Buying A Used E-Bike? Check These Places First & Don’t Get Screwed!

Big Thanks to Rad Power Bikes for helping me with this edition of the Ebikes For Good Giveaway!
Entry form at https://www.ebikeschool.com/ebikesforgood
My book “DIY Lithium Batteries” on sale at http://amzn.to/2jbxvzS
My book “Ultimate DIY eBike Guide” on sale at: http://amzn.to/2BGx4Fn

The gear I use to make my videos:
Camera – Sony A6600: https://amzn.to/33twRHW
Lens – Sony 16-55mm F2.8: https://amzn.to/3K8X6nR
Thermal camera for iPhone/Android: http://amzn.to/2FikWvW
Drone for “follow me” filming: https://amzn.to/2UFOds5
Camera for invisible selfie stick shots: https://amzn.to/2Vb9D0r
Microphone: https://amzn.to/3v4WwVL

hey everyone Micah here with ebikeschool.com and this is a used electric bike now you might be in the market for buying a used ebike because it’s a great way to save a lot of money ebikes are expensive and used can be a great budget option however you want to be careful when looking at used ebikes on places like Facebook Marketplace Craigslist wherever you shop to make sure that you’re getting a good bike and that there aren’t hidden problems in here in today’s video I’m going to go over a bunch of different areas on a bike that you want to look at and inspect when you go to check out and potentially buy a used electric bike and by the way someone watching this video right now maybe you is going to win a free ebike at the end of this video it’s part of a program I started called ebikes for good and this time it’s going to be a rad power bikes rad Runner 2 that we’re giving away so make sure you stick around to the end of the video to see how that could be you now when you’re looking at a potential used ebike to buy one of the first things you want to figure out is how old is this bike and there are a few ways to do it first of all you want to research the model this bike here is a rad power bike rad Mission if you go online and you look you’ll see that this model was discontinued in late 2022 early 2023 which means that as of right now the youngest this ebike can be is about a year and a half or so now as the original owner of the bike I know that it’s about 3 and 1/2 years old because this is one of the first rad missions ever made but unless the owner is going to volunteer that kind of information you got to use some other Clues to try and figure some of this stuff out researching the bike online will also tell you if there have been any recalls or other issues with the bike that you want to steer clear of one of the reasons that it’s really important to get an idea of the age of the bike is because different quality bikes are going to last different amounts of time if you look at really highend bike something that originally cost like three four $5,000 MSRP from the retailer those bikes can last many years you know 5 years is is not a insignificant amount of time and those bikes can do it but if you’re looking at cheaper bikes bikes that originally retailed for like $1,000 after just a year or two those bikes can really start to show their age in terms of the lower quality components and the wear that they’re developing researching this specific model online will also tell you if the business is even still operating there have been a lot of ebike companies that have gone out of business in the last few years and for those types of bikes it can be difficult to find replacement parts in the future you know some parts are pretty common pedals chains cassettes handlebars Etc you can find those pretty much anywhere they’re all interchangeable but bigger Parts like the battery that could be a problem to find if the company’s gone out of business so I generally recommend steering clear of those bikes that have gone out of business unless you know going in that you’re taking a risk and you can get a a much better price for those next it’s always a good idea to look for signs that the bike has been in a crash any significant damage important places to look are joints along the frame where frame members come together it’s a good idea to just look around for any sort of cracking um paint That’s starting to develop a crack in it which could be an indication that the metal underneath is fatiguing that sort of thing next a Telltale sign of a crash is to come look at both the brake levers here as well as the ends of the bars the other spot that bikes usually show crash signs is at the edge of the pedals here so anytime a bike is moving fairly quickly and goes down these are the three points that usually make contact with the ground if you see long sort of linear scrape marks on any of these points that means the bike was in a crash before sometimes there’s just like a little scrape mark or a little bump and that might just mean that the bike fell over once or twice not as big of a deal but if you see big long linear scratches that’s a crash another place to look is how true the wheel is so pick the bike up and spin that tire and see if it spins nice and straight or if it’s more of a wobbly pizza dough kind of situation same thing in the back just you know rock the bike up on the kickstand spin that pedal and take a look and see if that wheel is spinning nice and straight or if it’s sort of got that you know pizza pie in the air when they throw it up kind of situation those are the main points where you’re going to see crash damage and indic that this Frame or other components have undergone some pretty significant [Music] damage next let’s talk about that battery because this can be one of the most expensive Parts on an ebike so you don’t want to mess this up the biggest issue with batteries is just age ebike batteries will break down over time and they’re just not going