Electric scooter trend?

[dodgeman]

In just the last few weeks I’ve noticed more of these electric scooters. I’m not talking the kind for handicapped people but the one people are using to get around. Some of them seem to go really fast, maybe more than 30 mph. It seems like they wouldn’t be street legal and with small wheels don’t seem all that safe. A generic picture of what I’m talking about. Any comments on these?

 

[sc00ter]

I ended up getting rid of my Apollo Ghost. Don't get me wrong, it was fast, fun and went pretty far on a full charge. Just found out it wasn't for me. Take one for a spin if given the opportunity. They only feel unsafe if you ride them out of your comfort zone.

My main gripe with them (all escooters) is they all seem to come from the same China lower quality factory. Most have poor engineering choices that result in flexy stems, leaky brakes and/or dubious wiring inside the deck. But still, very fun for what they are.

 

[PedalUma]

There are additional options. Not for me.

 

[sc00ter]

But the unicycle guys always wear safety gear. Even the one unicycle rider in my area always has safety gear on. The guy I dumped the Apollo Ghost on has yet to get a helmet!

 

[Slaphappygamer]

They are a lot of fun, if you stay safe! I saved one from certain death. The scooter was in a CalTran garbage heap and I fixed it up. It tops out at about 20mph. I added a second set of handlebars for my daughter and take her to school each morning. We have a blast. She rides up front and I’m right behind her. We wear helmets, have a bell, have a headlight and don’t go too fast (unless I’m sure she has both hands on the bars and I have clear view of the street). Sometimes though, it is a bit difficult to navigate the sidewalk. This is when I’ll deploy the bell. The street is very narrow at parts and there is no bike lane. Sometimes we can take the whole lane. I would like to increase the torque so the scooter will move both of us up our hill. So I might add a second motor. It’s about 12-15% grade and together, with her backpack, we weigh 220 lbs. She often asks to ride the scooter after work and really loves it. She says she is proud of me for saving it, even though it looks like trash. Silly kid. At her school, I often get compliments on it. Even had a discussion with a kid and he told me about the electric dirt bike that he is putting together to keep up with his friends. It’s a 72 volt bike! He is 12, ugh. Good conversation though. I expressed my deep concern for his safety. He already has a cast on his arm from his test run. Anyhow, an electric scooter has its place. It’s just yea, some can be very dangerous. Just like cars, the vehicle is only as safe as it’s driver.

 

[JRA]

Fun fact: Here in Oregon Scooter Class vehicles are allowed up to 24mph while eBikes are at 20mph.

 

[None]

Just this morning (2AM), I was driving from Staten Island to Brooklyn, crossing the Verrazano

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was driving in my Toyota Yaris, watching a man sitting on hit electric scooter,
going up the bridge at 50 mph and above 50 mph down the bridge on the other side.
I gave the rider a thumb up as I drove along side of it.. it was insane.

Something similar to this: https://minimotorsnordic.com/dualtron-x-ii/

 

[Slaphappygamer]

Hopefully the rider kept their hands on the handlebar.

 

[Taylor57]

Just this morning (2AM), I was driving from Staten Island to Brooklyn, crossing the Verrazano

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was driving in my Toyota Yaris, watching a man sitting on hit electric scooter,
going up the bridge at 50 mph and above 50 mph down the bridge on the other side.
I gave the rider a thumb up as I drove along side of it.. it was insane.

Something similar to this: https://minimotorsnordic.com/dualtron-x-ii/

The Dualtron screams take me to the emergency room!

 

[sc00ter]

Hopefully the rider kept their hands on the handlebar.

If you even THINK of letting go of a grip on my old Apollo Ghost while in motion you would instantly get speed wobbles of death! Tire pressure was set correctly and there was no slop or notch in the headset, just dumb engineering. You can ride our Lime rental scooters and eat a ice cream cone at the same time. Those things are pretty stable, the head tube angle is very slack. Plus I think they top out at a sensible 15mph.

We have a Kaabo scooter in our area. I have yet to meet the owner but I know I'll only catch them if they crash or we meet at a store. This thing is crazy fast! It keeps up with cars in a 45mph zone. Owner does have a helmet though.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

My buddy loaned me the Apollo Pro (2020) and some crazy 50mph scooter. I wont ride the 50 mph scooter. I'm actually working on the front tire. The hydraulic brake is leaky and one axle bolt is missing. I'll fix that up for him. The Apollo Pro is awesome!! I love how it pulls me up hills. It's perfect. I only ride it in eco mode, but with both motors. In eco mode, my speed is limited to 15mph, but it still has amazing torque. I can get up the hills in my neighborhood very easy, even with a second rider. The Apollo Pro tops out at 40mph, but I'll never go faster than 25 on a scooter. I did move my side mirror from my bike to the Apollo Pro, for the time I have the scooter. My buddy says he would sell one of these to me. (Hmmmmmmmm...). I think I'm ready to graduate from my undead scooter that I salvaged. lol

 

[John from Connecticut]

