"JohnH" wrote:


I regularly do some pretty stupid things on mountain bikes (scars to
show for it) but wouldn't be tempted to actually use one of the
motorized scooters (aka "gopeds") for transportation.

Maybe you should try one. I probably have several thousand miles on mine,
and it is by far the most convenient thing to carry as simple ground
transportation in a small plane. I've used it on all kinds of terrain and
it's no more prone to "endoing" than any bike I've ridden; the CG is way too
low to do that - you'd get thrown off the front if anything (which hasn't
happened to me).

The COG of the scooter is really low - it's the fact that the COG of
the rider is about belt-height that bothers me - that and Newton's
insistence that an object in motion... ;-) Any obstacle that the
front wheel hits taller than halfway up or more to the axle is likely
to cause "bad things to happen". If there was some suspension it
would be a bit less likely to spontaneously separate the rider from
the vehicle.

Then again, "I ain't skerd" to ride anything. My favorite bike is the penny
farthing with a 4' front wheel. Now THAT thing will endo!

And those things produce the mother of all endos (starting with your
head about 10 feet above mother earth). Never rode one, but would
love to some day.

Mark Hickey