
By far the most popular upgrade available, The Upgrade kit includes a new motor controller and new color display. The combination allows you to finally unleash the full potential of the stock motor and battery. This is THE upgrade kit your friends have been talking about.
35a controller and New Color LCD8H.
PLEASE READ FULL DISCRIPTION BEFORE ORDERING. CUSTOMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RETURN SHIPPING AND A 10% RESTOCKING FEE.
Plug and play for 2016-2018 Rover bikes. Please note that the controller has a tail light plug that will not be used. We do not recommend upgraded lights as it can burn up the headlight circuit.
Plug and play for 2019-2021 Rover models. (Up to Rover 5) (Not compatible with Rover 6) Will only work with stock 200 lumen headlight, will not work with the 500 Lumen headlights. THE 500 will burn up your controller.
Mini - Although also typically plug and play for 2018 and prior, this controller is substantially larger than stock and will not fit inside the frame or stock mounting locations. May have a different battery plug. Please check your bike and photos before ordering.
Older City or Wagon Models - Untested, but customers have reported it works well. Setting adjustments may be required. Controller may not fit correctly. Additional mounting hardware may be required. NOT compatible with new Radwagon 5.
Rover 6 + STEPOVER & STEP THROUGH- Does not work
Runner - Tested and working on prior models.
Rad 5Expand - works
Mission - Works, we recomend turning max power down.
Runner Two - Untested by Area 13, but customers have reported it is compatible.
Runner Plus - Tested and Working. NOT COMPATIBLE WITH 500 LUMEN STOCK HEADLIGHT.
Works with all European/Canadian models except Rover 6
Compatible with both 48v and 52 batteries. (NOT recommended for 60v)
Dimensions: 7.5" x 3.25" x 1.75"
How to Program:
The LCD screen has a handlebar mounted switch with three buttons, UP, DOWN, and a center Power button. 1. Start with battery and handlebar switch on. The LCD will be off.
2. Turn on LCD by pressing and holding POWER button. Holding the UP button will turn on the backlight if needed.
3. Within 5 seconds of turning LCD on, press and hold BOTH UP, and DOWN buttons for a few seconds to enter the settings mode.
Brief explanations are as follows.
P1 Motor Characteristic Parameter Setting Mode (100, 46 for direct drive motors on the Radcity or some Radwagon models)
P2 Wheel Speed Pulse Signal Setting Mode (5, 6 for upgraded 750w motors)
P3 Power Assist Control Mode (1)
P4 Handlebar Startup Mode (0)
P5 Power Monitoring Mode (15)
C1 Power Assist Sensor and Parameter Selection Mode (3)
C2 Motor Phase Classification Coding Mode (0)
C3 Power Assist Ratio Gear Initialization Mode (1)
C4 Handlebar Function Setting Mode (0)
C5 Controller Maximum Current Adjustment Mode (6)
C6 Backlight Brightness Adjustment Mode (3)
C7 Cruise Function Setting Mode (0 or 1. Setting to 1 enables cruise. While riding, hold the DOWN button to enable cruise control. Using the throttle or brakes will disable the cruise.
C8 Motor Operating Temperature Display Mode (0)
C9 Power-on Password Setting Mode (0)
C10 Automatic Restore Default Setting Mode (n)
C11 Attribute Selection Mode (0)
C12 Controller Minimum Voltage Adjustment Mode (4)
C13 ABS brakes of the controller and parameters of anti-charge control (0)
C14 Power-assist tuning parameters (1)
Press and hold POWER at any time to exit the setup mode.
Troubleshooting
* This is a universal kit. New controller may not fit in stock location and physical size may be different.
I cannot get my headlight to turn on:
Long press the UP arrow to turn the lights on and off.
Pedal assist is not working properly:
- If after adjusting the settings your pedal assist still does not work, check the following cables to ensure they are fully plugged in, check the pedal assist sensor connection. Make there is no bent or pins, and it is fully seated together:
- Pedal assist connector (yellow 3 pin coming from sensor)
- Motor Cable
- Main wiring harness (the one typically ran through the frame). Make sure there is NO bent pins
- If all the connections are good and no damage done to the pins or connectors, try changing the C1 setting to 2.
- If it still does not function, please check to make sure the motor works with throttle to eliminate a different type of problem. If throttle works but the pedal assist does not, the next step would be a different pedal assist sensor, or the stock motor controller and display. This should narrow down where the problem is occurring.
“Motor position sensor fault” or “Motor or controller short circuit fault!”:
In nearly all cases of receiving this error, the motor cable is not fully seated. Please note that the arrows can sometimes be up to 1/8th turn off. The cable should be firmly seated with the lines around the circumference of each half of the plug nearly flush. Wiggle back and forth on both cables and push firmly together.
I have a 48v battery, but it says 53v (or similar):
This is perfectly normal. A 48v battery when fully charged will be about 54 volts.
My battery voltage is over 48v, but the gauge reads empty:
Take the bike for a ride! Depending on settings it may be waiting for calibration. A few seconds of riding should fix this. If the problem persists, check the main harness connection coming from the controller through the frame and up to the handlebars. Check for any bent pins. A single bent pin will cause issues.
