What do you guys use your electric scooters for?

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MarkM536

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2626600 24-Dec-2020 23:42

Scott3:

Laws are not ambiguous:

https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2018-au4674

Prior to that 2018 declaration there was no exemption from motor vehicle laws for e-scooters.

That declaration came through weeks prior to lime's Auckland launch, I get the feeling they did some aggressive lobbying, possibly threatening to launch regardless. Kinda disappointing how it is vehicle specific, and vehicles like electric skateboards are still illegal (but common)

I don't think a zero 9 was ever legal to ride on the road (assuming it is not registered as a motor vehicle with number plate, mirrors, horn etc).

However it seems that as with greater than 300W ebikes, there is no / minimal enforcement.

Frankly I think we need to free up the laws around personal mobility devices. Especially given the climate change emergency. Quite a policy failing if you gave up taking you e-scooter to work and went back to driving a 1100kg+ vehicle, simply because your e-scooter is the wrong side of an arbetory power threshold.

I remember seeing something in April of a proposal to change limits, but it hasn't proceeded far because of covid.

New proposal has 'recreational vehicles' up to 300w and 'transportation vehicles' up to 600w. I'm struggling to find where the website went to, but I remember filling out a long survey about the proposal.

Questions I do have; is why NZ bases on wattage rather than speed. With the amount of hills in NZ, the wattage should be allowed as high as you want but speed must be limited to 'x' kmh.

I also think that for the safety of e-scooter riders there should be laws about highest speed on e-scooters for the given wheel diameter. The highest I have reached on my Zero 9 is 43kmh, it has pathetically tiny wheels for that insane speed. Any little bump or pothole would send me flying.

Mayojojo

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2626610 25-Dec-2020 05:50

Scott3:
Mayojojo:

What do you guys use your electric scooter for ? Especially the high powered ones?

From some of the posts I've read here it seems the laws around electric scooters are kinda ambiguous, even when I got my zero 9 the retailer said I could ride it on the footpaths even when I showed him the NZTA laws so anyways...

The reason why I ask this is just in case I need to sell it. Say if my zero 9 is no longer applicable to be ridden on the roads because of some new nzta laws.....what would I do with it? Sell it? But who would buy it if it can't be ridden on the roads?

Thanks and have a good one!

Laws are not ambiguous:

https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2018-au4674

Prior to that 2018 declaration there was no exemption from motor vehicle laws for e-scooters.

That declaration came through weeks prior to lime's Auckland launch, I get the feeling they did some aggressive lobbying, possibly threatening to launch regardless. Kinda disappointing how it is vehicle specific, and vehicles like electric skateboards are still illegal (but common)

I don't think a zero 9 was ever legal to ride on the road (assuming it is not registered as a motor vehicle with number plate, mirrors, horn etc).

However it seems that as with greater than 300W ebikes, there is no / minimal enforcement. Frankly if you cleaned the branding off it would be quite hard for a police officer to tell a 300W & 600W one apart (especially as some allow power level to be edited in firmware) unless they had a dyno with them. As such it seems there are large numbers of people that have no issue using similar e-scooters on roads and footpaths.

Frankly I think we need to free up the laws around personal mobility devices. Especially given the climate change emergency. Quite a policy failing if you gave up taking you e-scooter to work and went back to driving a 1100kg+ vehicle, simply because your e-scooter is the wrong side of an arbetory power threshold.

Ah yea I meant ambiguous as in whether or not I could use my zero 9 on the footpath or not. Hmm I can see that its currently not legal to ride e-scooters on the road but hmm so currently are you saying that it is not “legal” to use it on the footpath as well??

Mayojojo

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2626611 25-Dec-2020 05:53

djtOtago:
@Mayojojo

e-scooters are covered here https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/vehicle-types/low-powered-vehicles/

Oh thanks so much for that kiwi ingenuity! Hmm do you have a picture? I thought about doing something to waterproof it without taking it apart as well like covering some parts with plastic but bot confident in how to approach it properly

Mayojojo

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2626613 25-Dec-2020 05:59

MarkM536:

I’ve used this ‘type slime’ tube liner. It’s a thick plastic with gel in the centre.
I was the same and got many punctures, always on the back wheel too. After this liner I haven't had any punctures (so far in 1.5 months).

