First post! ~Woo hoo!~
So I bought one of these monstrosities last month, but the bigger, 5600W variant. I live in Portland, where Lime/Bird/Skips are all over, and I jumped on a few limes, and knew I needed to get one that could actually carry me.
First thing: I'm 6'4" and about 325lbs. All of the public scoots top out at 250-275 in the TOS. I rode them anyways...lol...but they simply did not have the power to get me up hills.
Second thing: yes, I can confirm it does do 50mph. Oh my god, it really does. It's terrifying, and I won't be doing it again anytime soon. :lol: (Smooth greenway path in a grass field...with protective gear. I ride a motorcycle, so I had on good stuff.
)
A few other things:
So the primary features are 60V, high wattage motors, dual drive, incredibly engineered functionally, horribly designed aesthetically, but a real beast nonetheless.
Top points?
Speed.
Holy. Shih Tzu. It’s capable. However, it’s got 3 “gears” that limit the top speed. First “gear” tops out at about 15mph, second at ~30mph, and 3rd is holyhell-howfastdoesthisthinggo-makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop-BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE.
I know some people complain something to the effect of “no scooter needs to go that fast,”...and they’d be right. But, a Corvette can do 150, when the max speed in most places is 70. Should we make them illegal, too? I keep to the 15 mph bike speed limits in town, and will crank it up to 25 on the bikeway that parallels the interstate, but that’s about it.
Overall performance.
There are two toggle switches- one for Dual Drive and one for Eco mode. Eco mode limits your max speed to about 10mph in any “gear”, and stretches battery life to the max. Dual drive simply turns on the front motor. The front wheel is really only useful for climbing hills. There’s no need to run it all the time. It’s very torque-y, and it can pop *ME* up into a wheelie from a dead stop, since the weight is mostly on the back wheel. (Not an Evel Knievel wheelie...just a few inches off the ground, which is not fun in a curve. )
The reason I got this was as a commuter. In Eco Mode I can legit get 50 miles. Again I’m ginormous and heavy. 50 miles. My office is 23 or 25 miles from my house depending on my route. I can actually do a round trip on a single charge. We’ll see how well the battery hold that kind of charge, though...I’m not terribly confident.)
The ride is very springy. There’s about two inches of travel in the wheels, but unfortunately the shocks aren’t sprung heavy enough for me, stock, so I’m putting some heavier springs on. Two inches is still plenty soft, and the wheels very rarely break contact with the ground from bumps or holes. The springiness is enough that if I jump in proper sync, bumps aren’t quite as jarring.
Cons:
The suspension is just a little soft for me. I bottom out too easily. It’s not too soft at all for anyone in the 200lb range.
The headlight is a joke. I replaced it first thing.
It’s HEAVY. 65lbs heavy. (It does fold in half, which makes it fit just right on the train cars with the bike hooks, despite being so heavy. I keep a tie down strap with me to secure it on the train. I'd hate to have it fall over on somebody.)
The rear fender looks like it can carry weight, like a crate or something. This is folly. It’s just bent sheet metal. (No, I didn’t try.)
The computer/throttle assembly is actually quite good, but there was no documentation whatsoever. I have to piece together what the setting were and how to set them by deciphering websites for similar products that look like they had the same firmware. The manual in general is a big Chingrish joke, really.
There are two charging ports, but only one charger. And no instructions. I also had to figure out what there were two ports for and how to charge it. I’m not sure if the 3200W variant has both ports, or if it’s based on battery capacity...)
I was not expecting to be impressed- I was expecting underwhelming, but I was fully surprised. It’s actually what it claims to be, but nothing more.