to work as well so it’s a good idea to get an idea of the age of the battery here as I mentioned earlier you know for a really good quality you know high dollar ebike those batteries are going to last years and years but on cheaper ebikes they can start wearing down and showing their age within just a few years a good way to test if the battery still has good strength or not is to get on and do a test ride and look at either the voltage on the display or the battery capacity this is most easily done when the battery is around half charge or so and not at the fully charged end or the almost discharged end of the battery so hop on that bike put it in full power mode you know full power pedal assist or full power for the throttle yank that throttle or step on the pedal is just really hard and see if the battery capacity meter drops if it drops significantly that’s called voltage sag and it’s not a good indication for the battery’s Health now a little bit of voltage sag is normal even a Brand New Day One battery is going to have some voltage sag but if the batter is at like half full and when you twist that throttle it drops you know a couple of battery bars or something that’s a bad sign it means the battery is pretty weak there are other things to look for that are kind of red flags as well most ebike batteries are going to have some sort of tamper seal at a seam somewhere on the battery look for this sticker and see if it’s been broken if it has that’s an indication that the battery’s been opened probably some sort of DIY at home repair or an unauthorized repair shop next pop the battery out and look at the battery contacts if you see like a bluish or greenish corrosion or staining that’s an indication that the battery has gotten wet several times and those contacts are starting to corrode that doesn’t necessarily mean the batter is bad on this ebike you know I’ve got that I’ve left this bike out in the rain many times and it still works great but if you have a cheaper ebike and the battery is not very well sealed it could mean problems down the road it’s also a good idea to check the original manufacturer’s images on the website and compare them to the battery that you’re seeing on the bike to see if it really is the original battery or if it’s been replaced by some sort of Cheaper thirdparty battery over time same thing with the battery charger try and get a look at the battery charger to see if it’s the original real battery charger that came with the bike or if perhaps they lost it or they got some aftermarket charger next you’re going to want to test every part of the electrical system obviously does the bike turn on that sort of thing but run through all the options in the display to make sure it works go through all of those different pedal assist levels put it in high power low power everything turn that motor on listen to see if you’ve got any crunching noises any grinding noises something that could indicate that the uh gears and those teeth on those gears are starting to wear down in those geared Motors you may also want to test it on a hill if you have one in the area and they’ll let you try it out put it on a steep hill so you can really do a heavy load test on it to see if you hear any of that grinding noise from sort of an old worn out motor check around the other parts of the bikes like the headlight the tail light any turn signals that the bike might have horn buttons other auxiliary buttons any sort of other functions the bike may have test those out even things like the brake cut offs when you turn the bike on and you run the motor up if you pull the brake lever will the motor suddenly stop and cut out correctly like it should that sort of thing then move on to the mechanical components things like brakes are pretty obvious you know test ride the bike make sure the brakes work but more than that get down there and look at them if you take a look at this bike here the brake cable is actually starting to fray you can see it’s starting to come out of the rest of the cable here which is not a great sign you know that shows that the bike’s uh cables are older they’re probably more brittle and they may need to be replaced soon another thing to look at is just how far they are adjusted here you can see that the arm from this caliper is almost all the way adjusted down so when I pull the brake lever it’s almost bottoming out here that shows that these brake pads are super worn down and that they’re probably going to need to be replaced soon again not a terrible thing you know it doesn’t say that the bike is bad but it does indicate some upcoming expenses that you might need to worry about same thing like the tires get in here and check look for any brittle marks any cracking in Old Tires Tire rot just like you would in a car again doesn’t mean the bike is bad per se but that you might have you know some upcoming expenses here and perhaps it’s even something you can use in the negotiations telling the seller hey look you know these tires I’m going to have to replace these right away that’s 100 bucks right there can you knock 100 bucks off the price this bike is a single speed so there’s no you know transmission to worry about in terms of Shifting Gears but still run through make sure that everything is lining up properly here if you do have gears shift those gears make sure the derailer is working a lot of ebikes spend their entire life in Top Gear you know people don’t shift those gears cuz they’re using the throttle so it could be the derailer stuck or has other problems check that chain is everything sort sort of like nasty and gunky and gross sort of like my Shan here which I’m a bit embarrassed to show you or has it been really