Maintenance and Mechanical Issues

Recently I took the plunge and decided to attempt a mountain trail as a shortcut in my commute. Little did I know that only half the trail was an actual fire road and the rest was a rocky stream bed. The jolts and jars bent my motor mount and did a number on my rear wheel.

Luckily the motor mount is aluminum so I could bend it back just by leaning on it. My wheel was old anyway and I had planned on replacing it so no harm there. My chain on the other hand is another story.

After this jaunt in the canyon I was having an awful time trying to keep my chain on my front cog. It just kept falling off. A closer inspection showed it bent and mangled in three places and one of the links had nearly popped apart. A short ride to the bike shop for a new chain and I was back in business.

While attempting to adjust the chain stay that is mounted to the motor I somehow managed to bend it. Not wanted to have to order another one I decided to try and make due without it. I wasn't really motivated to replace it anyway because that thing has been a pain ever since I installed the motor. The two cogs are so close together that if your chain drops it is all but impossible to reinstall it without breaking the chain.

So far I've had no problems and I actually like it better. One thing I have noticed is that if I go over any larger bumps the chain is more likely to jump off the motor cog but that's no problem now since a simple lift of the chain fixes it. Time to reseat the chain now is around 5 seconds vs. 30 sec to a minute with the chain stay.