Category: 3 Wheeled Scooter
EXTREME 36V Glion SNAPnGO Snow Ride
EXTREME 36V GLION SNAPnGO mobility scooter snow ride! What happens when you turn a SNAPnGO loose in the snow? EXTREME mobility scootering! Do you ride in the snow? I thought so. You want to know what it’s like to ride one of these in the snow? Watch this video and feel the thunder.
I started this YouTube channel a while ago for ride videos. I had 1 subscriber for a while, but they left.
Snow Ride : 48V500W Lyric (eBikeboard) Scooter
In this video I take my 48V500W Lyric (eBikeboard) out for a ride in the snow. For added difficulty, I bring the dog. I ride every day, and when the weather turns bad I don’t stop. Riding this trike gives me the stability I need, but it’s still a challenging ride. Front wheel drive can get pretty slippery. But with the suspension and larger tire size I can roll right over obstacles.
Probably not a lot of people trying to ride scooters in the snow, but if you want to, you can!
Does a Seat With a Back Make A Difference? Sunlite Backrest Saddle
Picked up this seat, wasn’t sure what difference it would make, if any. Synopsis: A seat with a back makes a big difference for stability. I would buy it again.
This is the seat I bought, the Sunlite Backrest Saddle, 9″x11″. It was the cheapest I could find at the time (~$35 at time of purchase). I bolted it onto my eBikeboard and took it for a spin. It took a little getting used to, but the difference was obvious from the first ride. Now I’m quite comfortable with it and it’s hard to describe why it would make a difference. Maybe just because it keeps me from shifting around in the seat as much.
I would like a seat that is softer and had a better tightening mechanism for the back brace pad. It’s pretty lightweight, which good and bad. The size is good, it’s comfortable enough and it’s not obnoxious on the scooter. The seat pan is plastic, so I don’t know how much abuse it can take. I would like something a little softer and better built, so maybe I’ll spend more money next time and try to get a nicer one. All-in-all, it gets the job done!
SNAPnGO Model 335: The Best All-In-One Mobility Scooter Value?
Synopsis: The best all-in-one mobility scooter value? Could be. The Glion SNAPnGO is a big step up in the mobility world, I highly recommend this scooter. After several months of real-world use, I am still excited to own this device and drive it every day. There is so much care and thought in the design that show up in little things, and Glion customer service has been stellar. The scooter is faster than many, with 3 speeds of up to 6 mph. It’s lightweight, has a FAA certified-for-travel removable 36V 6.6 aH Li-on battery with great range, ~ 6 miles. Right Side Controls; power, lights, thumb throttle with LED battery indicator. Left Side Controls; forward/reverse, speed selector, horn. Regenerative braking plus dual rear drum brakes. Comfort-style seat rotates, has removable arm rests, and can be removed for travel. Optional travel seat lightens the scooter even more and makes it easier to move. Ships with charger, front nylon handlebar carrying bag, shopping baskets, rear-view mirror, two battery keys, everything you need to hit the ground running. It’s rated for 300 lbs., does great with my ~180, I can just barely ride on grass.
Everything has been thought through in a way that makes day-in-day-out use simple and uncomplicated. Runs and rides great, I ride it every day. It is comfortable, uncomplicated and has superior performance.
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My personal mobility has slowed, so I started seriously looking at actual mobility scooters. I have been using modified scooters for mobility, but I started looking at the possible advantages of a stable seat. I picked up a used Pride GoGo Elite Traveller from the local classifieds that needed some love. I found after driving the Elite Traveller, there were real benefits on a heavy pain day to being able to just sit, not even to have to balance. I have owned several Pride scooters that I have fixed and sold, and frankly, they are very well built. After taking many scooters apart, I find Pride scooters are super tough and dependable. The scooter pictured is about 14 years old and still going strong.
An opportunity appeared to pick up a SNAPnGO through a local lost-freight liquidator at a greatly reduced price. I can’t afford $1300 to try a scooter out. It was a great price, so I took a chance. There were a few scuffs, but everything was mechanically sound and it was still new in the box. When I got it home and put it through its paces, it was clear everything about the scooter was 100%. I registered the scooter with Glion and started riding.
