Going Electric

I truly balked when my 12 year old son wanted an electric scooter. One of his closest friends bought one about 3 months earlier, and I feared we were in a race to "keep up with the Jones". Complicating the friction points of cost, worry, and if he'd ride the silly thing was my son's friend would ride 6 miles from his house to ours.....showing that not only could a 12 year old lad navigate our town.....but we would only have to shuttle the friends in poor weather.

After about a month of pestering from both my son and my wife, I broke down and bought one....then another for our second son.....then a third for....well....our third son.

Sorry for not posting a video, but out of the package set up was easy. It was so easy, I didn't have to assemble it. My boys put them all together before I returned home from work. While there was a LOT of packing material, the scooters were well preserved and most of the material was recyclable.

The boys wasted no time after the initial charging period, and started zipping around the yard. I even got on and have to admit....it was pretty fun. Our driveway is gravel, and Vermont roads are....er....bumpy at times. The combination of suspension and pneumatic tires made even riding on the lawn comfortable.

Unfortunately, he popped a rear tire and required assistance. While no auto or motorcycle shop would help us replace, Hiboy responded rapidly sending both a repair video and replacement parts.

I bought some tire irons (above) to help with the project (using screwdrivers was counterproductive to the tubes), and we were back on the road. Full disclosure - it wasn't easy to replace, even with the video. But after my son popped his SECOND tire, I was getting pretty good at replacing 'em.

We went with the Titan Scooter (about $1099 at the time of this post):

Very capable piece of gear. If I had known a little more about the performance, I think I'd have go for the Pro model....even with the $500 price difference. While both are VERY good, the Pro is designed more for "off road" use, while the standard Titan should be ridden on pavement or well-maintained trails.

Titan Pro ($1499 on Amazon at the time of this post):

Given that my oldest is very dedicated to rough terrain riding - would I purchase Hiboy again? Yes. My oldest is now 14, and still loves to ride. Our two younger boys don't go quite as often, but still enjoy it. Definitely a good purchase, and with some TLC, I think they'll be able to ride well into the future.