Liv Embolden E+, the imperial star destroyer.

[weeksy]

You know this is a crazy statement, you wouldn’t ride a Suzuki bandit then declare all motorbikes are rubbish and not try a zx10r would you ?

Tis a good point, but it's not necessarily the fact it's not a zx10 I don't like about it.
I didn't like your Whyte any more or less than the Liv. It was probably better, but still just as much a no for me

You didn’t try the whyte on anything technical, the front end is massively lighter and it wants to leave the ground whenever it can. They couldn’t be more different which is weird how you didn’t like it anymore. We know you don’t like them though

Don't blame me, you didn't give me it

[weeksy]

from other thread

I was on the Liv... God i don't like 99% of that bike... the 1% i do like is the fact it has a motor. The red at FoD is a bit climby and i welcomed the power... but FFS everything else about the thing is horrific lol.

The brakes are poor, it's clunky, i mean REALLY clunky... the handling is dire, the forks are awful, the lack of dropper doesn't help..

But still, i managed to get down everything including the track the boy is racing this weekend... but for the life of me it's a bit of a chore at times on it. Still, the power helps MASSIVELY.. i was out with the lads 2 weeks ago and had to kill myself at times to even make them breathe a little harder... last night was more climby and still i was simply cruising.

[Mr Moofo]

But it’s a girls bike?
TBF you are used to riding reasonably up to date well spec stuff. And a shaker bike is always going to be more nimble

[weeksy]

But it’s a girls bike?
TBF you are used to riding reasonably up to date well spec stuff. And a shaker bike is always going to be more nimble

I don't think the fact it's for girls changes anything apart from standover height and headtube shape. But yeah it's a LOT lower spec than the Slayer that's for sure... i had a few sketchy moments on roots where i thought my eyeballs may be rattled out

[weeksy]

After bailing on the Orbea from @Couchy i decided to throw a bit of effort at the Liv.

So it's got new pads for the Tektro Orions, still not sure if that'll fully make them 100% better, but it can't make them a lot worse.

I also just ordered a set of Fox 36s for it.
https://www.merlincycles.com/fox-36-flo ... 44684.html

Which will deffo be a LOT better than the cheapo Suntours and should be here for the weekend. They're a little longer than the Suntours, but we'll work out if i leave them at 160mm or drop them down a bit.

[weeksy]

Well the forks arrived and having the right tools makes the job effortless.

Quick measure then removal with pipe cutter to cut the steerer to length, then the start nut-setting tool to insert that straight. (apologies for pic lol)
IMG_20230928_135537 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Crown race installed, bearing on
IMG_20230928_135541 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Forks in and pressures set, brakes aligned and new pads installed.
IMG_20230928_141108 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

ready to roll at weekend.

[weeksy]

Well that was a WIN... the new forks are ace. !!!

They've massively helped the handling on it, really impressed with it.

Me and @Couchy did a ride at Hopton on Sat while the lad was out for practice, they just work so much better

The brakes are better but not wonderful, so i may change them at some stage still. But other than that, the big donkey bike did really well.

[weeksy]

Been a long week of riding this week, so yesterday when @crust was turning up for a ride i ended up jumping on the eBike. I know i know... but it really does come into it's own at the weekend of monsoon, slop and wet. You can get to trails you'd normally swerve on the manual but hit them on the Ebike. It's OK, the mud, slop, traction doesn't matter, it just gets on with it.
Well, that is, right up until you fit a Vittoria Goma for it... I had a massive high-side in front of Crust, went along a trail and it was off camber, WOOSH ! nearly went head first into a puddle that more resembled a small pond

Then a few beers and some lunch, then on the way home we came into what's a usually VERY green/chalky trail, it's known on one particular section for being sketchy !!!! So i brakes late into the corner and hit the floor... 2s later i've got a lump of a bloke lying on top of me !!!! he's stacked it in the same place but instead of falling on the floor, he used me as a crash barrier... Much laughing later and we bimbled home

[weeksy]

Finally bought it a dropper post. I had £40 in Paypal and noticed the BrandX ones in an external type are only £70 (£50 if you don't mind 100mm drop only), so thought it'd be rude not to get the big thing a post eventually. It is a little hard on the knees riding it without one as i try and run it low enough for the downy bits, but high enough for pedally bits..

[weeksy]

Well our Eeb is having some issues. When you turn it on, the power levels cannot be adjusted, but added to that, the motor/wheel spins on it's own ! I lift the back wheel and off it goes... Obviously this ain't right.

So i bought a replacement controller unit for the bars, it goes into the loom near the headstock. Sadly this ALMOST fixes it, apart from the fact it won't power off using the button. Well, it will, but it powers itself back on straight away...

