In a few rare instances (separately from a low battery) it has happened to me that the battery cuts out and I have to turn the controller off and then on again to start again. Two times it happened when someone borrowed my bike and started up a steep hill. A third time it kept getting worse and worse and within half an hour I had to replace the controller. (Clever Chimp replaced it for free.) I’m guessing there are controller parts that can be damaged by too much current, and that sometimes they can recover by cooling off but sometimes not.

Say did you weld that custom trailer hitch yourself? The one at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markstos/4891384544/
I’m a welding newbie.

” People look at you funny when you ask to use their outlet to charge a massive 12-pound battery, but so far no one has refused.”

Thanks for reporting your experience. I was thinking of doing the same when taking the electric bike on tour.

Have you ever run into this problem: Instead of draining fully, the battery just cuts out, but can be fixed with a “reboot”– unplugging/replugging the battery from the controller? (as happened midway through a recent 26-mile trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markstos/4867073969/ ).

This has happened a couple of times lately and I find it vexing. I wonder if it would be better for the system we unplugged the battery from the controller when charging it. Usually we don’t, for convenience.