burlingtobike

I dry off my bike thoroughly after a rainy ride; however, I wonder if anyone has any ideas or experience with sealants or a cover. I live in the northeast (USA). So I get rain and would like to make my bike less likely to become corroded (If I forget to dry it or miss a spot). Any experience with this process? I've read about tapes and sprays online but I just wanted to hear about other people's experiences. My bike is the Roadrunner 3 plus. I try to avoid riding in the rain, but sometimes I do cause it is my transportation to work most days.
Thank you in advance for your kind and helpful suggestions! I appreciate your help and advice!
I am new to both bike forums and e-biking so I apologize if this topic has already been covered for E-bikes.
-New E Biker

veganbikes

I wouldn't use any sealant as that could be a nightmare when you will need to do service. I would just maintain your bike well and rain won't be an issue. With systems like Bosch they are well sealed from the elements and I do mean well sealed. I have taken my bike in heavy downpours that I wish I hadn't been in with my battery charge port wide open flooded with rain and haven't had any issues since and that was well over a year and a half a go that it first happened.

If you are wiping down your bike and lubricating things as needed and if you have good brakes which you would have upgraded to you should be OK. If the bike lives in the rain constantly then yeah it will take its toll and if the bike wasn't sealed well from the factory that could be an issue but I would ask radpower on that front. If nothing else ride this bike till it stops working and save up money towards a more rainproof bike with a system like Bosch or Shimano (or potentially Brose with the right builder, Raleigh didn't do so well with rainproofing but Specialized did)

2old

I would ask Rad what they recommend as stated above, but also important (to me) would be to cover the switches with a plastic baggie. I've heard of individuals sealing some areas of concern with RTV silicone which can be scraped off if it's necessary to open the engine.

sande005

Mine is garaged most of the time, but we did spend 3 months in the camper, where the only option was to leave them outside. I used this cover: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It stood up well to many big thunderstorms, and helped prevent issues with early morning condensation (dew). Never an issue with water and my Brooks saddle. Some reviews didn't like it for an all year solution, especially ongoing wear from winds and snow/ice, but for $12.....it's not a high risk investment to try out.

m@Robertson

One common technique for ebikes like the Rad that are less-than-waterproof is to use dielectric grease on all of the electrical connections. If you have HIGO/Julet plugs (color coded, round and water-resistant as-is) what you do is take a bit of the grease and moisten the female side of the connector before plugging it back together. Don't glop a bunch of it in on the male side which is the temptation.

Do the following only if riding in a downpour (I ride as a commuter so I don't pick/choose the weather I ride in). Keep this stuff in a bag - I use a quart ziploc - in case you need to put it on at work for the ride home, for instance.

The cable ingress points for the throttle, display and PAS panel are all vulnerable to water. Throw a baggie over the display. Use a rubber band to cinch it up underneath so the base of the bag has a drip point under the display and the cable cannot be sprayed from water coming up/back off the front wheel. For the throttle, take a baggie and slit it so its a straight sheet of plastic. Wrap it loosely around the throttle and use velcro ties to loosely affix it. I say loosely because you have to still be able to depress the throttle and it has to freely spring back.

A small bit of saran wrap over the PAS panel, with a rubber band to hold it on, takes care of that bit.

For drying a bike, I pick it up by the seatpost and fork blade ... and simply drop it a couple of times, letting it bounce on the pavement to a stop. That shakes off most of the water and I can just let it air dry from there.

If you can throw a cover on while its parked outside that never hurts.

2old

The other thing I would consider if this were a consideration for me (it's not since I reside in socal) would be to put shrink wrap on connectors where it's possible. It can always be cut off if necessary.

Pop N Wood

My cover is a garage.

Fenders keep road grit from getting mixed with the water. Pure water doesn't corrode that badly, but mixed with salt or chlorine and it might as well be acid.

Silicone on all electrical connections is a great idea, water or not.

Constantly unplugging connectors to try and keep them dry sounds self defeating to me. Seal them up with silicone and keep the connections tight.

Bafang does an excellent job of waterproofing their designs. There are on line guides if you want to go paranoid and seal everything for submersion level excursions.

Compressed air does a wonderful job of shedding water, especially on chains.

Always try and put a J hook where wires penetrate electronics. That way water runs down the cable and off, rather that straight into the grommet.