Canadian Upgrade to 500 W Motor

[Pavane]

I bought my RAD Rover Step-Thru last year in Canada with a 450 W motor.  I see that new models have 500 W motors.  I assume that this is a result of a government regulation change, since American products always had bigger motors.  It is not a big deal since I only ride at power assist level 1.

[Corbin Wolf]

What year is your bike? I ask because all Rad Bicycles actually come with the same motor. However,  they are spec'd differently for their respective markets via the controller.

Furthermore,  Bolton ebikes point out that the motor is in itself not a true 500 and sells an upgrade kit. The latter is a larger motor with upgraded controller that, if I am not mistaken, makes your bike closer to a nominal 1000 watt. Check out his YouTube channel. He is actually selling an upgraded RadRover/Rhino that hS the same off the line acceleration that you would expect from a SurRon.

[Pavane]

I bought the RadRover ST1 on 4 June 2020.  Interestingly, the Canadian manual doesn't mention the wattage of the motor, but I remember it as being 450 W and the U.S. site having a motor with greater capacity.  When I use Power Level 1, the wattage used is 20% of 450 watts so I think that my memory is correct.  The Ontario regulations have changed so that a 500W motor is now legal.

It doesn't matter much to me as I rarely use more than PL 1, but I like to review incremental changes in the product.  From what you are saying I could possibly change the wattage to 500 W via the controller.

[Corbin Wolf]

Correct. The controller is the brains here. Changing it out for something better will yield positive results. However,  the down side is that you will likely drain your battery more quickly depending on how you use the bike. Based on what you are saying,  that should be negligible.

[Pavane]

Thanks for the reply.  450 W suits me fine.  The power assist increases my range; not my effort.

[Tony23]

Can the US controller be used on Canadian Bikes to get the 750 Watts that US Bikes have?

[Rickyboy]

Good morning.... for the new Rad Rover 6 plus the Canadian motor is 500 watt while the US model is 750 watt. Not sure why they cant just agree on one wattage ....

[chris1683]

I bought my RAD Rover Step-Thru last year in Canada with a 450 W motor.  I see that new models have 500 W motors.  I assume that this is a result of a government regulation change, since American products always had bigger motors.  It is not a big deal since I only ride at power assist level 1.

The US version of the RadRover I purchased in July did not have a 750W or even a 500W motor. - even though it was advertised as having a 750W motor.  It actually came with an underpowered 350W Bafang motor which is bumped up to 750W via the controller programming.  I've already pulled the motor and confirmed the part number and brought it to Rad's attention.  So far, Rad has been unwilling to share their motor specifications (more than likely because they know they are not using the advertised 500 / 750W motors.

If you perform a motor upgrade to the 750W Bafang motor, you will see the drastic difference in torque and performance of what a true 750W motor delivers.  I also saw better battery life since the larger motor does not have to work as hard. 

[JimInPT]

If you perform a motor upgrade to the 750W Bafang motor, you will see the drastic difference in torque and performance of what a true 750W motor delivers.  I also saw better battery life since the larger motor does not have to work as hard.

Is that the case for a motor swap only, or did you need to upgrade the controller and/or wiring as well to handle the extra current?  I'm considering doing a motor upgrade after warranty expires next spring and might pick up a motor in advance if I come across a good price.

I'm pretty happy with my stock MiniST, but extra torque would be nice on our hills; just not sure I want to hassle with changing controllers, mounts and pulling new wiring through the frame.

[chris1683]

If you perform a motor upgrade to the 750W Bafang motor, you will see the drastic difference in torque and performance of what a true 750W motor delivers.  I also saw better battery life since the larger motor does not have to work as hard.

Is that the case for a motor swap only, or did you need to upgrade the controller and/or wiring as well to handle the extra current?  I'm considering doing a motor upgrade after warranty expires next spring and might pick up a motor in advance if I come across a good price.

I'm pretty happy with my stock MiniST, but extra torque would be nice on our hills; just not sure I want to hassle with changing controllers, mounts and pulling new wiring through the frame.

I can't speak as far as a motor only upgrade as I upgraded the motor and controller at the same time.  It was not necessary to upgrade any wiring as it was all plug and play.  The entire process was very simple and took only about an hour to do.  The one thing that I would recommend to anyone doing the motor upgrade would be to buy a replacement freewheel to install as it is very difficult and requires a special tool from Rad to remove the original one.  The OEM 11-34T freewheel is available right on Amazon.

[JimInPT]

The one thing that I would recommend to anyone doing the motor upgrade would be to buy a replacement freewheel to install as it is very difficult and requires a special tool from Rad to remove the original one.  The OEM 11-34T freewheel is available right on Amazon.

Thank you for that tip; my local bike-shop owner buddy mentioned that unique freewheel to me back when I bought my MiniST - he had to buy the tool to service another customer's Rad bike.  If I end up doing the upgrade someday, I'll either take the wheel to him or borrow the tool - good to know a standard replacement is no big deal.

[chris1683]

The one thing that I would recommend to anyone doing the motor upgrade would be to buy a replacement freewheel to install as it is very difficult and requires a special tool from Rad to remove the original one.  The OEM 11-34T freewheel is available right on Amazon.

Thank you for that tip; my local bike-shop owner buddy mentioned that unique freewheel to me back when I bought my MiniST - he had to buy the tool to service another customer's Rad bike.  If I end up doing the upgrade someday, I'll either take the wheel to him or borrow the tool - good to know a standard replacement is no big deal.

I did buy the freewheel removal tool from Rad but it was after I had already purchased the replacement freewheel.  The Rad freewheel removal tool is just slotted to allow you to slip it over the motor wire.  Here is a link to the freewheel:

Freewheel:  https://amzn.to/3jEBpR0

The freewheel tool is available from Rad but for some reason they don't list it on their website and the one that I did order goes to a blank page now in my order history.  I had to call them directly and they e-mailed me an invoice to buy it.  I assume that they would do the same if anyone else needs it but it seems they don't go out of their way to advertise it for sale on their website.  I attached a photo of what the freewheel tool looks like on my order history.

[JimInPT]

The freewheel tool is available from Rad but for some reason they don't list it on their website and the one that I did order goes to a blank page now in my order history.  I had to call them directly and they e-mailed me an invoice to buy it.  I assume that they would do the same if anyone else needs it but it seems they don't go out of their way to advertise it for sale on their website.  I attached a photo of what the freewheel tool looks like on my order history.

Thank you for all those details!  Bookmarked for future upgrade path.

[rad-rocket-5]

Hello. I registered so that I could help answer your question.

I recently purchased the Canadian Rad Rover 5, with the 500 watt motor. Below are my findings:
1) Swapping in the Bafang 750 watt motor - it plugs in, but does not work at all with the stock controller
2) Swapping in the 35A controller - motor now works. very fast and powerful
3) Swapping in a 52v battery - verrrrry fast and powerful

hth