Mobility Takes A Seat

Posted in 2 Wheeled Scooter, Electric Scooter, Modified, Urban Riding - October 24, 2018 - 0 Comment

For me, mobility means I need to be able to sit down. Typical mobility scooters do not fit my needs in that they are heavy, slow and let’s face it, kinda ugly. I started using scooters 8 years ago and during this time I have ridden many different scooters. Every person that uses mobility assistive devices has different needs, some needs stability over everything else. But I still can walk short distances and have good balance, so I want to ride something more nimble. And I travel a lot. So I would ideally like something that was FAA friendly.

Many of my scooters hit the mark on one thing but not another. I keep trying different solutions as my budget allows.

A while ago I made a nice find in this GoPed ESR Sport. I bought if from an on-line classified ad and the person I bought it from had it under a pile of stuff in their garage. It wasn’t working but I took a chance, and when I replaced the batteries it popped back to life.

This GoPed ESR Sport is quite a peppy scooter. The tires are solid, just like on my GoPed kickscooter and there is no suspension so the ride is… let’s say it can be challenging. But the torque is amazing and the scooter really takes off and can really handle hills. The solid tires are nice for not getting flats in a hazard-filled urban riding environment, but you have to be really, really carefully hitting bumps. I would say top speed seems like around 15 MPH.

I was looking around at the scooter parts I had and found the original scooter seat post I made and shockingly the holes where in exactly the right place to mount it to my GoPed ESR Sport. I put on a seat with springs for more cushion and this is an amazing ride!

This scooter is great for running to the store and then riding through the store. It maneuvers tightly. One big drawback is it is not waterproof, so no riding in the rain. Also, it is pretty heavy. I can lift it, but it takes effort. All-in-all, this GoPed ESR Sport is a great ride, especially with the added seat. I think at some point I will try to make the seat folding.

I hope to ride and evaluate new scooters coming out. I back Eon scooter on IndieGoGo and they haven’t delivered and it doesn’t look like they will, despite their protestations. They also promised me a refund which has never happened and they don’t return my emails so… looks like I have lost all my money. It would be nice to have a scooter from a reputable company. I have noticed the Glion Snap N Go online, something like that would be nice to at least evaluate, but there is no where I know that I can go and test ride these scooters.

I will keep posting about what I ride and how it works in the hopes of passing useful information along.