With no simple ideas left, i've emailed Ebike Motor Center to get it booked in for repairs... Then, i'll be laying it up and leaving it there for the wife to use, not me. That may or may not mean i whip out the Fox 36s and get them re-sold. There's not a lot of point having them on there for 2 trips a year on a bridleway.

[weeksy]

Initial thoughts from the company are “new motor” after a lot of discussions as to why/what/maybe. But he thinks it’s deffo likely/possible…. £900 ! Oooof. I don’t think that includes fitting either.

But i must admit, it’s blown any thoughts of getting my mates Orbea Rise out of the window. Even though we could sort so i’d have warranty etc… I’m still not feeling the love that after the warranty ends, i’m £1000 out of pocket if it failed.

[millemille]

Might be worth asking on emtbforums.com, in the Yamaha/Giant section of the "EMTB Systems" sub forum, and see if there's any advice to be had....

[weeksy]

Might be worth asking on emtbforums.com, in the Yamaha/Giant section of the "EMTB Systems" sub forum, and see if there's any advice to be had....

Got a thread on there... mostly ignored... Ebike Motor Center it seems are the Go-to place to use. @Couchy uses a place by you, but he didn't want to touch it as he felt it would be unfixable.

[millemille]

E bike motor centre aka the bearing man is who I've used in the past for Bosch repair and overhaul.

[weeksy]

E bike motor centre aka the bearing man is who I've used in the past for Bosch repair and overhaul.

Apparently this model of motor is slightly complex as Giant won't sell the PCB for them, so if it's a PCB issue, you're stuffed.... Will drop it over in a few days and see.

[MingtheMerciless]

IMG_0732.jpeg (103.21 KiB) Viewed 942 times

[weeksy]

Hi Steve



We have checked your motor over and please find attached some images of the inside and costs to repair.



No water ingress but worn bearings and dirty gears so you caught it just in time as they are just about to start letting water through. We would advise an overhaul at this point. Electrically there is nothing wrong with your motor as we have tested it on our controller and no faults and it walks on demand and soes not do its own thing like on your new controller. Your old controller is definitely faulty and we have tried that on another known good motor and it does not work. It looks like the new controller you bought though is not compatible with the older motor. We have tried it on our other Giant motor, same age as yours and it plays up on that too. It looks like you need to find an older control as a replacement.

So that's mostly great... the rebuild is £300, so we'll have to suck that up, but could be a LOT worse.

I let the person know at Giant Bike spares and thet've checked with the Giant Techs and their controller supplied is compatible with my bike, but could need a Firmware re-flash by Giant Dealer, so it's booked in with AW Cycles for that. If that fixes it fully that would be ace.

[weeksy]

Well the FW Flash completely fixed the Liv... arguably we could have got away with the FW and controller and not touched the motor and sold the bike... But it's now got a fully rebuilt and serviced motor which can only be a good thing.

I guess the question now is.... What do we do with it?

Truth is, I don't really know. It could be argued it's the wifes bike so she can do whatever she likes with it, it's not like i'd be getting the money for it anyway. But the reality is, she's unlikely to ride it and if she needed an Eeb, then she could have the Orbea anyway.
But on the flip side, the Liv is a decent enough heavy FF ebike... with the Fox 36s in there it can hustle along well enough and now i know how the cable routing on it works i could arguably swap the crappy Tektro brakes for the CodeRs which would make it better again.

Not sure is the honest answer.

[Count Steer]

Well the FW Flash completely fixed the Liv... arguably we could have got away with the FW and controller and not touched the motor and sold the bike... But it's now got a fully rebuilt and serviced motor which can only be a good thing.

I guess the question now is.... What do we do with it?

Truth is, I don't really know. It could be argued it's the wifes bike so she can do whatever she likes with it, it's not like i'd be getting the money for it anyway. But the reality is, she's unlikely to ride it and if she needed an Eeb, then she could have the Orbea anyway.

Persuade her that Young Weeksy would find it very useful for getting up the hill to do sighting runs. Get her to donate it to the cause....








Then sell it.

[weeksy]

Out on the Star Destroyer today as the boy stole the Orbea. Not for the first time i noticed a weird noise from the back end and narrowed it down to the rear mech. The cage is bent and completely knackered. But somehow at times it works lovely.

Jumped on Ebay and threw £39 at a brand new rear 10speed SGS+ mech. It'll do the job nicely and get the big beast rolling again.

Today showed it's weaknesses though too, the battery is small and the bike is heavy... Crust had a LOT more battery left compared to the Liv, but it JUST about managed to make the ride fully before completely dying about 1/2 a mile from home with a flash red light and you only get 1 light of power. In it's defence, it worked hard and was up and down in slop and more slop... So it did OK

IMG_20240309_113221 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

IMG_20240309_125307 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr