If you’re the owner of a 1st Gen Turbo Levo or Kenevo, then you should check out whether your bike is one of the 15% of bikes affected by this voluntary recall.
It’s been discovered that repeated washing (especially jet washing) of these bikes, which have a plus and minus assist control on the side of the bike, can allow water to get in, creating the potential for a ‘thermal event’.
The affected bikes were manufactured between 2017 and 2019. If your bike does not have the control pad on the side, like the ones we rode here, you are not affected by this recall. You can find more information, including how to determine if a battery pack is affected by this recall, on the Specialized.com safety notice page.
If you have an affected battery pack, your Authorized Specialized Retailer will inspect the bike and repair the battery pack at no cost, which involves re-gluing the Control Pad to seal it more effectively.
REASON FOR THIS RECALL
All Specialized bike batteries are designed and tested to meet or exceed industry standards for water resistance. For the small number (estimated less than 15%) of battery packs, if conductive water (e.g., salt or chlorinated) penetrates the seal around the Control Pad, e.g., through repeated pressure-washing, and reaches a specific very small area of the battery pack’s protection circuit board, it can in very rare cases trigger a short-circuit that would bypass the multiple layers of protection built into the battery pack. In sufficiently charged battery packs, this can potentially lead to a thermal runaway event, posing fire and burn hazards.
Specialized
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR M1 “TRAIL” BATTERY IS AFFECTED:
Potentially affected battery packs can be identified by a combination of both the part number and manufacture dates listed below, both of which are noted on a label adhered to each battery pack.
The battery pack needs to be removed from the bicycle using a 6mm Allen key in order to read the label. If the label cannot be read or is missing, you should arrange to take your bike into your nearest authorized retailer for checking.
Specialized
| AFFECTED MANUFACTURE P/N | AFFECTED MADE DATE |
|---|---|
| B9JE2045F | K7 L7 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 I8 J8 K8 L8 A9 B9 C9 |
| B9JE2056F | K7 L7 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 I8 J8 K8 L8 A9 B9 C9 |
| B9JE2065F | K7 L7 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 I8 J8 K8 L8 A9 B9 C9 |
| B9JE2076F | K7 L7 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 I8 J8 K8 L8 A9 B9 C9 |
| B9JE2098F | K7 L7 A8 B8 C8 D8 E8 F8 G8 H8 I8 J8 K8 L8 A9 B9 C9 |
This was a wildly popular bike, so there will be lots of them out there – but only a small proportion have this potential battery issue. Check it out, get it fixed, and get rolling again. Hopefully you’ll not be one of the few affected (and anyway, you wouldn’t jet wash your bike, would you?).
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I have never jet washed my bike, but my battery still had water ingress from the button area. From riding in wet weather. I noticed this when the battery leds went haywire last fall.
As the battery was way out of warranty already, I simply took it apart. There was water and oxidation damage all around the leds and buttons, and the PCB was dripping wet. I air dried it, sprayed some IPA on it, dried it, and put it back together, applied some protective plastic foil over the whole button area, and its been good. Just two leds burned out, but it works.
Ordered a new battery just in case, even though the old one still works fine (save the two leds).
“Sealing” on the battery unit did not inspire much confidence, in any case. If you have one of these, I strongly recommend covering the whole button area with a good layer of plastic film.
‘Thermal event’.
Typical American lawyer Bulls1t.
In plain English that is a FIRE.
YEP. AFIRE.
Have your bike burn your knackers mid ride.
Or worse, your house down when you’re sleeping.
Should be a compulsory recall.
Bicycle recalls!!! Never thought I would see the day.
Agree with @robertajobb “Thermal Event”, business bullsh*t for a fire. Wonder if you’re covered on the house insurance if your “faulty” bike burns the garage or house down? 🙂 You can the see the lawyers in the USA starting to queue 🙂
Hey @Auer Westinson! I have a Turbo Levo and the battery is from the affected batches….
Thing is, I wouldn’t really trust a mechanic from a bike service to repair the battery, and would do the repair myself. Do you have any advice? What do you mean under “applied some protective plastic foil”? Could you please share some pictures? I want to try it myself also.
Thank you a lot in advance!!!
Ridden my TL through the floods which completely submerged the motor and bottom bracket area. zero ingress and zero issues. It objects more to being left out in full sun to be honest than getting wet.