Thread: UBCO - Any experiences?

Hmmm....yeah, very mixed reviews aye. They seem to have a corner of the market, but theres certainly a number of machines that cross over with function, performace etc...

Appreciate the thoughts! That along with a few other things read has directed me elsewhere, i think it'll still suit someone i know looking to get one.

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

We won one a couple years back from Farmsource, used it for a couple weeks mainly just because it was a novelty and sold it, should have sold it straight away. It was completely useless on anything other than flat dry ground, sucked heaps of battery on anything resembling a slope and didn't like wet or rough ground at all with its tiny little wheels, shit suspension and they just feel really ungainly to ride with both wheels driving. Run a petrol bike out of fuel and you can go get some fuel and put it in it and away you go straight away again. Run an ubco out of battery and you need to go get the tractor and carry the whole bike back to a power source and wait a few hours , not sure what you'd do if it was in the proper backcountry..

If it was proper backcountry,push it over the side of a big hill and claim insurance.

Yeah, but going by the current battery technology's rap, Ryan didn't need the hassle of a nuclear inferno in the bottom of a convenient gully, and the bad publicity a rural fire would attract

IIRC the Army have purchased some modified UBCO's. I'd be interested to hear how they are getting on.

My neighbour bought an UBCO a few years back it didn't cope well with the sand (cost heaps to maintain), lacked the power to blat up hills and could be outrun by a cow

It will take a fair few improvements before I look at one for the farm.

That said, I've had an electric tuatara side by side for the last 18 months and rate it highly for what I do with it (calf rearing, towing a calf trailer and calfateria)

Originally Posted by Rich007

IIRC the Army have purchased some modified UBCO's. I'd be interested to hear how they are getting on.

My neighbour bought an UBCO a few years back it didn't cope well with the sand (cost heaps to maintain), lacked the power to blat up hills and could be outrun by a cow

It will take a fair few improvements before I look at one for the farm.

That said, I've had an electric tuatara side by side for the last 18 months and rate it highly for what I do with it (calf rearing, towing a calf trailer and calfateria)

The Army was assessing them for movement around rear logistic bases, not for tactical employment. That its even been looked at in a military environment is simply Wokeness in action. Enemy action does not take account of the opposition's charge times

And the Tuatara. Jeeze thats an expensive exercise. Well over 30 grand. I quizzed the salesman at The Sika show regarding wading depth: Axle depth, not even wheel diameter depth.

I paid a deposit on an UBCO at the National Fieldays in 2015 as I needed a replacement for my Honda CT110 which were no longer available. UBCO is based on CT110 dimensions with step through.
I got the first one assembled in NZ (ex China) in Feb 2016 and bought another same vintage for my wife/hunting mate 2017.
If I was still moving deer my UBCO would not replace a CT110 or similar bike on hills but on flat farm would be OK.


PROBLEMS I STRUCK.
UBCO has 2 motors (one in each hub) so if the front wheel loses grip and spins going up hill on wet grass/gravel etc you lose 50% of your power so bike slows then stops. Climbs great with a 10kg weight on front carrier.
I always tie my pack on front.

Early model breaks spokes because spokes came front same center line on hub as rim, so spokes had to curve around each other so were bent and the swaged head on the hub end of the spoke would fatigue off.
Later model has redesigned normal motor bike spoke design.

Accelerator throttle cable fatigues by wear and rust at the top as there is no way to lube.
Later models are fly by wire type.

Suspension/shocks are hard riding as in over cow step ruts, rough paddocks or stoney tracks etc. You need to ride with a loose reign or you’ll shake your liver out.
Carrying a rifle in those yokes across the handle bars over anything other than tarseal would be a nightmare.
I understand new model has improved front shocks but back shocks still look the same. Too small and not enough travel so even at 85kg it is easy to bottom out.

UBCOs have an inbuilt feature that if a motor gets too hot or develop a fault it will shut down one motor to save damage. Once it has cooled or whatever you head off again at full power.
Both my bikes suffer from this sometimes for no apparent reason but fault cannot be found.

Lack of UBCO service centers.

Warning, UBCOs are a bit different to ride than a normal back wheel drive bike, for when in wet slippery conditions you have a lean on or slight turn on and you accelerate your front wheel can spin, loosing grip and sliding sideways dumping you.
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT MY UBCOs.

At 58kg (Honda 110 weighed 100kg) easy to load on ute.
Easy to remove the battery (14kg) to lighten bike for lifting.
Can walk it up and over rock obstacles bigger bikes can’t manage.
Just lay it anywhere on the ground. Yes, it’s easy to hide.
If you carry an Allen key you can undo the 2 screws that position the handlebars and turn them inline with the bike to squeeze through somewhere or lay bike flatter.
I like the step through and have dragged a gutted deer draped through bike to a spot I can load it on to back carrier.
Quiet. For man, maybe. Not as quiet as the adds suggest. Deer, possums and pheasants all pick up the high pitch whine from motors. If you want quiet, go real slow.
Strong frame with plenty of tie down spots.

I would upgrade to the newer models if the rear shocks were improved.

Great summary of your experience. Thanks.

Originally Posted by XR500

The Army was assessing them for movement around rear logistic bases, not for tactical employment. That its even been looked at in a military environment is simply Wokeness in action. Enemy action does not take account of the opposition's charge times

And the Tuatara. Jeeze thats an expensive exercise. Well over 30 grand. I quizzed the salesman at The Sika show regarding wading depth: Axle depth, not even wheel diameter depth.

When I bought the Tuatara it was 5k more than a comparable petrol side by side. It's rated to tow a ton which is important to me given the number of calves we rear.

I haven't had a need to cross a water body with it, but I clean the whole battery/motor area with the wash down hose regularly and I've never had a problem - it's all sealed well. Perhaps he's being conservative.

I'd love for it to be a couple of inches higher as I have bellied it a few times in deep mud

Rode my UBCO in with a mate who was on a Sur Ron. I had 3 times the battery life.
It's definitely a bonus in my book that they are an NZ company too.
The dual purpose from them is good. I ride mine to work during the week then into the hills in the weekend (if i get the chance).

If someone is serious about buying an UBCO then PM me and I'll give you my number so you can give me a ringand chat about it. I brought one new in June this year.

I noticed Dominoes Pizza in Nelson are using the Ubco's for deliveries saw them parked out front of shop.

I have tried many times to get a demo, have called, emailed, filled in the form on the website, messaged etc and just don't hear back from them.

For my trap run it looked like it would be ideal to register it for road use to get to and around all the properties I'm on every day. But then due to a lack of response from UBCO I joined a FB UBCO users group to try get more of an idea about them and found so many people complaining about issues that I gave up on the idea, I also read that the battery life in the real world would not have stood up to my 80km a day round trip when at road speeds.

To me they just seem to be more about marketing hype, jumping on the whole "green" EV market to try and build a company and gain investors cash injections.