My speed does not read correctly, it jumps up to 49mph when coasting (and/or reads 0):
Please verify your P2 setting. An incorrect setting here will cause the wrong speed to be displayed when coasting. Also make sure you have the correct wheel dimension (DIM). The dimension is the overall tire diameter, not just the rim size. P2 = 5 for stock motor. P2 = 6 for upgraded Bafang 750W motor.
RadCity and RadWagon (direct drive motor):
Note that some settings may need to be changed for proper operation. P1 is determined by the number of magnets or poles in the motor as well as the gear reduction. As the RadCity and older RadWagon have a direct drive motor, use the setting 46 for P1. P2 may also require a change for a correct speed reading.
Motor or system shuts down while riding:
Adjust your C5 setting to a lower current output. Settings 0-2 are different take off speeds followed by max power. 3 is the lowest current output and 10 is the highest. Take the bike for a spin and adjust the current output till you find a happy medium the controller and motor are happy with. For stock motors, we recommend 5 - 7 for C5.
CHECK OUT THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR STEP BY STEP SET UP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0F6x8V0NZQ
*The Upgrade Kit is created for specific models of Rad bikes, and that name is used for part compatibility or identification only. We are not affiliated with that company and this item is an aftermarket part.
Reviews
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Rad Rover...
Bike is more responsive now and so glad i took the time and effort to upgrade.
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Upgrade kit...
The kit is a lot faster than stock even with my shinco 241 tires, I’ve been riding my radrunner to school everyday for the last 2 weeks and its had no problems yet. My one complaint is when doing wheelies at more than around 5 mph if I let off the throttle it takes a second to come back on making it really hard to keep it up. Stock controller had some delay but it was manageable whereas this is not. Bad for wheelies great for normal riding or cruising. If there’s a way to fix the delay please let me know.
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The Upgrade Kit 1st gen...
The kit is fairly straightforward. Not sure if I can use the taillight cable if my bike didn’t originally come with one but, I don’t see why not. The kit comes with the display shown in the description but, that is not the display that is covered in the online video. The display also comes with another menu option not discussed. Still tweaking the parameters after two weeks since there is no concise info about what changing certain parameters will actually accomplish or what they pertain to. I have noticed the torque boost. As for top speed, I haven’t been able to get any gps to respond fast enough so I can verify (this is not area13’s problem). Overall I am pleased and look forward to seeing if I can fit the 19ah rad battery upgrade into my 1st gen frame; I just don’t want to pay return shipping if it doesn’t.
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Plug and...
My upgrade kit arrived quickly and all the plugs fit, had it installed in less than an hour. Hardest part was mounting the controller. Performance is great, lots more hill climbing power! Although I guess I'm going to break something in the motor sooner than later with all the additional stress/wattage. I would like to know what all the settings are for so I could tune it in. Great kit, highly recommend....when is the Rad6 kit coming out?
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Thumbs up for hill...
I am not an experienced bicycle rider, never rode as a kid. We purchased 2 Rad Rover 5 ebikes 2 years ago and now have about 4,000 miles on them. Needless to say, we absolutely love them. I still had to really work hard on some of the big hills we have encountered (hubby able to power up with strong legs) so the upgrade sounded like a good choice for me. Success! I am now able to climb those hills alongside my hubby and my knees don't have to strain. I use PAS 1 most of the time so as to have throttle available at all times. I can't take off without the throttle due to knee problems and the fact that I wobble at slow speed ... lol. The extra power at low speed was a little intimidating at first and I still don't know if I love the faster pace with each pedal rotation when I want to go slowly but feel that it's something I'll get used to hopefully. I also am encountering some surging when trying to apply just a little throttle even though I'm keeping the throttle steady. Don't know if that's me or something to do with gearing, PAS or ?. Overall, I'm very happy with this product and glad I purchased it. Install was fairly simple, just followed youtube video instructions and programming was also pretty straightforward. Thanks for all you do for the ebiking community Area 13. Keep up the good work
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35 A Controller upgrade for RadCity 5...
Not plug and play for my bike. Motor is 9 pin, controller motor connection is 3 pin. Also, 5 pin display connector doesn’t line up with Rad City connector. Same issue with battery connector. The 35A controller is quite large and it was hard to find a mount location. I have identified a spot. But I’ve had to purchase cable extensions. I haven’t given up. But I’ve had to purchase a lot of things and modify others to get this to work. I’m still waiting for items to finish up. I hope it ultimately works. Definitely NOT plug and play!
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fantastic upgrade but need settings help[
thanks area 13 for the upgrade. turned sluggish bike into a rocket. my problem is I can't get my mph reading to be correct. I've tried all different wheel sizes which gives me too low mph reads. my bike is a 2021 rad mini 2 with 20"wheels. help please. also is there a way to change pas settings. mine currently increases speed up to pas 3 then no difference in pas 4 & 5. I've been on the setting screen setup but don't know what to do
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Boosted!
The process of changing out the upgrade parts was relatively simple, and they fit snugly, but well. After getting the correct parameters program, all work exceptionally well. I appreciate better responsiveness, and better utilization of inherent power.
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The Upgrade...
The Upgrade Kit