wellmaintained and really well taken care of in this case you know this bike I’ve given it a hard life I’ve ridden it off-road which is not meant for I don’t think I’ve ever oiled the chain um you know I’ve got a lot of bikes unfortunately this one got a bit neglected because it was a lower cost bike it’s still holding up really well but it shows you you can really see when you look at these parts of the bikes if the bike was wellmaintained and well cared for or if it was a bit neglected one last place a lot of people forget to check is suspension now this is a rigid bike so I don’t have a suspension Fork here but check those seals do things look brittle and cracking is it uh leaking oil or if it’s a spring you know when you bounce it do you hear like the spring bouncing around like it’s loose or parts are broken that sort of thing basically check all those mechanical parts and look for failures look for things that are broken and basically get an idea of whether it looks like it’s been wellmaintained and cared for or not one important thing to ask the seller of any used bike is if they have some sort of proof of ownership can they show you a receipt from when they bought it this is good because it not only shows you that the bike wasn’t stolen but if they have their receipt and they can show it to you then it’s a way to check to see how old the bike is you can see exactly when they bought it if they can’t show you a receipt maybe they say you know they bought it from someone else then that is either an indication that this is like you know second third-and bike it’s got some use on it it’s would passed around or it you know it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s stolen but it shows that it doesn’t have a well documented p so it’s something to consider now if they do have the receipt and then give that to you it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be able to transfer that warranty if it’s still within the warranty period some ebike companies will say that the warranty is just for the original owner it doesn’t transfer with a third party sale so keep that in [Music] mind so these are all the main things that I look for when I’m looking at a used electric bike for sale it’s not a fallproof way but a lot of these are indications that can give you an idea of the age of the bike the quality of the battery the type of Maintenance or care it’s had along the way and whether it’s been in any major crashes or accidents now I mentioned at the beginning of this video that someone watching would be winning a free ebike and I am super excited to partner with rad power bikes to be giving away a rad Runner 2 this time this is part of a program I started called ebikes for good where I give away a free ebike at the end of every one of my videos by partnering with an awesome ebike company as you’ve seen this rad Mission it’s about 3 and 1/2 years old and it’s still working awesome even with not being that wellmaintained so I have been super happy with all of the rad power bikes that I’ve had over the years and I know that they’re good quality because they’ve just really lasted for me in this case the rad Runner 2 is an awesome ebike for all sorts of uses whether you’re a commuter you want a utility bike for getting around something like a cargo bike that can carry you know kids on the back or gear cargo baskets boxes whatever you strap to that thing it is a great bike for those purposes it’s powerful it’s fast it’s multi-purpose it’s got a big battery on it basically it’s got everything that most people want in an electric bike it doesn’t fold they’ve got other models for that it’s not a super long cargo bike again they’ve got other models for that but it’s one of those bikes that does as many things as possible in one package and I think this is going to be an awesome ebike for somebody out there so how is this ebikes for good giveaway going to work basically if you are someone who an ebike would make a big impact in your life but you just can’t afford it it’s just Out Of Reach then I want you to head over to ebikeschool.com ebikes forgood there’s an entry form there and let me know your story let me know why you need an ebike maybe you needed to get to work to visit family to get to doctor’s appointments whatever it is share your story with me and then at the end of my next video there will be a random drawing among the deserving entrance to see who will win that free ebike big thanks again to rad power bikes for making this possible now it’s time to announce the winner of the ebikes for good giveaway from my last video and the randomly selected deserving entrance is Shan B so congratulations Shan I’m going to be excited to get that bike out for you if you guys want to be like Shawn and win a free ebike make sure you head on over to ebikeschool.com ebikes for good enter the giveaway and hopefully we can make it happen for you last but not least is time to announce the winner of the book giveaway for my last video in the randomly selected commenter who will win a free copy of one of my books is swe Creations so congratulations just let me know which one of my books you’d like you can choose from DIY lithium batteries DIY solar power the ultimate do-it-yourself ebike or my latest book the electric bike Manifesto and anybody else who wants a chance to win one of my books for free all you got to do is put a comment down below this video you could say anything you’d like and hopefully you’ll be the randomly selected commenter at the end of my next video if you don’t want to wait that long to hopefully win a free copy of one of my books you can always find them on Amazon all right thanks for watching Everybody I’ll see you here next time oh