Project RadWagon

[mikesova]

Hello all.  The other day I came across a RadWagon for sale on my local Facebook Marketplace. I have been buying and fixing up regular bikes during the Covid Pandemic as a hobby, so I was interested.  I also have an Ejoe Koda e-bike that I really enjoy.  Anyway, I went and checked out the bike.  They were asking 200$.  They said they bought it as a project and the previous owner said it needed a new battery.  They never did anything with it.  I decided to take a chance, since I figured there were more than 200$ worth of parts if I ended up not making it work.  It has a suspension seat post which I see retails for like 80$, so there's that right there. 

I got it home and started cleaning it up, it was really dirty and scuffed. I found that Magic Eraser sponges really cleaned up the scuffs.

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

It was during the cleanup that I discovered the bent fork.  I should have noticed it before, but it looks like it has been crashed and bent back a little.  I know that bike shops have fork and frame truing jigs, so I'll look into that before looking at buying a new fork. I spun the wheel before purchasing and it was true, so those heavy duty spokes must really work. 

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr


So, I also tried to charge the battery when i got home. The bike didn't come with a charger, but I already had one for my other ebike. The battery didn't seem to take a charge.  I thought I would do a little investigating, though, the battery box is really broken and seems to have been modified so that the battery is directly wired to the pigtail that normally comes off of the battery holder.  It was pretty easy to take apart since most of the screws were broken off. When I took it apart I found that a 5amp fuse was blown that was inline with the charging port. I put a 3a fuse in that I had laying around and boom it started charging. Cool!

After charging, it shows a full battery on the display, I also have a little meter that I hooked up and it showed it having 54ish volts.  The battery may still be good. That would be sweet.

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

The battery could really use a new box.

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

Unfortunately, I can't test the battery, because I've got the "Error 30 Maintain" issue.  So it sits like this right now.

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

I have a few questions for you all. 

1. I checked all the connections on the bike, they all seemed pretty good except for the connection between the wire harness and the controller.  It wasn't bad, but there was a very little bit of green corrosion in it.  I took a paper clip and scratched the inside of the female connectors to try and clean it up.  I also sprayed a little brake cleaner in it and then some wire electrial corrosion inhibitor.  Hooked it back up, still have the error code.  Can I have everything unplugged from the harness except the display/controller/motor and have the bike stay on? I'm just trying to isolate the issue.  My intuition is leading me towards the controller.

2. Anybody have a spare stock controller that they know works, but upgraded to a different controller? I'd be interested. 

3. Anybody have a spare fork? 

4.  Anybody have a junk battery with a good enclosure?

Thanks for joining me on this project.

[d0n]

You did really well for $200! I bet the battery is fine!
You can buy a battery box cover... usually made from vinyl or plastic or some other water resistant material... from etsy and maybe ebay or amazon. This would be less expensive and easier to find than a new or used box.
I've seen that lcd gauge sell for $50 used on this site so between the seat post, seat and LCD gauge, you've got your money's worth!
If it were me, I'd remove the forks, lay them on a flat concrete surface, lay a thick board across them and whack the board with a sledge hammer until it looks straight. Sand and paint. Done! I am not a perfectionist though. Honestly, the bent forks probably don't affect the ride much, if at all.

[mikesova]

Ordered new tires:



I can get a new fork through RAD for 63$ shipped. I'm going to get an orange one.

I need a new controller, so I figured I might as well get the higher output controller, but I've been doing some searching and found a setup that should work ( I think) and end up being a lot more inexpensive that the kits that are being sold. Any input?

