A bike / scooter to carry in the back of the plane (including electric ones)?

I’m not sure how many countries e-scooters are legal in? They’re not in the UK, outside of commercial trials.

Watching this video with the sound off and ignoring the commentary (i.e. educationally rather than as poor-taste entertainment) I think it’s a fair comment that whilst many of the riders are being jerks, plenty are not – but are caught out just the same. Scooters tend to be very sensitive to gravel and potholes that a bicycle would shrug off, and the subsequent face-plants tend to be very sudden. Braking power is also low due to the high CoG, and this is particularly true going downhill. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of them.

kwlf wrote:

I’m not sure how many countries e-scooters are legal in? They’re not in the UK, outside of commercial trials.

They used to be illegal in Sweden but have been made legal, leading to an explosion of pay-as-yo-go rental scooters. I think they’re crazy dangerous. One of my sons admit to loving them and of course he uses them without a helmet although he would always use one on a bike. Go figure…

Interesting discussions on these miscellaneous ground transportation means. Each offers pros/cons, and hopefully each one of us is able to choose one according her/his preferences and needs.

I’ve had different ones over the years, starting with your typical, made in Portugal, folding bicycle, then my 1st e-scooter (more of a e-motorbike ), and now the one I pictured above. Interestingly, they all weigh the same.
Why did I change between them?
Bulkiness, portability, public transportation, and no sweat.

• No sweat? Yes, meaning when landing some place where the OAT is in the 30+ range, I don’t really feel the need to go and exercise. Push on the accelerator, enjoy the breeze, and get to your accommodation without having to immediately jump into the shower, or the swimming pool, to cool down
• Public Transportation? Yep, our public transportation can be pretty crowded, and I sometimes use my scooter to go to my airfield. TPs have some size restrictions, which neither the folding bike nor the saddle equipped scooter fulfils.
• Portability? By this I mean the handling, e.g. the ease of loading/unloading in one’s aircraft, the easy way to carry it in one hotel’s room for charging, etc.
• Bulkiness? How much space does it take in one’s aircraft once folded? For the folding bike I had to use a large bag to pack the thing in since smearing my other belongings wasn’t on the plan. Having to unload all the stuff in my “cargo bay” to access my mean of transportation is not my idea of fun.

Practical example of use:
2 weeks ago attended the experimental fly-in in Khumo, Finland. On the way up I landed at the Olanda / Byxelkrok (ESMZ) airfield. Out in the boonies, and a 7km ride to my accommodation. On the way back we stopped at the Borglanda Flygfält (ESMB) airfield. And a 6km ride into town. On both of these my e-scooter took me rapidly and quite safely (yes, I do wear a helmet and my hi-vis ) to my destinations. No calling and waiting, no timetable, no rental… just unload, hop on and drive away.

Adding to the previous, the scooter depicted has airless tires and full suspension.
And yes, same as when flying, a good scan of the outside world helps in avoiding collisions… and potholes

I’m no expert e-scooter rider. I think I’ve only done about 150km on it.

But looking at that video, it seems obvious to me that many of those users were brand new users.
If they weren’t new users, they would have realised that it’s difficult and dangerous to remove your hands from the handlebars (it’s not at all like doing so on a bike) and you can’t really ride onto curbs (or jump them).

Most of the accidents seem to involve one of those or people riding without watching where they are going and taking due care.

This thread shall never fall asleep, let me try to spark it up.

Somewhere up this thread I expressed my negative opinion about the politically driven electric fury, and I haven’t changed that.

Yet, I have to disclose, that I’ve also jumped on that bandwagon. I purchased an EV and I love it.

My mission profile for my EV has been set like this:

• Commute to work
• Have fun

In my defense I state, that

• No subsidies, no political support (often the contrary)
• No piston version available (Sorry, Silvaire)
• Average speed same or better than cars (within my mission profile)
• Ten times less energy consumed than Tesla (electric is not green, consuming less energy is greener)

Here is my beauty (I mean the vehicle, not the person standing on it):

[ post moved because it isn’t a car ]

Peter wrote:

Just come across a couple more on a US forum; no idea of European availability.

The Motocompacto meets the EU and UK top speed limitation (25 km/h). The web site doesn’t say anything about power, the limit being 250 W.

The Volador would be illegal in the EU and UK both because of top speed and motor power. (Illegal as a bicycle, that is. I guess you could register it, but that would involve complications, expenses and you might need some kind of driver’s license.)

That’s interesting, @Pavel. I guess it’s an easy shape to get into the plane, but maybe heavy? Looks like it does well off-road. How well can you balance on it, on a range from ‘terrifying’ to ‘like riding a bike’?