Issue with the reverse gear

sllmhjn

sllmhjn

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Hi guys,
I received my R18 first edition the last week. Took it out for a drive a couple of times. Absolutely love it. On my latest ride, I thought I’d try to reverse the bike using the reverse assist. So, turned on the bike, engaged the reverse gear and the display confirmed so by showing ‘R’
but pressing the button did nothing, the bike didn’t move an inch. I heard some whirring sound every time I tried to reverse the bike while still being in ‘R’ gear as confirmed on the screen but the bike didn’t move.
Has this happened to anyone else as well? If so, how was that remedied?
 
Sometimes the reverse gear doesn’t fully engage. A couple times I’ve had to reach down and push it while gently rocking the bike to get it to fall into place.
 
It’s more finicky than most people seem to think. It won’t work if you’re on the front brake for example...which happens often on exactly the occasions that you want reverse. Also, you can’t have the clutch engaged. Finally, it senses the grade, and if decides that it isn’t happy (too much of a grade) it will decide not to work. The annoying thing is that the indicator shows solid “R” even when the system decides not to work. See the owners manual page 51-52.
 
Thanks guys, the thing that concerned me was the whirring sound when pressing the button. It appeared to me as if the motor was in operation but failed to move the bike.
 
Alright, took it out again and tried the reverse assist on my driveway (rear sloping downwards) this time and it worked. However, it wasn’t until I reversed it all the way back to a level surface again that I was able to flip the gear back to its normal state.
Extremely finicky from my initial experience but the good part is the system is not faulty at least.
 
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sllmhjn said:
Thanks guys, the thing that concerned me was the whirring sound when pressing the button. It appeared to me as if the motor was in operation but failed to move the bike.
Click to expand...
Hmm... I definitely haven't experienced that. In my experience you don't get a whirring or anything when it it fails to meet the criteria listed in the owner's manual. It just doesn;t do anything.
 
Wow, someone else having as much fun as I've had with reverse. Here's what I've found and I'll sum up with points mentioned above:

1) Even though it says R--any time it blinks, something else is stopping it from working
2) Can't have the kick stand down
3) After the R goes steady, you cannot press clutch or brake or it will start blinking
4) any type of noticeable incline or decline will stop it from working, slight gradient changes seem to be okay, however....
5) If you reverse and happen to have the back wheel go into even a very small ditch, you won't be able to get it out of the R setting easily. You're basically stuck and it won't go into N. You have to rock the bike for a bit, maybe even turn it off, then you can get it back into N and push it out.
6) Even though you have to start the engine first, Reverse works directly off the battery so yes, connector looseness can be a factor.
7) even though you have done all the proper steps and the display is a steady R, it will sometimes still not kick into reverse immediately when you press the button. You may have to play with the Reverse/N gear a bit and then try it a few times for the actual gear to kick in.

Anyone have anything else to add?
 
Dane said:
Wow, someone else having as much fun as I've had with reverse. Here's what I've found and I'll sum up with points mentioned above:

1) Even though it says R--any time it blinks, something else is stopping it from working
2) Can't have the kick stand down
3) After the R goes steady, you cannot press clutch or brake or it will start blinking
4) any type of noticeable incline or decline will stop it from working, slight gradient changes seem to be okay, however....
5) If you reverse and happen to have the back wheel go into even a very small ditch, you won't be able to get it out of the R setting easily. You're basically stuck and it won't go into N. You have to rock the bike for a bit, maybe even turn it off, then you can get it back into N and push it out.
6) Even though you have to start the engine first, Reverse works directly off the battery so yes, connector looseness can be a factor.
7) even though you have done all the proper steps and the display is a steady R, it will sometimes still not kick into reverse immediately when you press the button. You may have to play with the Reverse/N gear a bit and then try it a few times for the actual gear to kick in.

Anyone have anything else to add?
Click to expand...
It will never work correctly until you hold you mouth like this, and praise the one and only god, which is my god one most high.
 
Hi Dane,

I think that you have it exactly right, and that's my experience also. I haven't tried Black Dog's idea. You never know...can't hurt.

In any case, I treat the bike like it doesn't have reverse because I'm pretty sure that the occasions where I actually need it are the occasions where it won't work. I didn't get the bike because of availability of reverse anyway. I've had heavy bikes before and planning ahead is fine with me. But still, it'd be nice if it were more useful. I'm not saying it "doesn't work" because technically it probably satisfies what is said in the operator's manual (well...maybe except for the part about having it stuck in reverse). Oh well...
 
First of all, i never needed a reverse in my life ! You just need to Slightly plan ahead!
i tried the reverse for fun and noticed it doesnt disengage while on tension . so yes if you planned it bad or got in a bind despite your plans , you might be in trouble...
 
I observed, after 9 months of use... that if you engage the reverse before starting the engine the R stays flashing.
You need to disengage en engage it again to get the R solid
 
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