Watch out when buying an Urbet Gadiro, mine broke in half and almost killed me

[Claudio Vosco]

(First of all, I’d like to apologize for my English; I’m Spanish, so it isn’t my native language)
In August 2022 I bought a used Urbet Gadiro electric motorcycle, when it was two years old and had 1,500 kilometers. After a month of riding it, the chassis broke in half and almost killed me. As I suspected that my accident had been due to a manufacturing defect, I posted a video on YouTube explaining my case.



In the comments on said video, Urbet acknowledged that 32 of their first motorcycles came out with chassis "suspected of having some weakness", and that they have been aware of this situation since one of those motorcycles broke in half in December 2020, causing another accident. They have even confirmed that several of these models have been exported outside of Spain, so be extremely careful.



If anyone wants more details, here you can find the videos I made on the subject (Spanish audio with English subtitles):

https://youtu.be/Bb4cWPVu1zc

Greetings

[Count Steer]

Some of the welding looks rather

Amazed the bike every got past all the checks before being allowed to be sold - unless they submitted good ones to the road test labs or whatever they have to do and then let quality plummet.

[Taipan]

That is quite shocking!!!

[A_morti]

It's clearly the same platform as the super soco ts, which I have considered buying as a runabout *and to collect my kid from school* a few times.

Yeh, maybe not, then.

[The Spin Doctor]

It's clearly the same platform as the super soco ts, which I have considered buying as a runabout *and to collect my kid from school* a few times.

Yeh, maybe not, then.

You sure? Doesn't look like the same frame to me.

[A_morti]

Hmm. IDK what's under the plastic but there's plenty of visual similarities there.

[The Spin Doctor]

Hmm. IDK what's under the plastic but there's plenty of visual similarities there.

Hmm. OK, I can see where you're coming from.

I've not heard about any issues with Super Soco - they are Chinese built at the Super Soco factory in Nanjing.

I can't discover where the Urbet Gadiro is made, but the Urbet Nura, an e-bike in sports clothing, is manufactured for Urbet by Wuxi Dongma in China. Urbet were supposed to be planning an assembly line in Malaga.

What's the chances that the Gadiro is actually a Chinese clone of a Chinese bike?

[Taipan]

Interesting that Fiido electric bikes have had aoproblem with frame snapping on 2 models of their electric bikes. My Father-in-law has one and although he has no issues with his, Fiido sent him a brand new one and didn't want the old one back! All he had to do is use the battery from the old bike!

[Rockburner]

Interesting that Fiido electric bikes have had aoproblem with frame snapping on 2 models of their electric bikes. My Father-in-law has one and although he has no issues with his, Fiido sent him a brand new one and didn't want the old one back! All he had to do is use the battery from the old bike!

It's not a very good photo - but that looks like it was cut, rather than breaking. Where's the jagged shearing? Where's the deformed tube either side of the break? For a tube to just shear in a clean line at exactly 90 degrees to the main axis is, I would think, pretty unlikely.

[Taipan]

Interesting that Fiido electric bikes have had aoproblem with frame snapping on 2 models of their electric bikes. My Father-in-law has one and although he has no issues with his, Fiido sent him a brand new one and didn't want the old one back! All he had to do is use the battery from the old bike!

It's not a very good photo - but that looks like it was cut, rather than breaking. Where's the jagged shearing? Where's the deformed tube either side of the break? For a tube to just shear in a clean line at exactly 90 degrees to the main axis is, I would think, pretty unlikely.

Just under the bracing it snaps. It's real enough for them to chuck out free replacement bikes. Another bike in their range had snapping frames too!

https://tinyurl.com/FiidoFrameSnapping

[MrLongbeard]

Better photo

[Rockburner]

Better photo

wow.

[Mussels]

I've had pushbike frames snap and they do look pretty clean, the weak point goes and then it tears the rest of the way.
It's not instant so you get a second or so to adjust your weight or stop but not long enough to stop a motorbike from 40mph.

[The Spin Doctor]

That looks pretty crystalline... any metallurgists who can comment?

[DefTrap]

I don't think it's a big surprise that these things are made out of questionable materials and are subject to terrible testing and QC.

[Count Steer]

That looks pretty crystalline... any metallurgists who can comment?

Not without a polishing wheel, etching bath and a microscope*.

It's interesting a) mechanically where it's snapped and b) that the area must have been heated to add the other bit (see previous photo). I suspect it's the added bit that's caused it one way or another.

* and a trip back to the 70s when I did that sort of thing.

[Claudio Vosco]

I can't discover where the Urbet Gadiro is made, but the Urbet Nura, an e-bike in sports clothing, is manufactured for Urbet by Wuxi Dongma in China. Urbet were supposed to be planning an assembly line in Malaga.

What's the chances that the Gadiro is actually a Chinese clone of a Chinese bike?

Urbet Gadiro is a rebranded Rotom Ray (Chinese e-bike):

http://www.rotom.cn/ray

Cheers

[Supermofo]

Saw my first ever Super Soco in the flesh yesterday in Ware

[Scootabout]

After seeing that Fiido pic, I'm starting to see the benefit of a double tube.