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Beta Electric 20 - Minitrial - Minireview


OrDieTrial'n
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Recently made the move to electric from a beta 50cc.  Haven't found a ton of first hand experience with the mini electrics; thought I'd post this, maybe help someone else out.  I've got an 8 year old.  Weighs ... 60lbs?/30kg -- soaking wet.  4'4" ish, which is 135cm according to google.

Loved his 50cc but was outgrowing it.  Skill-wise.  The centrifugal clutch really stunk when things got muddy or steep or generally needed to avoid spinning out the rear.  That, and it was very heavy for him.  All was great until it started to tip a bit.  Really wanted something with a clutch, but no luck in his size.  We drove out to see an 80cc Beta Junior but it was too big, not to mention exceedingly expensive (used!).

Long story short: Beta 20 Mini Electric.  Brand new.  Had to wait a bit for dealer to do their thing. 

Anyway, half the weight of the gasser.  Size fits him perfect.  Still no clutch but at its highest power setting the front end picks up pretty fast/easy.  My boy absolutely loves it.  Only real downside: battery life.

The manual says 2 hours at constant velocity but they must mean riding downhill.

36V sealed lead acid batteries last about 40-45 minutes... tops!  Super fun the first 10-15 mins, then so-so the next 10-15, and limp home mode after that.  For reference, my boy really likes fast steep climbs and (attempting) to wheelie.  Both of those mean short high power bursts that likely do a real number on the batteries.  So maybe 20 minutes of "real" riding.  If you let it rest a bit you can get 5-10 more mins out of it.

I am currently looking into Lithium packs.  I read good things about them, but we just bought this new, and a good pack with charger is pretty spendy.  That, and I'm a little skeptical.  I'd hate to dump a lot more money for an extra 10 minutes of mediocre ride time.

Hope this helps someone.  Maybe adds some perspective.  Kid loves the bike, real nice being able to throw it in the boot and not flood the carb (or my car), but ride time is a bummer.  

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Went through oset  20 and oset 24 before moving to beta 80.  Only problems we ever had was water in relay and a dodgy throttle control.  I bought a boost bikes lipo pack for the 20 and it made a big difference. Not only lighter but lasted way longer and performance doesn’t tail off the way lead acid batteries do. (Plenty of people make their own packs )  I wouldn’t recommend a bike without lipo batteries. Great for half an hour play round but that’s all. My son used to compete in the kids trial then go and race around for ages on the lipo. Expensive but, to me, worth every penny just for his enjoyment   Petrol still much better but the electric was worth it for the experience of riding from young age.

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splatered: I'm gasser through and through, and share the same hesitation about electric, but there's just not a good fit for my sized kid.  I'll try this out a year or two until he grows into something with some real fire in its pants.

timdog: thanks!  that's exactly the kind of information I was hoping to hear.  The boy has a lot of fun on this bike for the first 20 mins or so when it has some life in it.  If I could get that up to an hour that'd be spectacular.  boost pack it is.

carlos: for what it's worth I started my kid around 5 1/2 - 6.  Could have probably started younger on a smaller electric bike but mom would've killed us both. :)

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Got an Oset 20r since 2015, the original battery was a heartbreak, the boost ones great, lasts ages (3hrs ish) as long as it's doing Trials type stuff.

Certainly got my moneys worth out of it as it's been used 100s of times by all and sundry in situations you could never run a petrol bike.

It's had no love whatsoever and it keeps coming back there's lumps worn out of it and the footrests point downwards on the brackets, just changed the drive sprocket again which was worn round.

Pulls my 12/13 stone I'm worn out before the battery also must do well over 30mph too fast really,

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/25/2020 at 11:56 AM, carlos said:

Whats a good age to start a kid on? Granddaughter has just turned 2, don't want to see her get hurt, but, would love to get her on a trials bike one day.

I got my son an Oset 12.5 for his second birthday and he took right to it and loved it.  Lithium battery was key in getting the weight down to someone he could manage.  He was big, strong, and had good balance by 2yr old standards and was an expert strider rider at the time.  

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