Noisy Kenevo

[Darryl]

My 2019 Kenevo has started making a horrible whining noise at lowish speeds. The noise only occurs when pedalling in the lower gears, disappears when I pick some speed and start going through the gears.

I made a video of the noise by mounting my phone on the handlebars.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YJzCsS8VeNB82jmj6

Anyone have any idea what could cause the noise and how I might get rid of it?

 

[Dfriz]

Sounds like a tight Motor Drive Belt?

 

[Darryl]

Sounds like a tight Motor Drive Belt?

Thanks for your suggestion, I hadn’t considered the belt might be too tight.
I wondered if the belt might be a little loose. I have just come back from Berkshire Cycles where Chris re-tightened every thing on the bike, he also added a liitle more tension to the drive belt.
I’ll try the bike tomorrow and find out if it’s made any difference.

 

[Webike]

Didn't Chris have to remove the motor from the frame to tighten the belt via the external screw on "TOP" (?) of the motor? I'd be interested if the tighter belt reduces the noise level so let us know.
I've always wondered if the SPRAG clutch has anything to do with the noise level since the belt is a fiber reinforced rubberized material and one would think it would not transmit vibration very well..?? I have the opposite problem with noise increasing as the pedal pressure and motor temperature increases...Odd!

 

[Darryl]

Yes, he did have to remove the motor to get to the tensioner screw. I will update this thread tomorrow once I’ve tried the bike out.
I now think the noise is only present when the motor gets warm (around 37 C). When I first got to Berkshire Cycles there was no noise, so I took it for a ride to warm the motor up and the noise came back.

 

[Darryl]

So after a day of riding around swinley I can report the noise is a lot better. It is still there but it’s not as bad as it was.
I am spinning at around 100rpm when the noise starts, so I’ve started clicking up through the gears to get rid of the noise

 

[Webike]

Thanks for the update Darryl.
Evidently the tension of the drive belt is critical but it still seems odd that a rubber belt can produce so much noise with a slight increase of motor temperature. My wife's Levo is completely silent at all times.