By Jeffrey the Barak.

I’ve been through a lot of scooters over the decades, at least nineteen kick scooters and five electrics. I usually buy new scooters, but this month, as I found myself wanting a 5th Ped-style scooter, I determined that the last new one may have already been manufactured by the current owners of what was originally Patmont Motor Werks, although this is not officially the case.

So I looked on eBay and found a used low-bar KickPed and bid on it, and paid dearly for shipping to Hawai’i, and took possession of what was described as a 20-mile almost-new KickPed.

As the seller said, the tires still had the injection ridge down the centers, indicating it could not have been ridden very far. But I found myself in possession of a KickPed that needed quite a bit of attention.

Getting it ready

The handlebars could be slightly moved up and down, so I had to remove the pole and follow some clear YouTube instruction on how to tighten up the head-set. And they also wiggled quite a bit so I added piece of metal duct tape to to the lower part so the so the slide tube would fit more snugly.

The seller had made “improvements” before he ever rode it, in the form of foam hand grips and a full deck grip tape with pictures of teeth on it. Those had to come off and I currently have no grip tape on the deck at all, and new original GoPed hand grips. I will add a little bit of grip product, but non-trick scooting does not benefit from full grip tape as you need to twist and switch legs.

Most alarmingly, it seems that some of the seller’s 20 miles may have been ridden on wet or damp days. The wheels and tires surrendered a lot of dirt to my cleaning towels and the deck bolts seemed to show signs of browning.

All of this was fairly easily cleaned away, and with a bit of wrenching and screwing here and there I brought it all back to new condition, which was a relief because I don’t expect to ever get much help in maintaining a KickPed in Hawai’i.

Of course I regret selling the last pair of Know-Peds that I had, in a fit of minimalism, but at the time I was sure I would always be long-distance kicking on air tires and at around 10 to 15 MPH. A recent accidental event led me to consciously choose to only ride on the sidewalk under human power and keep my speed below 6 MPH, so the amazing and accidentally successful Ped-style scooter once again became the ideal ride.

The difference between urethane wheels of any size and these handsome solid rubber lumps, that always have and still do remind me of Formula One racing tires, is remarkable. I now nonchalantly ride over things that would have thrown me off a pro-scooter. Rubber may be a bit slower than urethane on the smooth floor, but it makes the rough surfaces rideable.

Yes, the deck is a few millimeters higher than it is on most of the new urethane wheeled suspension scooters that now dominate the marketplace, but it is still low enough.

So, no more footbike-style power kicks and hop-switching down the road at fast speeds for me. No more firm grabbing of two brake handles to slow my descent of some crazy hill.

My new goal is to double my walking speed and be able to stop by simply stepping off. And I am getting as much enjoyment at just under 6 MPH as I was getting at 27 MPH on my last electric scooter. Having another KickPed feels like a homecoming.

Jeffrey the Barak has owned at least nineteen human-powered scooters and five electrics.