Best Mods for Speed

[Zlacher12]

A friend needed some cash and sold me a RadExpand for $800. They never rode it once after mostly assembling it. I figure I could either re-sell it and buy an upgrade or since I got a good deal on this one I could spend that money on mods. Not sure which way to go yet. I found this forum and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I saw the Area 13 controller seems to be one of the best value upgrades but that is more-so for hill climbing and acceleration. I don't ride long distances and it is mostly country roads when I do, so speed is all I really want to upgrade. Would a higher power motor be the way to go or should I look at battery/motor combos to upgrade. If I could get up close to 40mph for a top speed, that would be ideal.

Thanks for any input you folks can provide!

[Radio Runner]

Yep. That controller is for more amps getting dumped for the hills. For a speed boost a bigger motor will be necessary and that comes with a battery draining penalty. Going 40 mph will take a major upgrade at serious cost. 30mph is more reasonable.

Area 13 has good YouTube vids on that type of topic.

[inoxa]

sell it and buy a WIRED.  Best bang for the buck.  I am waiting until I need a new battery to make the switch.
Rad was a good start but I was ready for more power the first day.  Ordered controller and motor.  Happy but still want more.  over 5000 miles now. 

[Zlacher12]

I am looking at the 1000w bafang motor swap with the area 13 upgrade kit for the controller/display. When I ride, it is generally a 10-15 minute ride so I don't think I will require a battery upgrade quite yet. Should only set me back about $500 or so. $1300 all in give or take.

Option 2 would be to try listing the bike for $1300-$1500 (Retails at about $1700 I believe). And then, if I still spend the $500 after I could get into the WIRED bike which looks to go about 40mph in the factory configuration.

WIRED has the 2000w motor and 40amp controller with a bigger battery to boot so it def seems like a better value.

[CruzRover]

The best mod for speed is the one that is free...  and built into the system already..   you can adjust your top speed to 25 mph/40 kmh in a few minutes with a few button pushes.

https://youtu.be/ieYLbskN3nE

[Carcosa view]

Rode dirt and street motorcycles for over 50 years and now I have a RadCity 5 stepthru and I'm a big guy 270 lbs. I have had mine up to 25 a couple of times downhill pedaling hard. Is the speedometer on this bike considered accurate? I live in north Atlanta. Very hilly and wish many times I had more power for hills. But I don't think I would feel comfortable going much faster on this platform. For more speed with my weight ideally I would want to explore dual disc in front. But right now I'm ok with the speed just want more torque for steeper hills. Anything reliable under $2k like this out there? Thanks

[JimInPT]

But right now I'm ok with the speed just want more torque for steeper hills. Anything reliable under $2k like this out there? Thanks

Depending on your model (which do you have and what year?), if you haven't done it already you should be able to find button-push 'secret sequences' here and on YouTube that will let you unlock top speed from 20mph to about 24.5mph - that's free, but the sequence varies among different model lines.  You won't get higher speeds without a complete motor and controller swap, but I agree with you that 25mph is plenty fast if you're over 40 or so and no longer have the reflexes or rubber bones of a 20-year-old.

For torque, the standard response (one I took and greatly benefited from) is a controller/display upgrade replacement from either Area13 or Electro Bike World, again depending on bike year and model (check their websites carefully or ask around here for compatibility).  These will void your warranty if left in place, but they work VERY well and haul my fatass up hills the stock MiniST2 just couldn't tackle previously.   Pretty easy to install and no fiddling with the motor.  You also get extra goodies like cruise control, more precise parameter settings and a trip odometer that doesn't clear to zero if the controller times out while you're getting a coffee.

For stopping, consider the hybrid mechanical/hydraulic brake calipers available from both those companies as well.  My Mini stops much better after installing those and no mods to your handlebar stuff needed.  Also pretty easy to install as a drop-in replacement for the stock calipers.

Since you already have the bike, these mods are pretty likely to do what you want at minimum additional expense.   Have fun!

[handlebar]

Rode dirt and street motorcycles for over 50 years and now I have a RadCity 5 stepthru and I'm a big guy 270 lbs. I have had mine up to 25 a couple of times downhill pedaling hard. Is the speedometer on this bike considered accurate? I live in north Atlanta. Very hilly and wish many times I had more power for hills. But I don't think I would feel comfortable going much faster on this platform. For more speed with my weight ideally I would want to explore dual disc in front. But right now I'm ok with the speed just want more torque for steeper hills. Anything reliable under $2k like this out there? Thanks

I weighed 255 when I got my Radrunner. Performance was disappointing. It was advertised at 750 watts, but mine put only 500 on the tire. It was advertised at 80 newton meters but would slow almost to a stop on a grade requiring 52.

