What would you say has proven to be the most reliable emtb motor?

Bearing Man

Ebike Motor Centre
Patreon
Sep 29, 2018
860
2,035
UK
According my local e-bike dealer who sells e-bikes equipped with Bosch and Yamaha motors Yamaha motors are the most reliable ebike motors. All clients motor related returns and complaints are about Bosch motors and they have zero Yamaha motor related issues.
This is a very common comment across all forums but you may want to ask your LBS for some exact numbers? If you sell 10 Yamaha powered bikes and 200 Bosch powered bikes, Yamaha returns will look excellent!
If we go by these figures TranzX, Continental, FAZUA etc. would be the best motors in the world.
Don't get me wrong, I have to agree, the Yamaha is a very good motor, but there is only a small % out there comparatively speaking.
 

Mountie

Well-known member
Apr 29, 2018
421
254
Canada
Every motor has its own Achilles heal or week spot, for a small example:

Shimano, software issues, occasional cracked plastic drive gears, dirt ingress to open bearings just behind outer seals, electrolysis around electrical connectors.
Yamaha early, pcb failures, occasional stripped plastic drive gears (possible pedal strike failures) Water ingress
Yamaha late, PW-X plastic drive gear cracks, water ingress.
Bosch Gen 1, drive gear failure. Water ingress.
Bosch Gen 2, Main motor bearing. Water ingress
Bosch Gen 3, Ceramic seal failure. Water ingress
Bosch Gen 4 early, Overheating issues or faults.
Brose 1.2 Sprag bearing failure, occasional belt failure, water ingress etc.
Brose 1.3 Sprag bearing failure, occasional belt failure, water ingress etc.
Brose 2.1 Sprag bearing failure, occasional belt failure, occasional crankshaft failure water ingress etc.
Brose 2.1 2021 Water ingress.
Impulse 1.0 2.0 and EVO ST Freewheel ratchet and pawl mechanism failure, small drive gear bearing failure, torque sensor and ECU failure, water ingress.

Obviously we see many more issues from time to time in these motors but listed are some of the main failure points.

Well there is one way to fix all this.... we go back to struggling up hills lol
 

Gordon

Member
Oct 18, 2018
22
18
Porto Portugal
Just coming up to 5000kms on my 2020 Turbo Levo and I notice that while I'm cleaning the chain with the bike on a stand that the cranks don't freewheel in reverse and drag the motor backwards as well, which causes the battery to connect. On the trail I notice that the motor doesn't disengage instantly like it used to. I had the exact same thing happen on my 2018 T Levo and the motor was replaced under warranty with no questions asked. I suppose I'll soon be without my bike for s couple weeks while my lbs waits for a replacement. My main gripe is that my lbs has to ship the motor back to Specialized before they can replace it. Surely this is a common enough problem that Specialized dealers should always have a couple of replacement motors in stock.
 

Mesa

Member
Nov 12, 2018
26
30
SO Cal
Go with Yamaha.
I have ridden thousand s of hours on my 2019 Giant Trance Pro+1.
. . . . In fact it is 70 degrees today and going to hit the berms right now.
 

downhilllister

Active member
Dec 26, 2019
31
23
nelson new zealand
Just a thought to motor problems. How many are washing your bikes as soon as you get home.? "I don't" . Heat will suck moisture in like your undies on a sunny day. What's your habit. Is it destroying your motor.
 

bertschb

Member
Aug 30, 2020
49
35
Anywhere
What variables please explain? ...if I was a professional motor repair technician I'm sure I would soon develop a sense of which brand I was seeing more of and which ones I hardly saw at all.

If you had the number of motors sold and number that failed, that would be a good start. From there you could factor in miles ridden between failures to refine the data a bit. Asking a professional motor technician or counting posts on a forum isn't helpful. If Brand A sells 1,000,000 motors and 1,000 fail, that's ten times better reliability than Brand B selling 10,000 motors with 100 failures. The service guy will see ten times more Brand A motors in for repair.
 

bertschb

Member
Aug 30, 2020
49
35
Anywhere
Just a thought to motor problems. How many are washing your bikes as soon as you get home.?

I ride in dry climates (Central Oregon in the summer, Palm Springs, California in the winter) and wash my bikes once or twice a year. I recently started blowing my Levo off with an air compressor after each ride. When I used to ride in super muddy winter conditions, I rinsed the bike off after each ride. That was pre-ebike.
 

Rosemount

E*POWAH Elite
May 23, 2020
818
1,720
Qld Australia
Just coming up to 5000kms on my 2020 Turbo Levo and I notice that while I'm cleaning the chain with the bike on a stand that the cranks don't freewheel in reverse and drag the motor backwards as well, which causes the battery to connect. On the trail I notice that the motor doesn't disengage instantly like it used to. I had the exact same thing happen on my 2018 T Levo and the motor was replaced under warranty with no questions asked. I suppose I'll soon be without my bike for s couple weeks while my lbs waits for a replacement. My main gripe is that my lbs has to ship the motor back to Specialized before they can replace it. Surely this is a common enough problem that Specialized dealers should always have a couple of replacement motors in stock.

Me ; Run on after stop pedaling , a gurgling sound from the motor at low speed under load.
Then a sound like ice in a blender and a blue and red light on the TCU . To Spesh dealer on a monday - new motor and riding by Friday .

Would not like that 1 week turnaround if I was a long away from home on a cycling holiday .
 

humber44

Member
Dec 15, 2020
21
7
derbyshire
According my local e-bike dealer who sells e-bikes equipped with Bosch and Yamaha motors Yamaha motors are the most reliable ebike motors. All clients motor related returns and complaints are about Bosch motors and they have zero Yamaha motor related issues.
I have a Haibike fullseven 2017 yamaha pw-x which had to have a new motor just as it was out of warranty..it had never been underwater or pressure washed just out in wet weather..the electrics still need more protection in my view..offroad bikes should be waterproof to be fit for purpose..after all they can make water pump that live under for years!..most ebikes don't seem to last long...
 

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