Pretty amazing!
My only motorized transportation is my 650cc Yamaha "cruiser" motorcycle. I recently very badly sprained a tendon in my left hip, and won't be able to drive it for another six months. Got this little scooter so I could get to the grocery store, bank, post office, etc., and it's turned out to be a life-saver. Pros: As claimed, it takes about 7.5 hours to go from a 1/4 charge to full charge... and the amount of electricity required to do that is essentially negligible. I'm 5'9" and weigh ~140 pounds, and on level city streets it runs at a consistent 18.5-18.9 mph... and it can pull me up some pretty steep hills. The estimated thirty-mile range is also proving to be accurate. One other interesting (and very good) thing, is that squeezing on either brake-lever instantly powers off the motor... essentially putting the scooter in "neutral", and allowing the brakes to operate normally. The handlebar grips are also quite comfortable... but because the scooter has no form of suspension other than the really nice 3-inch-diameter tires -- and because you need to maintain a constant grip on the textured surface of the "throttle" in order to maintain proper speed-control -- I found it absolutely necessary to wear padded cycling gloves. Cons: 1) The seat is actually very comfortable... although the slight rise at the back of it prevents being able to sit as far back on it as I would like. 2) Along with not being able to sit all the way back on the seat, the foot-pegs are too far back on the frame to allow an adult rider to have optimal balance and control. Honestly, their location on the frame would probably be great for someone who was four feet tall. After my first ride, I removed the basket, which allows me to rest my feet on the very front of the scooter's floorboard, significantly improving my balance and control. As an even further improvement, I'm going to get a 16-inch-long piece of one-inch OD anodized aluminum pipe, and bolt it horizontally to the floorboard, right above where it starts angling upward... which will be a far better spot for a footrest. I do like having the basket, though... so once I've seen how well my modified footrest works, I'll Dremel 1-inch holes in the basket, and put it back on. 3) No included speed or distance indicator. The four-bar battery-level indicator seems to be quite accurate... but it would have been nice to have a vendor-supplied speedometer/odometer as well. I added an inexpensive-but-excellent CYCPLUS Wireless GPS Bike Computer to the handlebar, and that problem is now solved. 4) This is a "single speed" scooter (no multi-speed gear box)... and there is no graduated throttle control. As soon as you twist the throttle-grip, and the motor gets power from the battery... it's "GO!" Thankfully, for my first attempt at riding it, I had anticipated that... so as soon as the scooter tried to leap forward, I instantly turned the throttle-grip back. About fifteen more practice tries in my driveway allowed me to figure out how to use very-quick on-and-off, VERY minimal twists of the throttle, to get the scooter to move out more slowly and smoothly. Quite honestly, if a light-weight elderly person wasn't aware of how rapid and strong the motor's response is to power input, and just nonchalantly twisted the throttle for the first time, they could easily end up on the ground. So again, this thing's motor has only one speed -- i.e., "full speed ahead!" -- and the way you modulate acceleration and cruising speed is by twisting the "throttle" on and off. The good thing is... the combined weight of the driver and the scooter acts as a kind of inertial governor for the motor... which fortunately, while being fairly powerful... is not "race" powerful. So when I'm starting from a standstill, or when I'm cruising on level ground... the motor's response to the "on-and-off" thing is such that it takes a few seconds for it to get up to full speed. Once I'd figured out the limits and response parameters of that mode of operation -- and also the peculiarities of the scooter's handling and maneuverability, due to its being so low-to-the-ground -- I began to feel pretty comfortable on it. Conclusion: Although at this point I've only put about sixty miles on it... so far, I'm overall both pleased and impressed... so in spite of the "cons" I've listed, I think that this little scooter is WELL worth the asking price, and I'm giving it 5 stars. Never having had an electrically-driven two-wheeled vehicle before... I initially found this low-to-the-ground, 16-inch-wheeled, single-speed scooter's handling to be completely different than any of my road- or mountain-bikes... or any other two-wheeled vehicle I've ever ridden. After about five hours of total driving time, I'm now completely comfortable with how it handles... and it is a joy to ride. The fact that it really does have a reliable thirty-mile range, is extremely reassuring. Also... everyone who sees it, remarks on how unusually nice, and how and "cool" it looks... and that they've never seen anything like it. Quite a few folks have said that it looks like a mini dirt-bike. Looking at it in the sunlight, everyone has commented on how beautiful the sparkly, metallic-grey paint is. And I COMPLETELY agree with all of those sentiments. One final recommendation: DEFINITELY put a rear-view-mirror on the left handlebar. The scooter's handling can be somewhat twitchy, and turning your head around to see if there's a car behind you, could be a recipe for disaster. There are dozens of different ones available. Read more
