Anyone else here have an Oset bike? I picked up a used Oset 20. this past fall, super fun to play around on. This is not a toy, 48V, way more power than you would expect. One of the four lead acid batteries in the series has gone bad, I need to replace it before spring (or sooner if I can find an indoor place to ride). I'm debating swapping out the bad one $40. OR upgrade to a set of lithium for $600. I love the idea of lithium, got a Shorai in my Husky. but I don't have $600. burning a hole in my pocket and other bikes need parts, kids need new boots etc. So, anyone know of any other options?
I would recommend checking the balance of you batteries. If they are off by .1 volt. pull the batteries and try charging at 12v parallel not in a series. If they are off by .1 volt they are out of balance and I would recommend replacing. Some people rotate there batteries from the series every now and then (after balanced). My son has not needed to replace the batteries. He has a cool down time after riding his oset, then charges, has cool down time before use. Other people have an extra charged set of batteries and swap out. If it was me I would swap the bad one $40. If you get another set $40 x 4 =$160 would be a good thing. I have thought of the Lithium batteries, but $600 = 15 lead batteries + 3 good batteries= 18 batteries total or 4 1/2 battery packs = many hours and recharge while riding. Just my thought.
I do balance them every 10 charges or so. I'm looking into getting 5 new regular lead batteries, 1 to replace the bad one and a whole new set of 4. for a total of 2 complete sets. it seems the most cost effective, just wish there was something like lithium only cheaper.
I ended up getting the EarthX lithium kit. Wow. Worth the extra $$$. Amazingly light, not like the bike was heavy to begin with, but the difference is really noticeable. Much longer run time. Seems like there is more power too but maybe this is because of the weight reduction.
I think The EarthX lithium 12v batteries are 18ah the factory batteries are 12V and are 10Ah. My son used his bike with the his standard battery pack and took 2nd at the Columbia Cup day 1. We weren't able to compete today because I had to work. He never ran out of power. View attachment 40455
Trials riding is already about unbelievable ... Get ready to see some new limits set ... You could set up a small trials track about anywhere and these bikes make zero noise and pollution ... 2 out of the 3 major complaints gone.
The neighbors are all ok with this sort of thing, I'm not sure they like the piles of pallets in my yard I have to practice on, but I have had no complaints about this bike. I take it to the local park to play, the kids think its the coolest. I would not be able to get away this sort of thing on a gas powered bike.
Next time shoot me a pm if before you drop 600, I have a prototype BMS that uses hobby king cells....prewired In other works you can get a easy 10AH 48v with prewired bms and 1.5 hour charging in under 500$. Take some wiring but is easy enough. I wish I had one of these to play with
You are talking about the Lipos cells used for RC airplanes? I looked into those, from what I read it seems they are a good option, but kind of fussy, needs special charger, need to constantly monitor charge, if run too low they are toast, may catch on fire if banged up, or overcharged... kind of scared me off. If it was just me riding the bike I think I would have seriously considered the lipos option, but my whole family rides the Oset. Right now it is over at the garage next door getting the sheared off foot peg bolt ends drilled out. My husband accidentally turned the bike up to full power, thinking he was turning it down to the most mellow setting for my daughter to ride and somehow launched it into the air, it landed on my daughter (who luckily was wearing all her armor and was unharmed) Besides a few more scuffs, the foot peg was the only casualty. Anyway, I think I need to stick to the EarthX lithium they are pretty idiot proof. Have any problems with yours?
Actually took in a CH members oset trials bike. The conclusion was that the controller does not turn off on the smaller bike (16.0?) and thus any lithium battery without a bms would not last. So the hobby cells would not work well. Also he had 33v hobby cell packs which were 9 cell....and a bms would have to be modified to function with 9 cells, thus it got more expensive than I thought. Also those oset's peak huge amounts of amperage which is all kinds of fun in the mix. The earth x will work because its individual 12v packs with their own bms....it is extremely expensive tho. Which is the main drawback.
I agree, that is alot of $, but even with the EarthX upgrade, I think this is the most "fun per dollar" bike. On a single charge I did over six miles of sandy trail and still has juice left to play for an additional 30 min. on the local BMX track. Hope you enjoy your Oset.
I have been thinking on using Dakota batteries from Clean Republic. 12v 10ah LiFePO4 total of 4 batteries for $360 free shipping. We were using just two battery packs when competing. He is 11 but he is competing in the adult Novice for the last three. He tends to bend the bracket mounted on the side for the foot pegs. we have replace the brackets and have found that the diagonal bolt pattern causes the bracket to bend, flex, then warp the countersunk holes. We are working on a fix for this problem.
Im waiting with baited breath to see how these electric trials kids make the transfer to petrol trisls and enduro machiens as the power deliverys very different, that said if they have the exp shouldnt be an issue. Let me know if how n when this happens.
I was just talking to an Oset dealer about a battery issue (one of my EarthX has gone bad) but the topic of foot peg brackets came up. I had one shear off, had my friendly local mechanic fix it up in exchange for a ride on the bike. Anyway, call up your Oset dealer, it seems this is a common problem and a real weak point on an otherwise quality bike, they may have some sort of fix for you.
I am working on a fix. I had talked with Steve from oset. David is 11 and he competes in the adult novice class for trials. he tends to bend the brackets. In my opinion the are drilled and tapered before they bend them. this tends to change the hole on the bracket slightly. What happens is they flex, bend, then loosen and stretch. I have talk with a company named First OP Manufacturing and will build a stronger bracket that will still be adjustable, will use all 4 holes. I also may have another two tapped for stability. Steve and Ian from Oset recommend tack welding the brackets to the frame. The brackets cost $15 per side ($30+shipping). My goal is to keep the price down to around $100. I feel if they can do that it would save me from the tear down and flattening the base of the bracket and or replacing every 4th competition. As for the batteries we have three battery packs lead acid $82-$88. I balance them every now and then and after competition. This weekend is the Cedar Creak comp. trials course will have 10 Sections. It will be 2 miles uphill, then back down to do it all over again two more times. We will do a battery swap after every course of 10. At the Ditmars Cup at Lolo Pass we had only two battery packs and ran out of juice at the end. David still ended up with 2nd place.
>>At the Ditmars Cup at Lolo Pass we had only two battery packs and ran out of juice at the end. My son just did the Mike Fenner Memorial trial near Sacramento, CA. He was running the EarthX lithium and after about a lap and a half the bike's power started jumping in and out and figured it was running out of juice. So he rode with me and in the sections his sister shared her Gas Gas 50 with him. The area in Prairie City OHV was flat, but the distance between sections was a little on the long side. They finished 1st and 2nd on line 4 (the easiest), so its line 3 for him next time.
