KMB Electric Folding Bike

The motor looks like a currie in the pic. 2x12V SLAs and 250W motor. This the one?
King's Motor Bikes Electric Folding Bike
If the controller is external to the motor, you can upgrade the controller to 36V and add a third SLA battery. However, it could overheat that 250w motor. The motor is mounted externally, so it will be easy to replace if you melt it.
For $179 ebike, it's probably worth an attempt.
If the upgrade to 36v works OK, it might be worth getting LiPo batteries when the SLAs give out.
 
ok thank u. i ordered it and a gas bike. im gonna be riding the electric for fun and shot distances while the gas for riding around town and stuff. il try that when i get a job finally and money
 
You will have to let us know how well the KMB efolder works. You normally pay more than that for a folding bike without electric assist.
 
I've got one. Top speed is 10mph, range is about three miles. No good way of telling how much charge you have, or when the charger is finished charging. Charger light is always green (indicating a full charge) even when the battery is drained. Headlight shows five lights (also indicating a full charge) even you only have a quarter mile to go before you start to lose charge. So, when you get five lights and a green light from the charger, how much charge do you really have? You don't know.
 
It was a problem with the manual. It says to charge the battery with the key switch turned off. If you do this you get a very incomplete charge. You need to charge the battery with the key switch turned on for a complete charge.

I don't think the battery was fully charged when I got the bike. I incorrectly thought it was because I was trying to charge with the key switch turned off, and when I got the green light I thought that meant it was fully charged. So my range estimate (which is how far it went before running out of juice) is bogus.

Also, I didn't notice that the rear brakes were rubbing, which reduced speed and range.

Working much better now!

BTW, it does fold up into a trunk of a car very well.
 
I have one.

The company sucks. They didn't send it out next day, like promised, but about a week later. That happened to be the last week of decent weather. I had roughly 3 days of above 0 temps to test it out. I spent them buying new pedals because it was missing one, and then fixing the chains, they kept falling off. About the time I got it ride-worthy, bitter bitter cold set in. Oh, and the part where it folds in the middle was bent when it arrived, I had to unbend it with a crow bar before I could even straighted out the bike. It's still been cold, so it's been garaged all but one fluke 50 degree day in January. I still can't get it unfolded, but haven't tried too hard. I rode it that day in january, it's kinda fun. Low speed, but I knew that. Pedaling with the motor doesn't help it go faster, the engine just stops if you go fast enough.

I haven't had any problems with the battery. When I charge it, the light stays red for a little while, then turns green. But I haven't tested the range.

Oh, and if you bungee a dog crate to the back, your dachshund doesn't speak to you for a few days :).
 
Did not have any of those problems. It was road worthy within an hour or so after I opened the box. Pedaling with the motor does help it go faster, but because it is geared down so low you have to pedal really fast to make much of a difference. Motor never shuts off. Chains never fall off.

You are, of course, charging it with the switch ON (not off as the manual says) I presume? Charging with the switch off gives a weak charge at best.

One big problem - I have had three flat tires since I got it about a month ago. Always in the rear wheel. When I find the time I am going to look at it real hard to see if a spoke is punching through or something like that.
 
hi i have kmv bike----when sliding battery in on the bottom there are 4 flat metal pins in a black plastic piece its about 1/4 inch by 2 inch that go up inside the battery--this part is broken--any idea where to get----thanks
 
No clue..
That's the problem with those battery cases.. They suck..
Your best bet is to remove the entire black piece, and directly connect the wires to the controller side wires.
 
i tried calling kings where i bought bike---there service is open about 2 hours a day---will call again tommorow----i thought about doin wat you said---these guys seemed to want to sell but after the sale ?? thanks i will update when i get them??
 
I've tried contacting him for months.. To no avail...
Wanting to purchase a bulk order of the chopper bikes..
For some reason, no response..
 
tried again today--4/19/11--called several times--877-354-3733---only get recording?? says to leave message cant ?? looks like going going gone ??
 
Hi, my name is Austin I read that you have some of you own a KMB folding electric bikes and i was thinking about buying one. I was wondering do you have to pedal the whole time you are riding or will the motor carry you by itself?

Thanks,

Austin Ward - Home
 
Sorry about the above post I'm a newbie and that was my fist post I didn't know it was going to be bold and obnoxious.

Thanks
 
Just bought one of these. This is my first experience with any type of motor-assisted bike. I have a couple problems right away.

Right out of the box, the plastic casing has a large crack on the back, looks like it tried to twist off where it attached to the frame. It's not loose or anything but the crack is ugly. If this is just a cosmetic issue I guess I can cover it with electrical tape. (I just want to confirm--the crack shouldn't be dangerous, right?) Probably Fedex's fault so KMB likely won't do anything about it, not to mention the arm and leg I would have to pay to ship it back to them. Still, I'm pissed something brand-new arrived damaged.

Like a previous poster, my charger gives a false reading. When plugged into only the bike it showed green; when plugged into the wall, it shows red. It never changes to the amber "charging" light. Since the charger was green, we took the bike for a test drive. The battery level lights were about half-full and it made a short trip to the store successfully. It been plugged in for the recommended amount of time now--about to see if it actually charged. Looks like I should also try charging with the key turned since apparently the manual is wrong. If they sent us a completely broken charger I'm going to call and email their support, as I don't appreciate spending money on something broken. :(
 
Crack is probably harmless, charger will only charge when the key is on, and then it will be red when it is charging, green when it is charged - just make sure the key is ON.
 
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