I went back to check the Ebike Review video, featuring the Radpower founder and two of the staff, that had sold me on the bike. Calculations showed that their demo bikes were  putting more than 2,000 watts on the wheel, 4 times more than mine.

A 35-amp controller from Bolton fixed me up. There's plenty of torque, and power is more than twice stock.

My Radmission, advertised at 500 watts, put only 350 on the wheel. I would have accepted that, but the control buttons were unreliable. I put on a 25-amp controller and display from Electro Bike World. Now I'm getting 750 watts on the wheel. I don't often use much power, but it's pretty brisk when I do. On both bikes, the motors stay pretty cool.

I'm sure the Radmission motor would have handled a 35-amp controller, but I wasn't sure it would fit the space between the seat tube and the fender. To prevent slipping, I applied RTV to the tube and let it cure. Then I secured the controller with 120-lb, -40 F zip ties.

On both bikes, the odometers are accurate unless the terrain is very bumpy. That leads me to believe the speedometers are also accurate.

[polskicowboy]

I did the Area13 swap on wife's rad wagon. Love it. It climbs hills better than my geeky Rad Runner 2 with Grin Tech setup using 1600+ watts on a G62 Bafang 1000w (I win on top speed hitting 29mph with Grin Tech controller Field Weakening option). I have yet to swap the radwagon motor for the 750w I have still in the box. Figure I will wear out the stock one for another year or 1000 miles more. Note, more power only adds a bit of more speed due to motor winding is the limiting factor. But climbing hills is way better. Naturally you will use more battery. My wifes rad wagon battery bms would cut out so I gave her my battery for Rad runner and I run 3 batteries in parallel so no issue. And I have now installed her a 2nd battery in parallel. We have hills to climb coming back from the beach loaded with kids on the bike and I don't like to pedal much.

*so the upgrade will push close to the stock battery limit. Obviously her battery has a bad cell or two that would not be noticed at stock controller maxing out at 749watts. But at 1600 watts you will know if you have a good battery or not

-Highly recommend upgrading to a good set of hydraulic brakes. I opted for Magura MT7e. You will be averaging a faster speed with more power because you reach 24mph a lot quicker.

[inoxa]

I'm not sure RAD as configured will handle a 1000 watt motor.  I have run into recently (after 5000 miles) that the power I pump through to my upgraded 750 watt motor is burning the plastic on the battery terminals.  The worst part is the wiring on the battery harness is tiny and I don't think it can handle any more power going through it. 

This is the part I have ordered to get mine back up and running while I wait for my WIRED bike to come in.

https://amzn.to/47CyU9d

[John Rose]

The best mod for speed is the one that is free...  and built into the system already..   you can adjust your top speed to 25 mph/40 kmh in a few minutes with a few button pushes.

https://youtu.be/ieYLbskN3nE

Sadly, it does not work for RadExpand 5 (with the LCD Display Upgrade) nor the RadMini ST2. You can change the setting with the Sekrit Menu, but it does not actually go any faster.

In this official Rad Power Bikes video on the LCD Display features, they skip right past settings #2 (video edit?), and go so far as to call setting SEt.3 the "second setting".
On both the RadMini ST2 and my Rad Expand 5, the setting #2 is indeed there, but as I said before, it does nothing to increase the top speed.

Well, maybe a teeny bit faster.
I had "SEt.2" at 32 kph (on the Rad mExpand), and by tilting the bike onto the kickstand and twisting the throttle, it briefly went to 32 kph and settled to a steady 31.5 kph.
I changed "SEt.2" to 40, and the top speed was 33.7 kph, so an increase of 1.2 kph.
Hardly worth the bother.

You can reduce the top speed though, but where's the fun in that? (Except as a prank. )

[John Rose]

Sadly, it does not work for RadExpand 5 (with the LCD Display Upgrade) nor the RadMini ST2. You can change the setting with the Sekrit Menu, but it does not actually go any faster.

I might actually be wrong about the RadExpand 5 with LCD Upgrade. 
The last time I went out I seemed to be hitting 38 kph on throttle-only, but I can't be sure it was a perfectly level road, there might have been a tail wind, etc.

Here's something else I just thought of: If you hook up an LCD display to a RadExpand 5, change the setting, and then re-install the original LED display, does the controller remember the modified setting?
I'll have to try that too, and use a GPS app for the speedometer. Just move the cable connector and clamp (or duct tape) the LED display next to the other one.
There's a nice stretch of level paved road between some corn fields nearby. I'll have to do the test in both directions like they do on the dry lake bed land speed record runs.

[John Rose]

Hope you dont mind me posting this? ...

What, again?