Now I had two mobility scooters, and I could compare them head-to-head. In the end I could only keep one (much to my grandkids disappointment) and you already know how the story ends. I like the Pride GoGo Elite Traveller scooter very much. It’s solid, you can find parts, and you can easily find these scooters used for a good price. They break down into pieces so you can load them into any vehicle. But they are heavy, they have heavy lead-acid batteries, and they are slower, at ~4 mph.
The SNAPnGO folds quickly. I can easily load it in my car by myself. It goes faster, ~7 mph, and it’s fun to ride. The light weight makes it a very nimble riding experience. It turns easily and quickly. It has good acceleration and excellent braking. The battery is lightweight and removable so you can charge it away from the scooter and you can fly with it. Even though the battery is small, it lasts a surprisingly long time. Range is very good.
The original reason I bought this scooter was primarily to take it on an airline trip, so I wanted the optional travel seat. But I wanted just the post, as I already had a seat. I didn’t see just the post listed on Glion’s site, so I reached out. They sold me the seat post for a reasonable price and sent it out fast. I had it in two days. I’ve bought a lot of parts from multiple companies, Glion has been top-notch. This is a great scooter from a great company.
I would call this a relatively expensive scooter at $1299. But remember the unique things this scooter can do. It’s lightweight, folds, is faster than average and you can fly with it. You can fly with a lot of scooters, but only the smallest and lightest can be checked at the end of the loading ramp like this one. That’s a big difference. The alternatives to this scooter seem to be above $2K, so in that sense too it seems like a good value.
Cockpit/Controls
The right hand has a simple thumb throttle with a 3 light LED read-out. It also has the power button. Hold it down for a few seconds and the scooter turns on with the lights on. A quick additional touch to the power switch and the lights turn off. (I wish it was default no lights.) It would be nice to have a LCD screen with more information like voltage, speed, odometer but it’s not really necessary. Not really going fast or far with this vehicle. The LED lights seem pretty reliable as far as showing the state of the battery. The acceleration and responsiveness is best when the battery is fully charged, indicating green, but also has good performance throughout the discharge as you would expect with a Lithium battery. There are 3 speeds, but I pretty much keep it on the top speed. It also has a decent horn, not too wimpy, not to bold. The hand brake on the right side controls the rear drum brakes and can be locked and used as a parking brake. Another interesting feature of this scooter is that when it is powered on it has a regenerative brake that makes the scooter a bit difficult to push forward. Turn the scooter off by holding the power button for a few seconds, and it freewheels and rolls easily. No brake lights, just lights, but they are bright and come in handy. I can easily ride at night.
The handlebars are a good width, the scooter turns tightly. One thing I noticed about the foot rests, they are slightly wider than the back wheels so it the front won’t fit through a space, you are not going to get through and accidentally catch the back wheels. Nice touch. At first I thought the footrests looked a little large and funny, but I end up using all the space. It is nice to be able to change my seating position and my foot positions. You can also use the space in the front of the footrest as a handle when you trolley the scooter. Nice touch!
The seat is a super-comfortable mobility scooter seat. Pretty much the same seat as was on my Elite Traveller, almost interchangeable, but not quite. The arm rests fold up and down, but I removed them for extra comfort. Without the arms I don’t feel as pinned in. There is a latch under the seat that you lift to change directions of the seat so you can get out sideways if you like. You also lift the lever when you want to remove the seat. When you remove the seat there is a convenient holder for the seat center post. To use the optional travel seat you keep the center post in and the travel seat post slides inside. You end up sitting a little bit higher, and the handlebars feel the perfect height when using the travel seat. In fact, I would say the travel seat is a performance upgrade. You sit higher, the scooter is much lighter with the smaller seat, and it performs even better!
DRIVE TRAIN
36V, 6.6 aH Lithium battery. There’s a lot to like about the battery setup. First, it meets FAA guidelines and Glion will provide you the manufacturing document you need for travel if you ask. The shape of the battery is excellent with a fold-down carrying handle. It has an on/off switch and 5.5mm charging port. The blade connection design is super solid. The battery is very easy to take on and off, and it comes with 2 keys for locking and removing it on your scooter. Comes with a 2A charger, charges in 2-3 hours. I use a Luna Cycles charger and charge to 80 percent a majority of the time. I like the Luna chargers because you can vary the charging amperage and the charge percentage.