Controller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174122296023?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item288a7f62d7:g:cycAAOSwxR9d8LZ9&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSDAeS9EQtjPGVfKXTxF0%252BjqBFpA7yCDlNWBXrDQ119rI8LywcEd96lnNFfEmPOcNKUgTLFINbDpirPs8mIfeam8qnp2azCHqgY7g0ySPfPMYLUgWBJHR6K0y2ctxmvzoybytW5V8LfZktNO1WZg%252FOEjqCrnrZR0yNyGsEYes61zDdvY9sHUmH9bJqHi0Qdnzf6L0fpk7GPJ9TlFmbzNX6lVG7rYj8RDpyOUsnWVqYEU6utzp8UwIUIiiay9PHh3wGEUrxa5q%252F7UxyBYH0kozuHKFSOjgDKPXlFg2GjKQzhGAhOn85rmjR7769xVGbFH%252B6CifSl6LKZOXIXuc4y0Iqia47x3372bXbsM4xCzLV0EZ7uIeUUNc%252B%252B5tyArwAbt%252Bf08Gm3W4m9QjcvyAO6yRSLTHuDaW9ImS%252FDUBIvih5YYetfmdqoFjyvFMi1EztJSOMbLLVok8IV2E%252FVxHG%252FKD3mShLvae2WpumYHiOr2sdJXQFwlQxO7bzgtmlW4ilixZfEmWAR8TkbzV4XdJt8672aqCTk0dgQ29ESYmLAzXK0zwjCP9r%252FMgOF1TdkJ019SABVOOVZcB%252FJhHfY9qdvzlkPqvWAHPpfYIIBQebdwvvfIJgi92RLO6bHZgAD0WL2hXq4B1c9s2VN0GRbR2tSn3HunOiKW2KW7waBTsCtXq0rENym9Mw3IIBpP0jHiu6%252F%252Bbq3SQg9YfAd5oUIErhKHAZwpVPGI8HhFVoGcEpOpw7WClU1vapzWVHJaQCWEKGFzGIdabyjj66IFVoScqVMEa6xgfDFn%252BposEN1n1sJwZo5xBlau8Vg0JQcVMnePxoYtBMoC9STvJYVWft%252B1L5vsJW3w%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

Wire Harness: https://amzn.to/3A58USN

Display: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174862741504?hash=item28b6a1b000:g:IkUAAOSwziNhAeUW

I would love any input you may have.

[Thebenpink]

$200! What a steal!

I'm working on a similar project, reusing the motor wheel from my mid-drive converted 2019 radwagon to try and electrify a separate mtb, and trying to figure out how to do it.

Does the controller/display/wire if harness work with rad motor? It looks like it has fewer wires, just at first glance.

[mikesova]

$200! What a steal!

I'm working on a similar project, reusing the motor wheel from my mid-drive converted 2019 radwagon to try and electrify a separate mtb, and trying to figure out how to do it.

Does the controller/display/wire if harness work with rad motor? It looks like it has fewer wires, just at first glance.

I don't know that's why I'm asking.

[mikesova]

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

Untitled by mikesova, on Flickr

It's been slow going. Finally got my tires straightened out. Bike Bling originally sent the wrong size. Got them now. I ended up order a controller + display on AliExpress, but ended up ordering the wrong controller, got the wrong plug for the motor, so I'll have to send that back...

Recabled, regripped, cleaned, waxed, new tires.  Just waiting on hearing back from the vendor to get the right controller. 

[lowspark1974]

Will you pass on the link to your new tires and what size you ordered?  Great Project Bike

[Radrunner Rod]

Bike looks awesome 👌😎

[rheine3]

You did really well for $200! I bet the battery is fine!
You can buy a battery box cover... usually made from vinyl or plastic or some other water resistant material... from etsy and maybe ebay or amazon. This would be less expensive and easier to find than a new or used box.
I've seen that lcd gauge sell for $50 used on this site so between the seat post, seat and LCD gauge, you've got your money's worth!
If it were me, I'd remove the forks, lay them on a flat concrete surface, lay a thick board across them and whack the board with a sledge hammer until it looks straight. Sand and paint. Done! I am not a perfectionist though. Honestly, the bent forks probably don't affect the ride much, if at all.

I have a spare controller. I just did the Bolton upgrade.