Stacyc overheating

A friend of mine has to replace batteries constantly because “they aren’t supposed to be used in grass”...

I posted some similar info in another Stacyc thread...We also have a 16” bike and I have a course mowed as short as possible and after 10-15 minutes it does the same thing. Overheats and shuts off.

Meanwhile the PW50 keeps going and going..

As much as I like the thought of electric bikes- they suck!

Pedal a mountain bike through grass. You'll find it adds quite a load. Same goes for little e-bikes.

GuyB wrote:

Pedal a mountain bike through grass. You'll find it adds quite a load. Same goes for little e-bikes.

I get that but this is very short grass. He never had an issue with this on his 12” oset (my 3 year old riding it now doesn’t either) and my friend doesn’t have an issue with his son’s razor electric bike so this is coming as a big surprise. I bought an extra battery hoping to extend the ride time never thinking the ESC would overheat before ever needing it.

Here are photos from today as reference.

Brad460 wrote:

I posted some similar info in another Stacyc thread...We also have a 16” bike and I have a course mowed as short as possible and after 10-15 minutes it does the same thing. Overheats and shuts off.

Meanwhile the PW50 keeps going and going..

As much as I like the thought of electric bikes- they suck!

The oset we have is an awesome bike. Electric bikes can be great. I’m not here to bash the stacyc. I’m trying to see if I’ve got a faulty ESC or if this is a common problem and there is a solution.

Umm. Electric motors have been pulling train cars around the world since 1879. Grass to much for a walmart bike with a drill motor power plant I guess.

Markee wrote:

Umm. Electric motors have been pulling train cars around the world since 1879. Grass to much for a walmart bike with a drill motor power plant I guess.

Very true but there’s not many battery driven trains. Is there a way to make a PW50 or JR50 even quieter so as to be a back yard bike in a subdivision?

My son just turned 3 and rides the 12” on the middle yellow setting in our yard. Maintaining our lawn is sort of a hobby of mine, so our grass is pretty thick and I cut it tall(4.25”) in the summer months. I’ve heard of this being an issue, but I haven’t experienced it myself, and he’s WFO everywhere he goes.

Drill some more vent holes or bigger holes. Getting a little more air flow might help.

BMc914 wrote:

Drill some more vent holes or bigger holes. Getting a little more air flow might help.

That’s what I’m thinking or maybe make a duct to blow air over the ESC.

Wonder if you could wire and fit a small computer fan some where.

Grass tires

Yes. We've experienced the same issue with ours. We have (2) 16" models and they have been problematic from day one. My boys (3 + 5 YO, <50 lbs )ride them on a combination of pavement, grass and a compacted dirt track. I would say they do ride them pretty aggressively but certainly nothing I would consider abuse/misuse. I’ve replaced the throttle assembly, battery, gearbox, ESC and the motor before the issue was resolved.

One just recently started acting up again and blowing fuses. Installed a new motor and ESC a couple days ago (3rd one) and it’s behaving…for now. I believe the motors are the weak link in the chain here. I would reach out to CS and explain the issue. They will likely tell you the motor needs to be replaced and may offer a discount code. The problem is catching these while they are in stock. If/when they finally do appear, they go quick. Good luck.

731chopper wrote:

I get that but this is very short grass. He never had an issue with this on his 12” oset (my 3 year old riding it now doesn’t either) and my friend doesn’t have an issue with his son’s razor electric bike so this is coming as a big surprise. I bought an extra battery hoping to extend the ride time never thinking the ESC would overheat before ever needing it.

Gotcha. I also get that grass makes for a much better landing spot. 😀

That grass looks pretty thick to me! We don't ride in grass and have never had any issues. Sorry to hear about everyone's bad experiences.

GuyB wrote:

Pedal a mountain bike through grass. You'll find it adds quite a load. Same goes for little e-bikes.

731chopper wrote:

I get that but this is very short grass. He never had an issue with this on his 12” oset (my 3 year old riding it now doesn’t either) and my friend doesn’t have an issue with his son’s razor electric bike so this is coming as a big surprise. I bought an extra battery hoping to extend the ride time never thinking the ESC would overheat before ever needing it.

The Oset system is way more robust than the Stacyc. The stacyc is more like a power wheels in the electrical department. Stacyc is meant for hard dirt and concrete and some mild grass riding. You're gonna be hard pressed to get that electrical system to handle the loads grass will put on it.

I've never seen these Stacyc issues brought up before. My kids would be destroying parts on it.
They ran the crap out of a cheap Razor bike for a year before killing it. Don't get them muddy or wet and you'll get more than $250 worth of fun for sure.

Is that what that yellow button means on the throttle after riding for sometime? Overheating?

How about just buying the kid a bicycle? Gimme a break on kids learning throttle control.

sesker15 wrote:

Is that what that yellow button means on the throttle after riding for sometime? Overheating?

From what I recall, the LED means two different things. First, as I’m sure you know, whatever color the LED is when not giving it throttle is the power mode it’s on.
Red = Low
Yellow= Medium
Green = Fast

Then when you turn the throttle, the LED will change to indicate battery level.
Green = Full battery
Yellow = Partially full battery
Red = Low Battery

Again, it’s been a while since I read the manual, but that’s how I remember it.

kage173 wrote:

How about just buying the kid a bicycle? Gimme a break on kids learning throttle control.

Most kids have both. We like to have options so my son has all four. Staycyc,bicycle,stider,and PW 50. He messes around on all of them just depends what he wants that day.

My son ran into overheating when riding his 12” in grass. I don’t think your bike has a unique issue. The Stacycs just don’t seem handle heavy loads well.

kage173 wrote:

How about just buying the kid a bicycle? Gimme a break on kids learning throttle control.

I down voted you for your bizarre assumption about why kids have these bikes. As stated above, most kids with these e-bikes also have a pedal bike. Mine started riding one of his multiple pedal bikes on his own just after learning to ride his Stacyc at 2 (with impressive throttle control). Feel free to raise your kids how you want but maybe don’t criticize others for teaching their kids useful motor skills.

We've had overheating problems on my son's as well. We've also had to replace 3 gear boxes and 2 motors since purchasing last summer. The most recent issue was the fuse melting.

The bikes are fun, but they definitely could be built better.

For reference, my son also has a PW50 which he has way more time on it and almost no issues over the last 2 years. Also, he spends a ton of time on his pedal bike, the stacyc is just another fun toy.

kage173 wrote:

How about just buying the kid a bicycle? Gimme a break on kids learning throttle control.

My boys have both. Odd comment from you considering this is a motorcycle forum...

BMc914 wrote:

Drill some more vent holes or bigger holes. Getting a little more air flow might help.

731chopper wrote:

That’s what I’m thinking or maybe make a duct to blow air over the ESC.

Absolutely. I'm not sure where the ESC is mounted on a stacyc, but the more air flow, the better. I'd recommend a fan directly on the ESC if possible. The air flow at the speeds these go won't do much. Also, not sure if there is a way to change the gearing on these, but that would help too.

Im kindof with guyb. Even that short grass is much harder to pedal through. Easy way to rule it out is to ride on the sidewalk.

kb228 wrote:

Im kindof with guyb. Even that short grass is much harder to pedal through. Easy way to rule it out is to ride on the sidewalk.

Doesn't change the shoddy components. It should be able to handle some grass.