I enjoy seeing youthful enthusiasm in action

Rocker

A couple of teenagers in our rural area have fitted engines to their bicycles.  Lots of noise and a fair turn of speed, questionable legality but I saw nothing officer, great to see young lads pushing the boundaries creatively.  They could be at worse...

I googled and it seems that there is easy availability of Chinese built bicycle engines for relatively little money.  And lots of videos on how to fit same engine on your bike.  Engines are invariably two stroke which requires a petrol/oil mix but that is part of the fun.  

So well done and continued success to our young budding engineers and mechanics.

chillidoggy

I love to see those kind of things!

I'd like one of those illegal electric scooters, too. The bloke that lives directly opposite has got one. But I nearly ran him over when he came round the corner in the middle of the road yesterday, and the wife told me I'm fucking stupid and issued a ban on me buying one.

munckee

I quite fancy a battery scooter I have to say. They’re not legal on road or pavement which is a problem. 

Sassafras

I love the smell of 2 stroke exhaust.

WiresDreamDisasters

I love 4am power fucking where neither of you are quite awake, but you get your bonk on anyway.

BeardyAndy

A buddy of mine had an old factory made thing when we were at school, had the engine inside the rear wheel as I remember?

Must admit that I was only just  thinking that if i was a teen today the whole "electric scooter" revolution would be lost on me. I was the kid with the skate board or bmx modded to a shadow of its former self so I could be sure mine was the only one like it, walked past a group of kids yesterday and there was 5 or 6 of them on identical black power scooters. At best you could put some stickers on them but otherwise pretty dull.

BeardyAndy

munckee said:

I quite fancy a battery scooter I have to say. They’re not legal on road or pavement which is a problem. 

There's so many of them out there now, as long as you don't be a dick on it i doubt even the most hardened jobsworth of a police officer would even say anything.

LastMantra

When I was a kid I got an old moped from a scrapyard. I got it going (with some help from my dad) and "chopped" it and zoomed up and down the street until one of the neighbours grassed and the police came and gave me a bollocking.
Was fun while it lasted. 

I also got my hands on a proper racing go-cart chassis and stuck a 250cc motor bike engine on it. That went like shit off a shovel! 

When I was a bit older I used to go to a friends farm where we had access to loads of tools and scrap that we'd make all sorts of contraptions out of. 

rogd

A buddy of mine had an old factory made thing when we were at school, had the engine inside the rear wheel as I remember?

Yes Andy, a BSA Winged Wheel. 35cc two stroke, 1 whole horse power and a top speed of 25mph.

Brio

There's so many of them out there now, as long as you don't be a dick on it i doubt even the most hardened jobsworth of a police officer would even say anything.

I saw local law in Didcot having words with a couple of lads using them on the cycle path. They are the transport of choice of drug dealers delivery kids. Also en masse they can be a pain in the ass.

BeardyAndy

@Brio they are everywhere in Southampton too, footpaths during the school run add a little excitement to your day. Also kids all in black, in the dark, no lights, coming straight at you on the wrong side of the road. Natural selection at its best! 

Shrews

The UK is way behind the times with electric scooters. They are everywhere abroad, Paris in particular. Good scooter/cycle lanes, well established and get people around the city superbly.

But...

People seem to have forgotten they have legs.

Which brings me to Las Vegas. Mobility scooters are meant for people who struggle to get around aren't they? Not so in Vegas, where they are becoming more popular, especially for the under 20's, who think they have right of way and think its so cool to race each other with no regard whatsoever for people standing upright.

Want to make money? Start a mobility scooter business in Las Vegas. 

Dominic

I was driving a car along a wide road in Hampstead ,London last week and was overtaken by a motorised skateboard
- it was really shifting ....about 45-50mph I would guess.There was a big hump (sleeping Policeman ) ahead and I thought to myself he's fucked ......I was amazed that he was able to brake like a car ,go calmly over the hump and then accelerate away again.
I saw him on another road about an hour later and he seemed to have some kind of radio control in one hand...fly by wire type of thing........I never realised things like this existed.looked brilliant but a bit dangerous.

Kittyfrisk

Law? What law?  https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/newcastle-north-tyneside-b926267.html?itm_source=Internal&itm_channel=homepage_banner&itm_campaign=breaking-news-ticker&itm_content=5

strumjoughlamps

The area I work I often see a guy on one of these, it's bonkers fast.

Tone71

strumjoughlamps said:

The area I work I often see a guy on one of these, it's bonkers fast.

I saw a guy hammering up a main road in Fulham on one of those, in full motorbike leathers and helmet, looked excellent fun.

Kittyfrisk

^ full motorbike leathers and helmet ? 
Totally defeats the 'fun' aspect   

Blaendulais

As a dedicated electric scooter user i'll wait for the killjoys to appear on this thread.  I wont rise to the occassion as the last time resulted in a ban 

chillidoggy

I watched a scooterist go arse over bollocks a couple of days ago. No helmet on, and he'd basically nose-dived into the pavement when his front wheel got caught in some rut or other. The scooter stopped, but he didn't. He looked to be in a bad way. Sadly, the wife was with me, and the life ban on me buying one has now been extended to infinity.