Nice setup dude!

Hi,
I went to some shops and got more confused. Is "Turtle King" the model or name of the brand? When I went to the shops two different brands showed me a "turtle". One was Shenzhen something or other and I dont remember the brand of the other one. If its the name of the brand, are they not as common as others like Citify etc?

Thanks,

I do not recommend to buy ebike from the China Electric Vehicle Alliance and the Tsinghua University West Gate dealer!

This is what happened to me. I read various reviews about ebikes on few expats websites and I liked the Aggie’s review the best. And because my office is not far from the shop Aggie bought his bike I decided to do the same. I went to the www.ddclm.com site and build bike to my liking using DIY tool. Having this in my hand and my Chinese colleague from work to help me negotiate the deal I went to order the bike. O, I did one more thing, I found on line battery that I liked and I printed the specs and price. After short negotiations they agreed to match the price of the battery and took the copy of the specs for the bike I had build on line. They told me that it will take 10 days for the bike to arrive as it is higher specs that they normally sell. Well, it took them 3 weeks to deliver the bike. When they delivered they told me that the digital speedometer that I ordered on line is not the correct one and they will have better one for RMB280 in a week time. I was so happy of finally getting the bike I checked only battery, electric motor, breaks and tiers if they were as per specs. One thing that caught my eye was that the head lamp did look spanking new. I accepted the bike and started commuting from my apartment to office and back. First evening I was using the bike I noticed that the light was very weak and I decided to upgrade my bulb. I went to the shop and they did this for extra RMB60. After taking the bike for a spin I noticed that my light indicator flickers which indicted loose wire or short in the circuit. I opened the head lamp to investigate and noticed that the wires are very old and the shield is falling apart exposing bear wire that touches the body of the lamp. I was not very happy with this and I took the bike back to the shop. When they opened the front of the bike exposing more cables I noticed that most of the cables are old. I started complaining but they ignored me. At the same time there was another biker in the shop for some servicing with similar ebike to mine. We had a chat and he told me that I should upgrade my suspension to nitrogen filled. This is when I realized that this is what actually I had ordered my bike to be equipped with but it was not. I started arguing with the dealer but they would not listen to me. They said because I took the bike as it was they will not do any changes to it unless I pay for it extra. They argued that there is mistake on line and the suspension that they offer does not work with my bike. The same story as the digital speedometer that they told me when they delivered the bike. Any arguments from me and my Chinese collogue did make no difference. I told them that I am not very happy with the service and I will make sure that I am the last foreigner that they have sold the bike to and I left the shop.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted for potential victim be aware what to expect when buying ebike from www.ddclm.com

Goral

Ok, so here's a question. I've seen a bunch of people saying you just need those 10RMB white plates with black letters to register an electric scooter like the Turtle King or the Metis or whatever. We bought two a week ago at our local scooter shop, and they also said 10RMB and are in the process of getting the plates for us. It all seemed legit and they seemed to know what they were talking about. For example, we got them early in the holiday and they told us to come back with our passport, visa and household registration on the 7th, and to expect it would take more than a week because that department of the police would just open on the 8th and would be swamped Saturday with people wanting stuff done. That seemed to make good sense.

But then I noticed that BikesBeijing charges 199RMB to get the plate, and claims on their site that these plates aren't currently available in Beijing and that theirs are from a neighboring province but are "real official plates." I wrote them and asked, and they say that scooters cost more to register than pedal electric bikes, and that a 10RMB plate is expired, copied, or not properly registered. Ok, fair enough, but if the local scooter shop is selling expired or copied plates, why go through the charade of getting a week-long legit registration? In my experience here, it would be more likely they'd assume foreigners don't know any better and just sell them the plates right there. Anyway, don't know if the local scooter shop is just getting us something easy to avoid work for themselves, or if BikesBeijing is just trying to sell me something.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone actually knows what the rule is. I know finding a definitive answer to anything around here is kind of like hoping to be able to catch the wind. But anyone who knows anything for sure or has any experience in this area...your thoughts would be appreciated.

Hi Everybody,

I just want to share my King Turtle Scooter experience. My wife bought me a Turtle King Scooter for my birthday last year and have been using it for about 6 months. The bike was bought from Beijing Bikes and from the day it arrived until now, I have had all sorts of problems with the e-scooter. When it first arrived and I took a ride on it, it seemed ok and we paid for it. Two days and after a couple of rides, the suspension started squeaking and the speedometer stopped working. The front disc brakes were shaving off the front wheels, creating a super annoying sound whenever I rode the bike.

We called Beijing Bikes, which after a couple of heated phone exchange conversation, sent a guy over. He spent an hour tinkering with the e-scooter and said that everything was fine. After he left, I rode the bike for a short trip and found that the problems returned. After giving up on Bikes Beijing, I looked up the ddclm website and checked out one of the mechanics in Lido. The young chap seemed to know what he was doing, and had the digital speedometer in stock, which I decided to change as the original one was so unreliable. Till today we can never get an accurate reading on the power reserve. The new speedometer, popped out of the cover after 2 weeks.

Over last weekend, I took the e-scooter down Xidawang Road and saw a bike mechanic there, and decided to ask him why my e-scooter is so under powered. He checked my e-scooter and told me that the power controller on the back wheel, which says is 1000W is a fake and is only 800W. I have never been able to get 20km range out of my e-scooter on a full charge. As the e-scooter is a leisure vehicle, I just use it whenever I am in a good mood, but have end up pushing it back 4 out of 10 times using it and it has been more a pain than a pleasure.

For those who are consider the King Turtle, please think twice and buy a simple e-bike with paddles.

My new black electric Turtle King arrived this afternoon. I love it, even though it is a bit cheaply made (but I would not have expected any less lol). I took it for a spin, and damn, Beijing traffic is scary. But the right (rear) brake does not work well. I can pull the lever all the way with no perceptible braking. Does anyone know how I can adjust this? Thanks!

Hmm, I don't know about the location of the brake lever on your bike. Right-Hand Brake Lever should be attached to the front wheel, this is in line with motorcycles and motor-scooters. The rear-brake is foot-operated on motorcycles with a clutch, and located in place of the clutch at the left-hand handle on clutch-less scooters, such as the gas-powered Turtle King.

> On automatic scooters, I remember usually "rear is right."

As to the other aspect. Which of the following is your brake system:
1) a disc-hydraulic setup on both front and back?

> yes, both yydraulic disks
2) a disc-hydraulic brake on front and drum-cable brake on back?
3) a drum-cable setup on both front and back?

Note: Admittedly, I have never seen or heard of a drum brake on the front, but essentially, look to see if you have hydraulic brake-fluid chambers on both sides of the handlebars, or if just on the front brake, and not on the left.