mikedufty

Are you using 44.4 with the standard motor and controller? 24V or 36V?

I will be running the batteries in parallel on the bike, as suggested at the start of this topic, so they are already wired together, would actually be more fiddly to separate them.

Got my stuff in the mail today. I take it the best approach is to charge each 6 cell pack separately? There seems to be a warning in the charger manual not to connect cells in parallel.

Yes, got the cheaper charger mentioned above. I didn't get a watt meter, had a look trying to top up to my postage option max weight, but didn't think it was necessary. If it all goes well I'll probably get a second pair of batteries later, might get one then. I'm interested to hear how the 36V option goes. Reading the oset christmas newsletter it seemed to suggest the different controller for 36V was much better than the 24V one. I'd also be worried about destroying the motor. My sole experience of this was sticking a 12V battery in a 6V toy quad bike, which made it much more fun, so it got used continuously for about 10 minutes until the motor brushes melted. Better to stand back and watch what others do, at least until my kids start asking for more power. The younger one (5) is still asking me to set it slower.

Good stuff, I just put in an order with Hobbyking.

It seems very high doesn't it? I've had problems with the tyre rotating on the rim on bicycles when running less than 30 psi. Having said that, I just checked the tyres yesterday after my kids had been riding around and they were down to about 15 front and rear with no problems. Just riding around the back yard with slightly flat batteries though, so might have more problem trying to do trials. I did have a go at trying to find rim locks to suit bike wheels on the web, but haven't come up with anything.

There is a youtube clip on the oset site of someone doing jumps on a ramp in the backyard with what looks like a motocross/trailbike seat duct attached on top of the oset body work. Could be a kwaka 85 seat.

Do you monitor the cells while in use? How would you do that? A voltage display for each cell doesn't sound practical.

Really good write up. How were the results, does the bike go any better? I've just put a Shorai LiFePO4 starter battery in my road bike. I've wondered if they would be an easy upgrade for the OSet too. They claim to be set up to work with a standard 12V bike lead acid charging system, they are similar size to the standard oset batteries, so could possibly just be dropped straight in. I just wonder if they are as good in a power battery application as they are as a starter. Not sure I should trust the oset charger that has already killed a set of Pb batteries with expensive batteries. Shorai market their largest as 18AH pb equivalent, but it seem like they are actually only 6aH. Not sure if their equivalence calculations apply when it is being used for continuous power.

I think its OK on the green. I have completely cooked my batteries by leaving them on charge when it was stuck on red. Seems to have trouble switching to trickle when the temperature is high. I had problems in 35 degree C plus weather.

I've had a 16 for about 8 months and the batteries seem to be dying already. I put a bicycle speedo on, so I know it has only done a total of 50km. The batteries now get quite weak after about 2km of riding. Checking the voltage one of the two now drops to about 9V under load. I know lead acid batteries aren't great but was hoping to get a bit more life out of them than this. Have others got much better life? I'm wondering if I just got a dud battery or charger? I also noticed the charger will stay on the red light indefinitely in warmer weather. If I unplug then plug it in again after charging for a few hours it will go green but not if left plugged in. Doesn't seem such a problem in cooler weather (under 30 degrees C). I wonder if this has damaged the battery by overcharging?

I swapped the front brake lever on the 16 for a V-brake type lever. This has a bit less leverage than the standard levers, and I suspect is what the front disk brake was designed to work with. Seemed to improve the feel and operation of the front brake.

Getting a bit more adventurous now after a couple of days riding. This is the local bicycle adventure trail park.

I wanted to modify my sons oset 16 pegs to spring back, but couldn't find any suitable springs or bungee at the shops. I then had a go with some old bicycle inner tube I had lying around. I cut across the tube to make a couple of loops like large lacky bands, then larksfooted them together through the frame and around the peg. Worked surprisingly well. Not sure how long it will lasts but I've been using old tubes for tie downs for years and they seem to last pretty well. I needed a bicycle spoke to tie help with threading the rubber through the frame and through itself. See picture

Patrick (5yo) is happy just riding back and forth and doing skids on his oset 16 so far. Did find a hill good for going faster than the speed control allows though. This is one of the greener parts of Western Australia (Margaret River), but looks pretty dry next to the other pictures so far.

The 16 appears to have two options for mounting the rear shock to the swingarm. Does anyone know if this is really what the extra hole is for, and in what circumstances the alternate hole would be used?

Thanks, I suspected as much.

I just got an oset 16. My 5year old is pretty pleased with his first ride, 3 year old says it is a bit scary (too big for him really). Is it normal for a pin to fall out of the charger plug? Still seems to charge OK, looks like the third pin was not used/not soldered to anything and it stayed connected to the bike when I unplugged the charger about the third time.