Weird sound like a siren!

[Kelala]

Hi everyone. I'm new here, and an owner of a Rad-Mini Step Thru '99.

I haven't ridden the bike for close to 6 months as I suffered from two minor strokes, but a few days ago I was able to get back in the saddle. My concern is regarding what sounds like a siren. It pitches up and down in sound as you ride along somewhat what one would here from a siren. I've stopped and started and again the sound. At one time I hit the throttle full speed and I noticed on the bike's consul that it was showing just over 10mph, yet my phone's cycling app (Bike Brain) was indicating just over 20mph. I pulled over and turned off the bike at the consul selector switch. Turned it back on and all was fine. The consul readout was correct and the siren noise had gone away. On this mornings ride the noise was once again present. This time I turned the power off at the consul selector switch while in motion, and much to my surprise the noise was still there. So is it electrical or mechanical? As annoying as the sound was, it eventually faded away during my ride, but would come back as I slowed down to a stop, but not anywhere near as loud. I called Rad and spoke with a rep and explained the issue. He first mentioned that perhaps the brakes after sitting for so long had collected too much dust. Before my first ride, I cleaned the bike down thoroughly. I explained the issue again and all that I did, and his next thought was perhaps a lose connector from the motor. He said he would send a link showing how to check it out. I did check on that, and the connector was solidly sound. About two hours later I got an email from him. He stated that after taking with other staff members, they felt the issue was from the brake assembly, and that because I was in violation of my warranty, I would have to take this issue up with an ebike shop. In violation! That's a bit harsh. So I can't call and discuss any issue in future. I know I'm out of warranty, but wouldn't it be courteous on their part to at less offer assistance over the phone? I'm still not sure whether it's an electrical problem or mechanical problem. I'm going to place a call to my local Velofix rep who originally set up the bike for me last year. Has anyone experienced that sort of noise and perhaps have a thought as to what might be?

Thank you very much for your assistance.

I forgot to mention. When I was out this morning, I did pull over once to turn things off at the controller switch. On a few occasions trying to turn it on, it wouldn't stay powered on. The screen would come on, then off. While the screen was blank, I gave the throttle a little twist and the bike moved off and the screen then came alive. Strange events!

[Ryan]

It's hard to say without hearing the issue myself. If you wanted to share a video that might be helpful. Otherwise I think you're right to have Velofix check it out. Perhaps when you have the issue narrowed down Rad will work with you on any replacement parts...

[Kelala]

Thank you Ryan. I'm in the process of finding out if the mechanic who worked on my bike is still with Velofix.

[Dan B]

I had the same noise coming from my wifes brand new Rad City ST.  It sounded just like a low toned siren that would fade in and out as I was riding. I discovered that the front brake pads were not centered correctly and had an odd angle to the rotor. Once I centered everything and got the correct gap between the pads the noise went away.

[Kelala]

Problem solved. I had the stroke of genius of picking up the front of the bike and rotating the wheel, HAHAHA!! Who would have thought that a sound that would indicate an electrical issue was, in fact, from the front wheel. The tech from Velofix came around and right away knew the problem. He dropped some lubricant down on each end of the wheel hub and the noise went away. And on top of that, there was no charge. Music to my ears.

[Ryan]

Problem solved. I had the stroke of genius of picking up the front of the bike and rotating the wheel, HAHAHA!! Who would have thought that a sound that would indicate an electrical issue was, in fact, from the front wheel. The tech from Velofix came around and right away knew the problem. He dropped some lubricant down on each end of the wheel hub and the noise went away. And on top of that, there was no charge. Music to my ears.

Thanks for reporting back. Now we all learned something!