Well, there's good and bad after dropping the motor - the process of gaining access to the internals of the bottom bracket shell etc was incredibly easy and straightforward. No complications at all except to say that going over each of the electrical connections here failed to resolve anything. The whole harness system looks intact, almost like new and nothing untoward or obvious observed. It might be less frustrating if there was an area that was invisible of out of sight and so not readily accessible for inspection, but that's not the case. It all looks normal. Stiil, it won't stay on. Powering up briefly only to switch off seconds later. Arse! The Etube app is telling me nothing, no codes at all showing on the drive unit which is the only device that displays on the error log. Arse! I suppose I'll have to let the genius at my LBS have it. Bad things happen in 3's they say. This thread was a help nevertheless.
Mike,
I've not encountered an issue with a Rise where the bike has bricked but no error code has been thrown. That's unusual, I'm stumped.
Your local bike shop can hook your Rise's Shimano system up to a Shimano SM-PCE1 and perform a diagnostic check for code errors. If the bike shop does not locate the issue, i.e. a damaged wire, bad speed sensor pickup, etc., they will likely re-flash the motor's computer and install a new firmware update. Essentially they do a factory reset to see if that works.
I'm curious, did you recently perform an update on your Rise's Shimano system? If you did and the update was disrupted mid update, i.e. your phone went into sleep mode, it will brick the bike and require a firmware update using a SM-PCE1.
When you disconnected the main harness plug connections to the motor and battery, did the male/female contacts look okay, no corrosion or dirt?
Here are some "Long Shot" suggestions you might want to try before taking the bike in:
Have you tried wiggling the wires on the front of the bike while you ride and after the bike shuts off? The wires on the front of the bike are exposed. Sometimes, a wire will look okay visually, but internally the wire is damaged. Wiggling the wires at the mode switch and junction box as you ride may re-establish a connection and kick the motor back on.
You may have a issue with a cell in your frame battery going bad. If you have a range extender or can borrow a range extender from a friend, try running your Rise with the range extender. The Rise is programed to recognize the range extender and use it's power first and bypass the frame battery. If your Rise works, then your issue is with the frame battery or a bad connection at the main battery.
How does the wire to the rear speed sensor look at the rear of the bike? Sometimes a rock can kick up and damage the speed sensor wire where it exits out the inner side of the chain stay. The speed sensor wire can also get pinched/kinked where it attaches to the left (non drive) side black rubber guide tube. If the speed sensor wire goes bad, your bike will brick. Usually this will throw an error code when it occurs.
Are you still running the factory six bolt rotor and magnetic pickup on your rear brake rotor? Take a metal screw driver and place the tip of the screw driver on the rotor's magnet. Does it feel like the magnet has strong magnetism? You should feel a strong pull. Long term exposure to high heat, i.e. brake rotor, can damage a magnet's magnetism and it can lose power. If the magnet feels weak, you might want to consider replacing the magnet adapter.
I went through a phase where I was experimenting with various brake systems and brake rotors on my Rise. I tried various magnet adapters. I even experimented with gluing magnets to the rear brake rotor using superglue. None of the adapters I tried worked that well. Shimano power systems are finicky about magnetic pickup spacing. I also found that gluing magnets directly to the rear rotor did not work very well. Southern California has many long and steep downhill runs. I discovered that on steep runs, the magnet would become superheated and lose it's magnetism. My Rise would shut off. Once the magnet cooled off, my Rise would power up again.
As a side note, I just got back from a trip to Hurricane and Virgin Utah. If you've watched Red Bull Rampage, the riding takes place in Virgin Utah. There is some absolutely beautiful mesa riding in Virgin and Hurricane. Nearby Saint George also has some excellent technical riding. The weather was running in the low 40's, or about 5 Celsius at the trailhead. The wind was kicking up to about 30mph and it rained at times. It also snowed on the surrounding mountains. The riding was excellent. I didn't take many pictures this trip, but here are a few of those that I did take.
This trip, I took my Turbo Levo. My buddies seen pictured, were riding an Orbea Wild, Trek Rail, Pivot Shuttle LT and a Pivot Shuttle AM.
Saint George Utah, dropping into Sidewinder, Precipice and Suicidal Tendencies.
Precipice
Virgin Utah, Guacamole Mesa, Salt on the Rim
Guacamole Mesa with Zion National Park in the background
Guacamole has a beautiful combination of flow trail and technical rock crawling. It's very much like riding across the backs of a thousand humpback whales.
Zion National park
Virgin Utah
Gooseberry Mesa
Gooseberry Mesa
The good lookin dude is me...The cowboy in blue is EMTB forum subscriber Rusty Iron.
Hands down, the Main Street Café in Hurricane Utah is the best place to grab a bite. As a side note, the town of Hurricane gets it's name from the high winds that whip down out of the mountains.
