Shimano E8000 - 3000 miles!

[ricardowight]

Hi All,
My last ride took me over the 3000 mile mark on my Focus Jam2.
I bought it in November 2018 , so it's just under 19 months old.
The motor is still sweet, but I've been through a few chains, cassettes and jockey wheels as you might imagine.

I was just wondering what's the highest mileage anyone has got out of one of these motors without experiencing any problems?

 

[MrBrownstone]

Hi All,
My last ride took me over the 3000 mile mark on my Focus Jam2.
I bought it in November 2018 , so it's just under 19 months old.
The motor is still sweet, but I've been through a few chains, cassettes and jockey wheels as you might imagine.

I was just wondering what's the highest mileage anyone has got out of one of these motors without experiencing any problems?

3110 miles on my bmc speedfox amp with e8000 since December 19’ when I bought it. Trouble free. I ride the bike very hard and never clean it. Just lube the chain and go. Love the bike so much!

 

[highpeakrider]

Mines getting to the same age and mileage, still puts a smile on my face.
I keep wondering when to change it and what with, but it does all i need it to do....

 

[MrBrownstone]

I wanted to buy a Levo I really did as I demoed a comp carbon for a week, but I thought it was silly to buy a bike where it’s be more than likely that I’d be without it for motor replacements regularly. Love the shimano motor and battery tho so absolutely no regrets there.

 

[Varaxis]

Got well over 7k miles on my E8000. Got mine in Nov/Dec '18, a Motobecane HAL-E Boost (catalog version of a Vitus E-Sommet, without the custom geo).

I got repeated W0010 errors yesterday while climbing in Boost mode in over 104 F heat, which I assumed meant that it was close to overheating. First time getting this specific error--it'd beep twice after about 2 minutes of sustained climbing, but it wouldn't cut power or anything. I just reduced the assistance level when convenient, in response. Other than that, my only real complaint is the whirring sound it makes, like a big version of a radio-controlled car's motor. Mine also is beginning to creak quietly when I put pressure on the left crank, which I can only hear where it's very quiet.

I also just ride and lube the chain, without cleaning it. I consider it a benefit of living in a desert valley. Lack of moisture preserves things pretty well. My last 1000 miles was from me riding 4x4/moto tracks in the hills around my area due to the pandemic.

I made the time-lapse of that ride I had yesterday public to share here, to show what kind of hills gave the error. I stopped and rode in a few circles to give it a rest, such as at the 1:00 mark. The next climb also got it to beep at me with the same error, which I responded by just lowering it to eco mode.


I recall that the motor was clunkier when new, such as when it engaged. I also remember that the motor would chatter if I put pressure on the pedal while stopped and let it roll backwards slowly. It stopped doing it gradually and I almost forgot about it.

I recall the shroud on the firebolt shifter coming off in a fall, but it snapped back on. The stock chainring is still going creak-free after 7k miles (on my 3rd cassette, with about 2 chains per cassette). I forgot my Bluetooth connect password, so I haven't updated it in a while. I set the Trail mode to medium and Boost to low in the app. It's still the stock one. The battery doesn't lose its 1st bar from full charge too quickly, yet.

 

[jimbob]

A whole 251mi in my E7000. Although I have only had it for a few weeks...

Good to see that there are some high mileage motors out there. I think it's often easy to just read the bad stories on the internet and assume all motors will break after just a few miles!

 

[luna87824]

Got well over 7k miles on my E8000. Got mine in Nov/Dec '18, a Motobecane HAL-E Boost (catalog version of a Vitus E-Sommet, without the custom geo).

I got repeated W0010 errors yesterday while climbing in Boost mode in over 104 F heat, which I assumed meant that it was close to overheating. First time getting this specific error--it'd beep twice after about 2 minutes of sustained climbing, but it wouldn't cut power or anything. I just reduced the assistance level when convenient, in response. Other than that, my only real complaint is the whirring sound it makes, like a big version of a radio-controlled car's motor. Mine also is beginning to creak quietly when I put pressure on the left crank, which I can only hear where it's very quiet.

I also just ride and lube the chain, without cleaning it. I consider it a benefit of living in a desert valley. Lack of moisture preserves things pretty well. My last 1000 miles was from me riding 4x4/moto tracks in the hills around my area due to the pandemic.

I made the time-lapse of that ride I had yesterday public to share here, to show what kind of hills gave the error. I stopped and rode in a few circles to give it a rest, such as at the 1:00 mark. The next climb also got it to beep at me with the same error, which I responded by just lowering it to eco mode.


I recall that the motor was clunkier when new, such as when it engaged. I also remember that the motor would chatter if I put pressure on the pedal while stopped and let it roll backwards slowly. It stopped doing it gradually and I almost forgot about it.

I recall the shroud on the firebolt shifter coming off in a fall, but it snapped back on. The stock chainring is still going creak-free after 7k miles (on my 3rd cassette, with about 2 chains per cassette). I forgot my Bluetooth connect password, so I haven't updated it in a while. I set the Trail mode to medium and Boost to low in the app. It's still the stock one. The battery doesn't lose its 1st bar from full charge too quickly, yet.

When you have five bars on the meter, does it mean you have 100% or 81% left?

