Euc rider buying first scooter. Any advice?

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I'm an euc rider, but could never talk my wife into stepping on one. In all honesty, its best she doesnt. I dont agree that ANYONE can learn the euc and she falls squarely in the camp of people who would probably fall to injury before rising to success. Anyhow, I digress. I recently ordered an electric scooter so that she could go on rides thru our neighborhood with me on my euc. Im a HUGE fan of e-wheels, so I asked and they gave me some options. Since this is MY scooter im letting my wife BORROW, I opted for a lightning +. I'm sure this is a leap WAY above what she'll ever need, but I wasnt about to buy some light weight piece of chinese junk. Yes, 20lb scooters are cool ( i guess), but how durable could it possible be, if the batteries are 10lbs?

 I've never owned an electric scooter, tho I've ridden plenty as a kid of the foot powered kind. Back in the day when luxury was owning a foot powered 'hot wheels'. Before the spoiled days of the electric barbie car and monster truck crap. Is there anything I should be aware of, with these e-scooters? I'm guessing its to be handled in similar fashion to my euc, as far as battery maintenance is concerned. Is the scooter market comprised of overpriced plastic bullshit, like the euc market, or is it a bit more refined? Is my wife going to kill herself (or am I), on a scoot with teeny tiny 10" wheels, that can go 30mph+? Should I be prepared to repair and tinker with this thing every mile it happens to work? Any little maintenance or riding details I should prepare for, BEFORE I get hurt or stranded?

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Well, got a Lightining+ from Jason at e-wheels. Wow, this thing is a beast. I rode it around a bit and am pretty surprised at how difficult it is to ride. I just assumed it would be second nature from start. I now have my doubts the wife will wind up riding this either. Seems like a nice scoot, but i still prefer my Eucs by quite a margin.

[WILSONEUC]

having tried the mantis, i highly would recommend that to you :p 

[Hangman]

On 9/23/2020 at 10:07 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

Well, got a Lightining+ from Jason at e-wheels. Wow, this thing is a beast. I rode it around a bit and am pretty surprised at how difficult it is to ride. I just assumed it would be second nature from start. I now have my doubts the wife will wind up riding this either. Seems like a nice scoot, but i still prefer my Eucs by quite a margin.

@ShanesPlanet, can you elaborate on how "difficult" it is to ride please?  I am in the same boat, wanting to get my bride something so she can ride with me & knowing she'll never get on an EUC, my thoughts went to the scooter.  I've looked at the Trikke Pon-E but spending a bit more for half as much isn't to my liking so I'm back to the Lightning or Lightning Plus.  I've watched your vid but you didn't cover much information there.  Perhaps the difficulty in the ride is because you had the camera in one hand (you did comment on that 😉😁)?  I've watched many other video's on the speed, braking, handling, etc & no one else has mentioned the difficulty it is to ride.

How is the steering, is it difficult to turn sharply at low speeds?  Do you think a dampener would help?  How is the leaning when turning at low speeds (5-9mph)?  I know my bride does not trust the lean so I need to do my homework on this before I make the purchase.  I know she will never get the scooter above 15mph until she is extremely comfortable with it so she'll never get out of Mode 1.  She does however want to wander the city streets & bike paths we have here so we need something for range.   I'm inclined to get the Lightning as the cost is a bit lower (-$500 lower) but the two (Lightning & Lightning Plus) are nearly identical machines with the exception of battery & brakes basically.  Range is a few miles less 😢, speed is a touch less 😐, motors are a mere 200 watts difference 😐, & the Lightning has cable brakes instead of the hydraulics 😢, one of my more serious considerations to the Lightning Plus.

If she won't ride it then I've bought myself a scooter along with my EUC's ... ouch.  If she will ride it, then the Lightning Plus is a great investment.  There are a bunch of accessories to the scooter as well ... including a seat.

I wish we had more people conversing on this post but alas, it is an EUC forum & not a scooter forum per-se.

[Hangman]

On 10/9/2020 at 3:51 PM, WILSON-YT said:

having tried the mantis, i highly would recommend that to you :p 

What is 'the Mantis' & where can I find one?  I can't find a listing for it on eWheels.com unless it is under a different name & 'the Mantis' is a nickname for it.?.  Thanks.

[WI_Hedgehog]

(around $7,000 U.S.)

Edited March 1, 2021 by WI_Hedgehog

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Update... Wife has begun to learn ride the scooter. She was intimidated at first, but I think her wathcing me ride around on my mten, was just too much too deny. We began with her riding with the scooter turned off. We live on a very gentle downhill street with nill for traffic. For the first few times, she would foot push and stop after a few feet. Rinse repeat, further, further, coasting down hill. Then comes learning the brakes. My wife can ride a motorcycle and has driven 5 speed vehicles and an 18 wheeler. However, she's not a spring chicken anymore and her balance isnt getting better. I didnt say she was ever any good at any of those things. I digress... After about 2- 3 hours of practice over a couple weeks(weather has been shit), she finally got to the point she could slowly ride up and down the street and is learning to enjoy it. Its tiring her as it also uses muscles that are either worn from work or arent used to the effort. I do belive she will be able to somewhat safely ride the scooter by the end of this summer. The lure of warm weather and the ability to ride around the neighborhood and take pictures, is too great. Will she ever do 40mph and feel like jumping off a cliff? Nope, not a chance. Will she get decent at it and NOT become a menace? Only if she doesnt get hurt first. All in all, I call it a success. I also enjoy the scooter, and its no slouch at all. Mine has hydraulic brakes and they are on point. The suspension was easy enough to set and the scooter looks pretty tough. I've a video of me on it in my link. Just keep in mind that it IS something need learned, you CAN get hurt on it, and its definitely not just a toy. 40mph on 10" tires aint NO joke! All in all, its just like a scooter when we were kids. You know, when you hopped on that tiny thing and launched down a pavement hill at stupid speeds with bathing suit and flip flops? YOu dont turn it, you lean and pray! Now we're bigger, the scooter is bigger and the rest is similar... 'hold my beer and watch this!'