The SNAPnGO is front-wheel drive. The motor seems just right for my size of ~180 lbs. I can climb inclines and drive over most grass. The motor is pretty quiet and is responsive. The acceleration is good. One thing about any 3 wheeled scooter, they can be a little tippy, especially turning tight when going uphill or downhill. The SNAPnGO is so light, sometimes it feels like it can tip easier than the Elite Traveller, but because it is so light it’s easier to correct. Once that heavy Pride scooter started tipping, there wasn’t as much I could do to stop it. I tipped it once. But I’ve yet to tip over on the SNAPnGO. EDIT: During the timeframe of writing this, I finally did tip over. I hit a driveway lip covered in wet leaves at less than a 90 degreee angle. The front tire slid sideways until the back tires hit, and then I tipped. It was slow, easy to manage, and with such a lightweight scooter, it was easier to deal with than a heavy scooter. Was not hurt in any way.
CHASIS
Although the frame has a simple design, it’s advanced. Everything has a purpose. The folding mechanism is solid. You push forward on the steering column and step on the release and the scooter folds quickly. The seat post comes out in slides into it’s holding tube. There is also a holding tube for the travel seat. There is a loop bar on the back that makes the back easy to grab and it protects the battery.
This will drive over the lip of my driveway, but without any suspension or pneumatic tires, it’s a jolt. I like solid tires because I never have to worry about flats. The back wheels on the SNAPnGO are a good size and roll easily. No problems there.
FOLDING
Folding the scooter is easy. You first remove the seat, then the post, putting it in the holder on the frame, push the handlebars forward and step down on the aluminum release lever located at the front of the deck and that’s it! Folds down to a size that should fit into most any car. You can see it here in the trunk of an older Honda Accord. Scooter folds down, seat placed upside-down on top of it.
Turning Radius
I can do a Y-turn on a sidewalk.
What I like Better About a Traditional Pride Scooter
Forward/reverse controller, tiller handle adjustable, neutral handle.
In the end, it’s a great mobility device. I’m putting together a video that will show everything. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
What Do You Want?
Went for a ride this past weekend. My wife is a runner so my scooter is how I am able to participate with her. She said she would like to incorporate a stop at nearby grocery as part of the run. I hopped off and grabbed a shot of my eBikeboard scooter in the isle. I love the eBikeboard because it has 3 speed settings and I can slow it down to mobility scooter speed (4 MPH) or speed it up and ride with my wife as she runs or really speed it up and run over to the store by myself.
The really unique thing about this scooter is I can ride it from the street right into the store. So important for people like me who have mobility issues. Otherwise I could ride it to the store and then what? This scooter fills the gap. If I could just find one that could run errands, cruise with someone running, ride in stores…. and would fold and fit in the trunk and was FAA approved for travel!
I do have to say after I had been in the store for a few minutes the manager came up and confronted me and told me my scooter had to go and I could lock it in his office while I was shopping. My wife wasn’t having any of that, and she emphatically told him this was my mobility device. He backed down like he had been accused of using a racial slur. He suddenly was emphatically apologizing, so much so he sounded defensive. I didn’t even have to say a word.
Since I started riding scooters I have only been confronted a few handfuls of times, and most times it has gone well. I have had a few people angrily confront me, but in life when someone starts in on me I try to take their anger as information that they are upset. I usually let them say whatever they have to say, I get it, scooters are confusing to people who don’t use them regularly. But I also know that the law is on my side, and I can ride what I need to where I need to. If I have to prove my scooter has the right classification, I can do that. If I have to prove my disability, I can do that. But I think most people realize pretty quickly that hassling someone over their ADA mobility device is not a good look.
Winter is coming this week. Scooting is going to start to get interesting again…
Renter Scooters Change Scooter World Overnight
All of a sudden, everyone is talking about scooters. As a dedicated scooter rider for nearly a decade, it has been with mixed emotions that I have watched the world of rental scooters unfold.
