In Tune: The New Yamaha PW-X System
Yamaha, everyone has heard of them and you can have one powering your e-bike but who exactly are Yamaha. Yamaha was conceived in the mid-1950’s and they originally only made motorbikes and only sold them in Japan, to begin with. Now you can literally find a Yamaha product for every niche and everywhere in the world. The brand constantly evolves to bring you the newest and best products.
In 1993 they brought the world their new e-bike system and to date, there have been nearly 3 million bikes fitted with some form of the Yamaha system. Yamaha now have an exclusivity deal with Haibike with their eBike system powering the Haibike sDuro range, a range available from Fully Charged.
Lighter and Better
In 2015 Yamaha brought out their PW system and for 2017 this has evolved in the PW-X system. From a weight weenie point of view, the fact that unit has shrunk 13% in volume is great. They have managed this by utilising lighter materials and by re-designing certain parts. The drive gears are now narrower and the drive axle has become wider in circumference. Which allows the metal used to be thinner and results in a much lighter axle. You will also find that the mountain bike system no longer has a square taper crank axle and has moved over to an ISIS system. This is great news if you want a stiffer crank and trust me, everyone wants a stiffer crankset.
By reducing the weight of the system, you will now find that the whole system is way more responsive. What does this mean for you? Well, start pedalling and you will feel that the whole system engages much faster, the little lag that you used to have is now reduced. The motor will now be helping you faster than before and in a move that will even please Jeremy Clarkson, you will now have more torque.
Light Up Your Life
Now, do not think that Yamaha has only cared about the drive system. They have also been busy fine tuning the electronics and display system that they use. This means that you now have a more crash friendly display unit and that the control buttons are slightly more ergonomic. The LED is also a lot easier to read to tell you what mode you are in. In a move that should surprise no one the unit is now capable of pairing with your smartphone. Opening you up to more data than any statistician could ever need.
More Power
The extra torque we mentioned has jumped up to 80Nm. In order to help utilise this, Yamaha has created a Tim Taylor inspired “Extra Power”.This means instead of 4 assistance zones, you have 5. It is like going to 11, everyone loves one more. You can get to four but now you can one louder. You will find though that the torque is available all through the system’s range and not just to help top out the high end.
To help facilitate all of this Yamaha have also increased the battery specification. Before 2017 they were only available with 400Wh batteries. Now you can get 500Wh batteries as well as the 400Wh batteries. This means not only more power but more range. You just know that Tim “The Toolman” Taylor would love that.