My buddy loaned me the Apollo Pro (2020) and some crazy 50mph scooter. I wont ride the 50 mph scooter. I'm actually working on the front tire. The hydraulic brake is leaky and one axle bolt is missing. I'll fix that up for him. The Apollo Pro is awesome!! I love how it pulls me up hills. It's perfect. I only ride it in eco mode, but with both motors. In eco mode, my speed is limited to 15mph, but it still has amazing torque. I can get up the hills in my neighborhood very easy, even with a second rider. The Apollo Pro tops out at 40mph, but I'll never go faster than 25 on a scooter. I did move my side mirror from my bike to the Apollo Pro, for the time I have the scooter. My buddy says he would sell one of these to me. (Hmmmmmmmm...). I think I'm ready to graduate from my undead scooter that I salvaged. lol

Hello All,
I'm curious if anyone has knowledge of the type of 'average' injury ( if there is such a thing) one might experience from a
scooter crash ridden at 'speed' aka 20,30 40 + mph. I'm assuming death is in the mix of crashes ? The laws of physics
seem to rule against the rider, regardless of protective gear aka being thrown over the hander bar. I'm guessing going
airbourne on a scooter crash is fairly common ? Just curious.

Thanks,
John

 

[Taylor57]

I guess if you are in your 20's, bullet proof with plenty of money in the bank and good health insurance, one of these 50 mph scooters is for you. Same for street motorcycles. I've known at least 3 guys that have been wiped out on the street by cars. And all of them had it happen the same way-the oncoming car or truck was making a left at an intersection. Lets see how your former motocross skills pay off then...

 

[sc00ter]

Hello All,
I'm curious if anyone has knowledge of the type of 'average' injury ( if there is such a thing) one might experience from a
scooter crash ridden at 'speed' aka 20,30 40 + mph. I'm assuming death is in the mix of crashes ? The laws of physics
seem to rule against the rider, regardless of protective gear aka being thrown over the hander bar. I'm guessing going
airbourne on a scooter crash is fairly common ? Just curious.

Thanks,
John

I rode skateboards and will still hop on one from time to time. No more crazy tricks, I just keep it simple. So this is my comparison. I would rather fall off a skateboard at 15mph than on a kick scooter. I hate getting tangled in the handlebars while going down. I also grew up riding bmx bikes and always got tangled in the bars while falling. Simply put, falling always stinks no matter what speed.

Oh, and safety gear, or lack of, makes a difference when falling. The guy I dumped my Apollo Ghost on has yet to buy a helmet. I myself need a new one but I do wear one. Road rash is another thing. I always wore jeans and high top shoes when riding the Ghost. If I was to pick what the most frequent crash threat on the Ghost was gonna be it would be speed wobbles/getting spit off the side. I got good at shifting my weight back if the rear came up but that was kinda rare compared to the endless speed wobbles. Bouncy suspension, poorly engineered steering angles and tiny tires equal sloppy handling.

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

I see a lot of these scooters and one-wheels, some ride safe and some ride really wreckless. The few times I rode on the rentable scooters I found them very unsafe feeling because you are kind of up and over the handlebars a bit. The biggest issue I had was you don't always see curbs/dropoffs and some of the cracks in the pavement can jar you pretty good too where you almost lose the front end. The worst wreck I saw was a guy going through a shopping area/strip mall at a fairly low speed and there was a curb drop off/step down that was kind of blind and he went down really hard and hurt his shoulder pretty good because it kind of rolled over like a side front flip. We all stayed with him for a bit and got him some water but he didn't want any medical assistance and went about his day. I preferred the rentable e-bikes but those didn't last very long and the scooters seemed to stick around longer for whatever reason.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Scooter companies have lost 99% of their value in the last 2 years (see image below). The economics of making shared scooters is not in favor of any investor.
The high-speed scooters we see on the road seem very unsafe to me. I have tried to ride one of those 30mph dual-motor ones, I found them very unstable because many of these don't have decent brakes, very tiny 5-inch wheels that can't absorb bumps/craks on the road like my E-bike with 27.5-inch wheels, I am not visible to car drivers like I am on an E-bike and I can't carry stuff.
It may work for some but once they try it for a few hundred miles, I am sure many will come to the same conclusion I did.

 

[Dave Rocks]

In just the last few weeks I’ve noticed more of these electric scooters. I’m not talking the kind for handicapped people but the one people are using to get around. Some of them seem to go really fast, maybe more than 30 mph. It seems like they wouldn’t be street legal and with small wheels don’t seem all that safe. A generic picture of what I’m talking about. Any comments on these?
View attachment 156267

E-Scooters E-Skateboards E-Unicycles

You guys must have seen these in your E-Bike travels? Yes? Today coming home from work on a very busy 4 lane highway (the bike path is off the road and safely away from traffic). This dude on a three wheel long board E-Skateboard is cruising in traffic at a very high rate of speed. Way faster...

electricbikereview.com

 

[None]

This article was from last year, but I wonder if these e-scooters are getting any more popular?

Electric 'micro-bikes' are growing in popularity, combining e-scooter ease with e-bike comfort

Ever heard of an electric micro-bike? That’s okay, not many have. It’s a fairly new (and largely undefined) class of...

electrek.co

 

[sc00ter]

Everyone I know who has a electric kick scooter talks about the Roadrunner. I'm shocked I have yet to see one in the wild. I've seen a ONYX RCR and a Fido in person but never one of these Roadrunners. The improved Pro version will hit 50mph for around $3000! I'm not gonna lie, I would LOVE to ride either the base or Pro model, the Tronic version seems overkill though.

 

[Jim1348]

The electric kick scooters are popular now and it seems like I read more about proposed legislation to e-bikes than I do electric kick scooters.