I actually have the liner too but too scared to install it myself as I cant find any youtube videos on people installing it on an e-scooter...was it easy to install? I think you need to sandpaper the edge so you dont get puncture from the rubbing within?

How much was your overlap when you installed the tube liner?

Scott3

3963 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2626628 25-Dec-2020 08:08

Mayojojo:

Ah yea I meant ambiguous as in whether or not I could use my zero 9 on the footpath or not. Hmm I can see that its currently not legal to ride e-scooters on the road but hmm so currently are you saying that it is not “legal” to use it on the footpath as well??

Yip. Being over 300w, it is not exempt from being considered a motor vehicle, so the below law covers the situation.

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2004/0427/latest/DLM303057.html

As I said previously the law's do not seem to be enforced against higher powered e-scooters or e-bikes (or powered skateboards, uni-wheels etc).

BigMal

996 posts

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#2626946 26-Dec-2020 15:59

I have an Emove Cruiser which I use to commute to work each day. It's approx 20km round trip from home to work. I've ridden in the rain a few times but it can get pretty sketchy at high speed on a wet surface.

jonathan18

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#2627078 27-Dec-2020 07:49

Mayojojo:

Why does your tyre puncture so often? Have you tried slime? I put some slime in mine.

How much do you usually spend on punctures? Do you just need to swap out the inner tube?

Yeah, I put Slime in mine; didn't stop me getting a puncture, though, and it was made worse by the Slime leaking from the innertube (though the puncture) all through the tyre - a dog to clean out. I'm not sure whether it's worth trying again if there's a decent risk of the same result.

No idea why I get so many punctures; I've been good the last few months about keeping tyre pressure up, as advised by others, to avoid pinching, but still had a number. I do ride 99% on the road and at speed, if that makes them more likely.

I'll usually try to repair once, but if that doesn't hold I'll just replace the inner tube. (And I'm not counting those as a new puncture.) I found my local My Ride sells the inner tubes for around $12, so not much difference to buying them from Ali Express (which I have done as well); how scooter retailers can charge the $20-30 is beyond me (unless they're that better quality, and that's the cause?!).

Are there options for simply more robust tyres? I recall when I bought my last bike I got two punctures in the first week; went back to the shop and swapped the tyres out for some reinforced things and I never had another puncture.

MarkM536:

I’ve used this ‘type slime’ tube liner. It’s a thick plastic with gel in the centre.
I was the same and got many punctures, always on the back wheel too. After this liner I haven't had any punctures (so far in 1.5 months).

Where did you buy this from? Would there be a similar chance of the gel leaking into the tyre if it is punctured (or is it a lot thicker than the Slime in a can?) Ta.

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wazzageek

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#2627143 27-Dec-2020 11:53

I use mine 99% for commuting - mostly on shared paths, but a bit of road riding too. No punctures so far, however I do run my tires at about 60PSI - havent checked for a couple months, so the pressure might be back to about 55PSI now.

Mayojojo

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2628162 30-Dec-2020 17:13

jonathan18:

Where did you buy this from? Would there be a similar chance of the gel leaking into the tyre if it is punctured (or is it a lot thicker than the Slime in a can?) Ta.

Although you were asking Mark, this is one the one I got.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ro/en/dr-sludge-anti-puncture-tape/rp-prod62718

I haven't installed mine yet....because on some reviews apparently if you don't install it properly the tape could puncture the tube from the inside and I'm no expert on these :(

Technofreak

6530 posts

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#2628223 30-Dec-2020 21:30

First the disclaimer, I don't own a scooter and don't use a scooter.

However if my experience with bike tyres is anything to go by, making sure you have the tyres pumped up properly makes a big difference to the number of punctures you get. Spongy tyres get more punctures.

Also be scrupulous when fitting a new tube. Make absolutely sure the cause of the puncture has been removed and be sure not to introduce any foreign matter (pieces of grit etc) into the area between the tube and the inner side of the tyre, as well as, as has been mentioned before, don't pinch the tube.

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