Edited March 1, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[WI_Hedgehog]

Whewwww...30 MPH without gear on a dark-side tire seems a bit risky to me...

...but that's me, thanks for the vids, carry on!

[Tawpie]

2 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

I do belive she will be able to somewhat safely ride the scooter by the end of this summer.

Having spent 5ish years last mile commuting on a kick scooter (it was literally exactly 1 mile from the bus stop to the office door, go figure), please caution her to ALWAYS hold on firmly with both hands. Don't get cute and fuss with the camera while moving . There were two ways to wreck when I was on the original adult sized Razor (made by Schwinn of all people): bars get a little sideways from a road imperfection or pinecone and yanked out of your hand, and high centered. The latter was a problem unique to the Razor's near zero ground clearance, but the former is a consequence of steering with a relatively small wheel.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Tawpie

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9 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

Whewwww...30 MPH without gear on a dark-side tire seems a bit risky to me...

...but that's me, thanks for the vids, carry on!

40 mph, but theres 2 tires, so its only 20mph each right?

You aint lyin @Tawpie! I figured it was just me being horrible at riding. RUnning a selfie stick while riding for my vids was NOT a great plan. One handed was uber sketchy.

[Tawpie]

I did get to the point where I could grab the bar at the center and keep it under some semblance of control, but it wasn't a good idea at all even though it was just a kick scooter. No leverage. The worst part about crashing a Razor was the footboard would free rotate around the handlebar stem and absolutely smash your leg. It's like getting hit by a cricket bat edge on. EUC pedal bites are love nibbles by comparison.

[WI_Hedgehog]

On 3/1/2021 at 6:16 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

40 mph, but theres 2 tires, so its only 20mph each right? 

I meant on the Sherman in the Sherman/Scooter video.

(I don't know jack about scooters, they look like mopeds with whack steering geometry to me) 

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2 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

I meant on the Sherman in the Sherman/Scooter video.

(I don't know jack about scooters, they look like mopeds with whack steering geometry to me) 

Hell yes its risky. You wont find me preaching about how 'safe' an euc at speed is. Nor will I pretend that riding an euc is easy and 'anyone' can learn it. I find it challenging, thrilling AND dangerous. Hell, add those 3 together and it doesnt get much better . I'm trying to get comfy maintaining 40mph and touching 50mph. Yup, ludicrous for sure! The scooter is a little easier, but whew.. touchy as hell and also dangerous at speed.

Edited March 4, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[WI_Hedgehog]

1 hour ago, ShanesPlanet said:

^^^that

I'M IN!!!

[Hangman]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:09 PM, Hangman said:

I know she will never get the scooter above 15mph until she is extremely comfortable with it so she'll never get out of Mode 1.  She does however want to wander the city streets & bike paths we have here so we need something for range.   I'm inclined to get the Lightning as the cost is a bit lower (-$500 lower) but the two (Lightning & Lightning Plus) are nearly identical machines with the exception of battery & brakes basically.  Range is a few miles less 😢, speed is a touch less 😐, motors are a mere 200 watts difference 😐, & the Lightning has cable brakes instead of the hydraulics 😢, one of my more serious considerations to the Lightning Plus.

Well I too took the plunge & bought the Lightning for my bride.  I just couldn't justify the extra cost for slightly more range.  The discussion from the guys at EWheels was that the two braking systems are 'roughly identical' meaning the hydraulic brakes are more smooth & the pads contact the disc evenly.  The cable brakes have one side of the caliper pulled into the disc before the other side is engaged.  So technically, the inside pads will wear before the outside. 

I put the scooter on recharge of 3 out of 5 (this slows the scooter down on it's own so the brakes are used less), econo-mode, mode 1 (up to 15mph), & put a damper on it so she can't over-steer the handle bars.

I wanted the scooter throttled so I could keep up with her on the InMotion v8 & thinking I'd drag along at 10-12mph for a few months before getting up to 15-17mph.

I spoke too soon when I said

Quote

I know she will never get the scooter above 15mph until she is extremely comfortable

She's been on the scooter three times now.  I guess she's extremely comfortable with it!  She doesn't even notice she's going 15mph ! 

We went on a decent lengthy ride (her third on the scooter) just the other day ... it was cold & windy.  I finally called it a ride (mainly cause my battery was close to noth'n but I was also getting foot cramps) & she wanted to keep going.  Her nose & cheeks were so red I was think'n she had frostbite & her fingers were ice cold frozen but ...  what have I created?

I need the KS16X!  Or perhaps the Nikola Plus.