Save Gas Money Electric Scooters Are Fast Safe Easy and Cheap
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The easiest cheapest most fun way I know to save Gas Money is by having an Electric Scooter. An electric scooter is perfect for an adult who wants to save gas money doing local errands and short local trips under 14 miles round-trip as it is a cheap, hassle free excellent method of transportation that helps the environment too. I currently own a Schwinn Stealth S-1000 Electric Scooter and these are my experiences with owning an Electric Scooter. You don’t need a license either (for most electric scooters)! You do need to wear a helmet and weigh under 250 pounds or so (varies with each scooter).
The cost of an electric scooter is surprisingly cheap. I paid $375 for a new fully assembled Schwinn Stealth S-1000 Electric Scooter that includes a rechargeable battery that lasts 3-6 months depending on usage. New rechargeable batteries are about $125. That’s about it. One thing I would recommend based on my experience with electric scooters is that you buy a scooter with a Direct Drive not a Chain Drive. The difference for me was startling. Other than the occasional flat tire, I never have had to make repairs on the Stealth S-1000 but when I had an earlier electric scooter with a chain drive, the chain kept getting tangled and it cost me $75 a pop to get it fixed.
I am a total klutz and the S-1000 is incredibly easy to use as the balance is so good and the ride is super comfortable. It took me 1 hour of practice in an empty lot and I’ve ridden the scooter ever since, easy as pie. Believe it or not, I prefer to ride in the street in the bike lanes where the ground is smooth rather then going over the cracking sidewalks. The scooter goes up to around 12-15 miles per hour and you can go as far as 12 miles with it till the battery is empty, though I think 10 miles is a more reasonable expectation. I bought an extra battery which I take with me for trips longer then 10 miles round trip that I just tie up on the floorboard and ride with my feet on top of it and when applicable I change it with the battery inside which takes all of a minute to do.
Charging the battery is super easy as you just use a small charger connected to any electric outlet in your home and connect it to your scooter. Takes about 10 seconds to plug in and about 6 hours to charge. The battery as mentioned previously, lasts 3-6 months depending on use, and costs about $125 for a new one and is very easy to put in requiring no mechanical skills.
I would recommend you get your local bike shop to put a small basket on the back of the scooter if you do errands if your electric scooter comes without one. Most of the time, because the balance of the Stealth 1000 is so good, I just put any packages on the front part of the floorboard where they seem to balance perfectly. For myself, I also put larger packages on the entire floorboard and ride the scooter with my feet on top of the packages. For safety reasons I don’t recommend doing this but for me personally its fine as it doesn’t affect my balance.
The great thing about not be able to exceed 12-15 miles per hour as opposed to be going say 15-25 miles per hour is its very hard to get hurt if somehow you get in the odd accident. Note, the few accidents I’ve had were not caused by the scooter at all but my stupidity. None of my accidents involved traffic at all, they were all mainly caused when I stopped at a corner by the sidewalk and for some reason started to go when I shouldn’t have, hesitated and stopped while I like an idiot still had my hand on the throttle till I let go. The bottom line is, the scooter stopped on the dime when I let go of the throttle and all I got were some very minor scrapes on my hands and knees. The scooter itself is what I consider indestructible and has never suffered any damages at all.
When I park the scooter outside, I use a basic bicycle chain lock to secure it and have never had any problems. The good thing is, its so cheap at $375, that if it ever did get ripped off, I wouldn’t lose sleep.
For me, my electric scooter is the greatest thing since sliced bread and one of the best investments I’ve ever made.
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