Giant Suede Controller Replacement

The original controller and/or handlebar switch had stopped working on the bike, so I thought it was time to install a new controller (I also wanted to add a thumb throttle). 

I bought a cheap controller and thumb throttle off of a well known on-line auction site for less than £25 for the pair.

Then the fun starts, trying to determine how to wire it in, a basic list of connections was provided with the controller but the wiring colours didn't match the existing bike wiring. 

The key discovery was that the new controller motor power wiring relates to the original wiring as follows:

Old colour         New Colour

Brown               Yellow

White                Green

Grey                  Blue

The Giant manufacturers try and trick us by using different coloured wires between the haul sensors in the front wheel and the controller, you can see the same colours behind the grey plastic cover on the side of the front forks. I just ignored the intermediate colours and connected up in the same order as above and it worked fine.

I fitted a thumb controller which also had a power switch and volt meter. Throttle wires seem to be standard with red for +ve and black for -ve and green for signal, the other two wires created a loop from the battery supply to the controller power on (on the controller I have the controller power on is called the "electric lock" line) depending on which way round these wires are connected the volt meter is on all the time or just when the switch is turned on.

I used the white learning wires on the new controller to calibrate the controller to the wheel and change the direction of rotation (I just connected them for a while - the wheel spins up when the white wires are connected, so I had to make sure it is free to do so), and then I disconnect the white wires and tried the controls.

The thumb throttle works well as you can decide when to add power. I disconnected the pedal switch.

I did not use the following connections on the new controller:

- Brake lines, these cut the power, a switch could be added to the brakes somewhere if so desired, but releasing the thumb control cuts the power anyway.

- 3 speed line, but that can be used to slow down top speed or increase it a little.

- Anti theft/alarm lines

- Instrumentation line

I hope this is helpful to anyone wanting to upgrade their Giant Suede to use a modern controller and thumb throttle.