Hauling a scooter question

[JoanE]

I'm trying to keep my home on wheels unencumbered or close to it. I don't want to tow but have considered getting a scooter. Are any of you doing this? What do you have? What type of carrier?

Joan

[Bethers]

I had one for a little over a year - loved my scooter and miss her. That said, I would spend more money if doing it again and get a hitch carrier that was more automatic and easier to use. I used a hitch carrier (so I wasn't towing) that I couldn't do by myself and feel safe that I wouldn't lay down the scooter. There are other carriers that would have been better - but I think I would have had the same problem with many of them, so, my choice if I get a scooter again - will be to spend the money necessary for the hitch carrier that lowers and raises hydraulically.

That's just me. I want to be able to do everything myself, safely. And I didn't want to tow it.

I now have a toad (car) and do tow, but the scooter had many advantages that I prefer over a toad. The car has some advantages. The jury is still out from me on which I will have in the long run. But since I paid the bigger bucks for the the necessary stuff to tow the car, will probably stick with it for the time being.

[JoanE]

Thanks Beth,

Like you, I want to know I can do it myself but safely. Thanks for the input. I'll check out the hydraulic hitches.

[longdog2]

One of our members, ljpeterlin, carries a scooter. Check her blog. She is traveling and uses her scooter a lot.
http://ljpeterlin.wordpress.com/2011

[snowball]

you can also pm sprinter she hauls a scooter but not sure how...know that she loves her scooter
sheila

[JoanE]

Last I heard, Sharon is towing a trailer for her scooter. I don't want to tow anything. After doing some research, the hydraulic hitch looks too expensive. Will have to give this more thought.

[Bethers]

There are better hitch ones than I had, that aren't hydraulic - BUT - I still wasn't sure I could do them alone. Ran into a couple with the better one that I liked, and he preferred to have his wife with when he took the scooter off - for safety in not tipping it. That's when I decided if I do a scooter again, will pay the higher price for something automatic. Then did the car, and really paid lol

[JoanE]

Beth, how heavy was your scooter? Did you have a ramp for your hitch or did you have to lift the scooter up to the platform?

[Bethers]

My scooter, if I remember, was around 275 lbs. Yes, I had a ramp. You couldn't drive up it, had to walk it up and down. And because of my spare tire location, had to slightly tilt the scooter out (towards yourself) both going up and coming down - which put the weight more on you. Also, even guys doing it, said it was difficult because you have to keep the tires on the ramp and that means being very careful to not turn it at all.

As I said, there were other ones with ramps I checked out that I liked better than mine, but I always would have been uncomfortable (even without the spare tire issue) going up and down that ramp. You might not be.

[JudyJB]

I've been thinking of the same thing. I do want to take my bike along, but that might not work out well in hot climates or hills.

I also was thinking about an electric scooter. Not the kind they sell to elderly people who can't walk, but something like this:

electric scooter.jpg

It only weighs 80 pounds and does 8-10 miles per chargeat 15 MPH. URL for website is http://www.qualitytoys.com/x-treme-the- ... x-360.html

Anyone know anyone who used something like this?

[Bethers]

OK, the question is, what do you want to use the scooter for? I wanted to be able to go on the roads and into town with mine. If just around cg's, that would be good. Mine needed to be licensed and could go on all but interstates. Of course, I wouldn't take it high speeds (I say of course, but if you know me, you know that I had to battle a fear to even get a scooter!)

I did have an electric bike for a little while. Didn't feel safe taking it on roads (well, any bike) but that's just me. So the small scooters and any kind of bike, for me, would only be good in cg's and really, really low traffic neighborhood type streets.

[Sprinter]

Bethers is right Joan. You need to think of safety. If this scooter is going to be used as your toad, it needs to have some speed to it to keep up with traffic. And I'm not talkin interstates. You also need to watch your hitch weight.

I got a larger scooter for that very reason, so it exceeded my hitch weight of 500 lbs. Hence, the reason for trailering it. I went down kickin and screamin too about towing, but it's really no big deal now. Just a little inconvenience at times.

I have a friend who has a little scooter, and she can't load it herself either on the back of her B. So we do what we have to do to stay independent when traveling.

Hope this helps.

Love,
Sharon

[Liz]

I agree with the others (although I have no experience) but wonder if the one in the photo would be legal on the roads. Some are considered "toys" and can't be licensed.

[avalen]

I've been thinking of the same thing. I do want to take my bike along, but that might not work out well in hot climates or hills.

I also was thinking about an electric scooter. Not the kind they sell to elderly people who can't walk, but something like this:

electric scooter.jpg

It only weighs 80 pounds and does 8-10 miles per chargeat 15 MPH. URL for website is http://www.qualitytoys.com/x-treme-the- ... x-360.html

Anyone know anyone who used something like this?

I've had several of these over the years, and I loved them. Thought about getting a new one. They are cheap enough for
what they are, but have also considered a little gas powered scooter.
They don't need to licensed and I used it plenty of times to run to the corner store. I stayed in the bicycle lanes and
never in heavy traffic. You see alot of these around town here.

[JoanE]

Here is a link to a hitch carrier which claims it will work on an RV. Even with something this low to the ground, are you saying that a woman might have trouble handling it alone? Is it the weight of the scooter or the awkward position of pushing it up or pulling it down or all of the above?
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p175/StillShot2/motorcyclecarrier/?action=view&current=cyclecarrier015.jpg