I understand the appeal of these machines, and I have been very excited to see the progress in design and build in the new scooters coming out. I even backed a new scooter on IndieGoGo called the Eon (which at this point is looking like a scam and I have nothing to show for my money. Not happy with IndieGoGo or PayPal for how they handle their business, let alone Eon, but just let me say I would be VERY skeptical about spending money with IndieGoGo and WOULD NOT use PayPal and absolutely would use my credit card. More about this on another post.)
Lime and Bird scooters have appeared in the downtown area of the city where I live, but I have not yet taken the opportunity to ride either to evaluate them, maybe because I already have my own scooter to ride. I have seen many people riding them, and they seem to be really enjoying themselves.
The problem for me with the new popularity of rental scooters is the problems arising from the users of the new rental scooters. People with zero riding experience can easily rent one and hop on, and suddenly they are learning how to ride in a very challenging environment. After they ride them they leave them…wherever. By now most people have heard the about the issues, and much contention has arisen.
For someone who depends on scooters for mobility, I am cautiously optimistic about the future of rental scooters and scooter use in public places. I think there should be designated drop-off areas so they don’t end up everywhere. I think people should take care when riding, and not just grab one on a lark and carry their shopping bags as they try to navigate people and the skills required to ride.
The argument against these scooters because hospital visits are going up is a canard. Use has shot up, injuries have shot up. Duh. I never understand the “THIS IS DANGEROUS!” argument people take up when then don’t want something for whatever reason. Everything we do includes an element of risk, but that’s life. How about my motorcycle, you want that? Plenty of danger there. Maybe my baseball which has caused me pain, or maybe the knives in my kitchen that I have cut myself with? What about the over 250 people that have died taking selfies?
People do stupid things, and one of the stupidest is being surprised when people do stupid things. Stupidity is not an argument against efficacy. So people do stupid things with scooters too, what’s new?
I hope that I do not incur additional prejudice from people because of the new popularity of rental scooters. I need my scooters to navigate life, they are not a lark for me. We will see what the eventual outcome is, and if people hassle me I am already used to it so whatever, but I am glad that people are starting to understand the value scooters can provide society. Just like anything else, we need to use our powers wisely.
Dakota Lithium Clean Republic Battery Build
Posting my review of the Dakota Lithium Clean Republic 12V 10aH LiFePO4 Li-on battery. I have 2 – 24V Currie battery packs that I use for my scooter and bicycle. SLA batteries are cheap, say $25 a battery vs $100 for a Li-on battery, and they will get you on the road, but… heavy, limited range, limited life compared to Li-on.
So I finally scratched together the $400 I needed for 4 batteries and made my order. The batteries arrived quickly and were well packaged. The were an exact replacement for my 12V 10Ah SLA batteries.
I have used these packs all summer and they have been fantastic. They are much lighter and last much longer. How much longer? I would say at least double my SLA’s. I have used them in a 48V configuration with my e-Bikeboard scooter, on my 250W 24V 16″ Electric bicycle, and my 450W 24V 26″ electric bicycle, and… I even have used them with a step-down converter and my 12V Minn Kota electric outboard. In every application these batteries have performed exceptionally.
Another benefit is the power does not lag as the battery is used. With SLA’s the scooter starts to go slower as the battery drains, not so with these li-ons. The power stays constant throughout, but, when they die they die without warning. On…off.
You can see I have adapted the power connection to Anderson Power Poles. I charge the packs with a Li-ion charger that came with my eBikeboard scooter.
Hopefully it will take me years to find out how long they last, but so far they have been great, delivering all the power I have asked of them.
Snow Ride
Take it easy. It has been a while since I posted last, got caught up in the holidays. It is the busy time of year for my work as well. As this new year begins I hope it is a good one for us all.
I have been riding regularly. Most of it has been on my Lyric eBikeboard scooter, but have also been taking a quick ride on the tandem bike here and there with my beautiful wife. I don’t know what it is, but that bike is fun.