 

[electricbogaloo]

A german mag did a survey and the answers show that shimano might be one of the more reliable motors after all:

Top line reads: "With which motor manufacturer did you have problems?"

Auswertung Umfrage: War Ihr Motor schon defekt?

Antriebsschäden am E-MTB sind ärgerlich – aber leider keine Seltenheit. Daher startete EMTB die Umfrage "Motorschäden am E-MTB", über 1900 E-MTB Fans nahmen teil. Jetzt sind die Antworten ausgewertet.

www.bike-magazin.de

 

[jimbob]

Always difficult to tell from those studies though as they dont take into account the different numbers of motors out there.

Would be interesting to do a poll of forum members of what mileage they have, and if they have had a failure at what mileage it occourd. Coukd also look at the types of riding people do. Should give a reasonable idea of actual reliability if enough people answerd.

 

[electricbogaloo]

Well they took that into account with bosch being most widely used in germany and in the ample group while Shimano came second. So it shows the tendency reflected in real life that Brose is prone to failure.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Another 150 miles on mine this week, up to 3300 trouble free miles. 60 of those miles since yesterday in monsoon rains then wet wet wet mud today......

 

[jimbob]

Tonights ride took me over the 500mile point. Only had the bike 2 months now, so should get some high mileage at this rate! Although the dark nights may slow it down a little.

I dont seem to be able to do less than 20 miles each ride, even when just 'popping out for half an hour'.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Another 300 in the last 2 weeks brings me up to 3600 trouble free happy miles....

 

[MrBrownstone]

3780 miles and I finally destroyed the motor today. Not even rideable now. Just skips, cracks, creaks. It’s loud. At the shop now.

 

[steve_sordy]

@myapes took his Shimano e8000 into the shop, just under the 2 year warranty with over 5200 miles. The BB was shot, but just rideable. He will be picking up his bike with its new motor tomorrow! He had been riding with a very noisy BB for a few months but wanted to make sure it would definitely be warrantable before taking it in.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Mine started making a cracking noise this am on the 1st 15 mile ride, then became unbearable 4 hours later during my lunch break 15 miler. Both rides involve steep techy climbing.

 

[iXi]

First motor 1700ks then dead. This one 6000ks. So far so good, only issue is when pedalling in a high gear and at 120+ cadence and assist cuts out the motor sounds like its got marbles in it.

 

[steve_sordy]

I wonder if electric motors are a bit like many electrical goods? Electrical goods like TVs, ovens etc suffer from what is termed "infant mortality". If they don't die young then they last for ages, but the average is good.
But electricity and water don't mix well, so washing machines can fail at any time and often do.

Maybe emtb motors are more like washing machines? Sometimes they fail early and sometime they go on for ten years or more (we've had both, and everything in between).

 

[Armeniandave]

First motor crapped out at 1500 miles and now the second is done at 1200 miles... I do ride it hard
and almost always in eco but it just doesn't seem to hold up. First one had excessive bearing play
and this one has what appears to be a broken gear inside as it's slipping constantly under load.

 

[nosenada]

My e8000 motor started slipping at about 2,600 miles. Shimano agreed to warranty about a month ago, but the motors are backordered.

 

[Armeniandave]

Well I'm in San Diego and YT and Shimano are about an hour away so I
got my motor in a few days which was great! The not so great is that it's
set to EU region instead of America. So top speed right now is 16mph instead
of 20mph. I have to say 16mph feels really slow. Working with YT to fix it
but so far they've been swamped.

 

[urastus]

Got well over 7k miles on my E8000. Got mine in Nov/Dec '18, a Motobecane HAL-E Boost (catalog version of a Vitus E-Sommet, without the custom geo).

I got repeated W0010 errors yesterday while climbing in Boost mode in over 104 F heat, which I assumed meant that it was close to overheating. First time getting this specific error--it'd beep twice after about 2 minutes of sustained climbing, but it wouldn't cut power or anything. I just reduced the assistance level when convenient, in response. Other than that, my only real complaint is the whirring sound it makes, like a big version of a radio-controlled car's motor. Mine also is beginning to creak quietly when I put pressure on the left crank, which I can only hear where it's very quiet.

I also just ride and lube the chain, without cleaning it. I consider it a benefit of living in a desert valley. Lack of moisture preserves things pretty well. My last 1000 miles was from me riding 4x4/moto tracks in the hills around my area due to the pandemic.

I made the time-lapse of that ride I had yesterday public to share here, to show what kind of hills gave the error. I stopped and rode in a few circles to give it a rest, such as at the 1:00 mark. The next climb also got it to beep at me with the same error, which I responded by just lowering it to eco mode.


I recall that the motor was clunkier when new, such as when it engaged. I also remember that the motor would chatter if I put pressure on the pedal while stopped and let it roll backwards slowly. It stopped doing it gradually and I almost forgot about it.

I recall the shroud on the firebolt shifter coming off in a fall, but it snapped back on. The stock chainring is still going creak-free after 7k miles (on my 3rd cassette, with about 2 chains per cassette). I forgot my Bluetooth connect password, so I haven't updated it in a while. I set the Trail mode to medium and Boost to low in the app. It's still the stock one. The battery doesn't lose its 1st bar from full charge too quickly, yet.

Do you live in elsinore? Do they still have a big race there? There's some good footage of Elsinore in the 70's here.