. In today's battery tech environment, committing to a single tightly constrained form factor for your battery looks like a mistake to me anyway.

 

[amberwolf]

Depends on the OEM system. SOme of them are integrated such that the battery and display and controller (and perhaps other features) "talk" to each other, and only work with each other. If any part is replaced with non-OEM stuff, none of the rest of it works, in those cases.

So if you replace the controller, you'll almost certainly have to replace any display that the bike has with whatever comes with the controller in it's kit, and probably any other handlebar controls besides ebrake and throttle (those may use standard signals, though you'll have to figure out wiring to your new controller).

There's a chance that you would also have to change the BMS in the battery to a non-OEM type that doesnt' require the OEM system to tell it to turn on. Some of them don't require this, and some can be "hacked" with a simple rewiring, but some actually communicate, and you'd have to figure out the communication protocol and data being sent back and forth to be able to use the OEM BMS in those cases. Or just replace the whole battery with a non-OEM unit (which would probably defeat your purpose).

Another problem is that the motors on the OEM bikes may not have the heat-handling capabilities you are after, and/or their internal gearing may only be able to handle the power levels they built the bikes with. Exceeding those may overheat things, strip gears or break various mechanical parts (that you can't buy).

You'll have to look into the details of how the specific OEM system works for whichever bike you really want, before you get it, to know which, if any, OEM bits you have to replace or hack to make it do what you want.


What I would instead recommend is posting what you already have setup on your existing bike (upload pictures of it all to your post), and letting us help you figure out solutions for the problems you do have with it, or the things you want to change / improve, so you can get the custom solution you are after.

 

[john61ct]

Companies producing ebikes very intentionally put a lot of work into making sure you only get things fixed or upgraded (usually not) at the dealer, using their proprietary parts.

DIY is the enemy, in jurisdictions where they can, they put in millions of lobbying dollars, bribes whatever, to make DIY flat out illegal.

 

[999zip999]

My cyc x1 kit was upgraded from seller to a ASI 855 BT I also brought the bracket for outside controller. I haven't had battery and time to get the ASI bugs out. The motor has three phase wires and 5 hall wire like most sensored motors so should be able to take many different controllers as long as you mount controller out of that tiny little space that cyc has.
P .S. The wire harness was not the right one and waited 3 weeks for proper Bluetooth wiring harness for the ASI 855 controller. I would think most censored controllers will work and you would have to figure out what display you would like to use.