It has been snowing where I live and that makes scootering — treacherous. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, people are not serious about anything other than cars for transportation. The roads are plowed quickly here, but the sidewalks… forget about it. 
The sidewalks are the roads for everything other than cars and no entity maintains them. Private property owners should clear their walks, but that is hit and miss. I get that you don’t want to shovel the snow from your walks, but the collective “we” of our community needs you to. I know people are busy and have jobs and shoveling snow isn’t always a priority. But whenever I hear politicians or people who don’t ride talking about how important riding is, I can’t help but laugh.
Snow riding is off-road riding. It can be very dangerous with the rough terrain of ice and snow, you never know what is under what you see. My Lyric eBikeboard was designed to handle off-road riding and in the winter it really comes in handy. My scooter is super rugged, and the aluminum construction really helps with all the wet that comes at it from the snow. I let some air out of the front tire to get some more traction. It’s a wild ride, and in some ways it is fun, just like the unpredictable nature of off-road riding. Just very treacherous, freezing off-roading.
EW 36
Got the EW 36 back on the road, I have put some good miles on it. The big wheels really make it roll easily. It’s nice and comfortable. The big “lazy-boy” seat takes the mobility experience to another “luxury” level. The front is very street scooter. It has the regular controls of a motorcycle. Hi/lo headlight, tail light, brake light, turn signals, horn, keyed ignition, locking steering column, brake levers, mirrors. The fairing actually blocks the wind a bit, too.
The suspension is a little different on the front tire. There is a shock on each side that is independently mounted, so it feels like it twists or wiggles a bit.
The back has four 18aH SLA batteries, a circuit breaker, a brushed 400W transaxle motor and the controller. When I got this the controller wasn’t wired in properly and the scooter didn’t operate. Someone had obviously tried to put a new one in and it wasn’t pretty. I got a new controller, but couldn’t f
ind one with reverse so I wired in a golf cart switch. It’s kind of fun. I rode it over to Wally’s Wacky World and rode it around the store. Works good.
Going down the road is really a smooth ride on this thing, and with the big batteries you can go a long way. It is quite a sensation to be sitting in a big comfy chair whizzing down the road. It can be a little odd going around corners too fast though, so it helps to
As much as I like it, I am selling it. Someone else can get more use out of it than I can. Plus, I need the space in my garage.
Schwinn S600 Frankenscooter threw the chain the other day in a way that made it so that I couldn’t get it back on. I had to leave it, walk home and get my truck and go back and pick it up. This maintenance thing is getting to be a serious issue. Riding a scooter here and there is one thing. Riding it regularly in all kinds of situations…
My e-bikeboard scooter, a rock. Works every day. My GoPed KnowPed, a warrior. Seriously. I ran it over with my RV, no problem. My Currie equipment seems to need a fair amount of maintenance per mile ridden. I finally got better tires on them so hopefully the flats will slow down. I need to replace a spoke on my EZGO and adjust the chain on the S600.
EW 36 Revival
This past week has had several good rides. Threw my scooter in the car and ran it up the hill to the garage, about 4 miles. Scootered home then scootered back when it was ready.
Picked up a beautiful vintage beach cruiser in excellent condition this week. Did a little research and found out this is one of the original beach cruiser frames. You can read here if you want more info on how these bikes came to be, it’s interesting. Wasn’t really looking to buy a bicycle, but we came across it and jumped. The ride is really smooth and the bike feels long and sleek. Really feels good in turns.
I put in several days on a project scooter I have, a EW 36, and FINALLY got it running. It is an interesting design, with a full complement of turn signals, horn, lights, tail lights — and wires everywhere. Took a while but I identified the wires and got a new controller and started hooking things up. Tested the throttle, good. Tested the motor, good. Replaced the controller and then chased down a bunch of bad connections.
When the wheels finally turned I was thrilled. It has been a lot of work to understand how to check things and what to check. I still have some work to do on it but it is working great now. I took it for a few short rides and then today I took it out for for 4 or so miles. It’s a very comfortable ride with the big wheels and big lazy boy seat.
This project should be finished soon. I have an exciting project waiting for me and I finished another project right before this one that I have yet to share.
Good things are happening!