Smart balance board, Segway thingy, Hoverboard

I have a lot to say and didn't know where to post, and since some are calling this new device a "balance scooter," I figured I may as well post it here in my scooter blog. 

I just spent forever (a few days ago) putting something together for my uncle who’s going to buy a hoverboard for his kid, so I figured with all that time spent, I may as well share my research with the masses. In case you’re considering buying one of these.

The most comprehensive information regarding hover boards never existed until just now and you have one of the first copies. Have fun.

WHY I BOUGHT IT ASAP:

Mark Cuban bought the license for it and is sending cease and desist letters to companies. RadioShack got scared. So did Best Buy, Target and Walmart who originally wanted to sell this hot item as a Christmas thing, but they all chickened out. Bed Bath and Beyond is selling it though. Go figure. I’m worried that eventually some overseas factories/sellers may get scared too and either stop selling or it’ll be a lot tougher to get (e.g. getting held up at customs, etc). I just didn’t want to risk not being able to get one, so I ordered one. 

WHERE I GOT MINE: 

I did hours upon hours of research and at the end of it, I purchased from: 

• An Alibaba vendor (not Aliexpress) but bought it privately outside of the website/app. Paypalled them directly.
• Company name is Shenzhen Leyixing Electronic Co. 
• Sale’s rep is Linda Liu: Linda@chinae-health.com. She responds via text from the Alibaba website. 
• http://chinaehealth.en.alibaba.com/, but I found them through Alibaba. 
• $277 shipped from China, but UPS was holding it and there was a delay, so they shipped me another one (different color) from NJ in the USA which they normally sell for $291 shipped. 

A BIT ABOUT THE HOVERBOARDS:

• Inventist was the original inventor. Japanese guy. Selling price when I saw these things years ago was over $2,000. Segway is suing him for using his technology. Phunkyduck is the first hottest reseller and sold these for $1,800. Other people came into the scene and sold it for $700-800. Went down to $400-500 from some sellers and now they’re sold on Craigslist/Ebay/Malls for less than $400. Direct from China is $250-300 shipped. 
• How it got so popular: http://www.wired.com/2015/06/the-weird-story-of-the-viral-chinese-scooter-phunkeeduck-io-hawk/
• Yes, they’re all pretty much made from the same 5-7 factories from what I understand. 
• Some indeed claim LG or Samsung branded batteries which are supposed to be more reliable. 
• They come in differences wheel sizes: 
• kid’s size which is below 6” all the way up to 10” diameter. The larger, the easier to go over bumps. But also heavier. 

• There are various models: Click link for photo of each.
• The standard one you see everywhere. 
• 2nd Generation (Transformer): Sharp edges. Triangular 
• 3rd Generation (I don’t know the name): Swoopy, Curvy. 
• 4th Generation (Batman): The one I got. Mine is 6.5”. I can’t say for the others, but this one I’m expecting to have a standard, intermediate and advanced sport mode which adjust the speed and sensitivity. Don’t know if this feature is really on it nor do I know if the earlier models have it. I suspect not. 
• SUV: 
• Childrens sizes: 
• The boards sell either as a base model or with a bluetooth remote lock, bluetooth speakers, and bag options. 

• Don’t bother looking up the specs. I think they’re all crap. They claim various degrees of angles that it can climb and all have various motor wattage specs that have discrepancies within their own listing. 
• The pricing will be different for the exact same thing from the same vendors. That gets annoying fast. 

HOW DO YOU PICK A VENDOR? it was tough. 

• Is there really a difference in quality of the ones available? Yes, I believe there are, but it’s tough to tell who has what. I you literally will just have to buy one and open it up. A youtube seller of Phunkyduck did just that, but there’s no way I’m paying $1,800 of a “better quality” one vs a $300. The quality’s not going to be that much better. I’d rather buy the $300 one and buy another 5 and take my chances.
• Amazon is attractive b/c it comes in a few days and Amazon backs you for returns supposedly but they’re a bit pricier in the 350-400 dollar range. 
• Ebay some people just straight up don’t trust because there are from what I’ve seen, at least 52 resellers everywhere. Hard to know who to trust. 
• There are a about 4 US companies that sell these in a physical store at a mall. Don’t for a second believe that they manufacture them in the US no matter what they say. UCruze is one of the companies.  I don’t trust them b/c what the kiosk dealer told me at the mall is different from what their website says as far as manufacturing and their so-called warranty. Also Uscoot.co which advertises at college campuses in the Bay Area.
• If you type in hoverboard or smart board or smart balance board or smart balance scooter review on google, you get a bunch of websites that are just promoting their own brand but appear to be legit review sites. I don’t believe it for a second. 
• Youtube buyers reference dealers they used and trusted. But I haven’t found a common dealer that many Youtubers back. 
• Aliexpress may be preferable over Alibaba b/c at Aliexpress, you can buy in eaches rather than in bulk, but the secret is that some Alibaba sellers will still sell retail to you in single units if you ask. 

MY VENDORS OF CHOICE: 

Some updates since my last post. New content in green text: 

1. Landbirdboard.com They sell  UL charger which works. Doesn't melt and no fires yet. They address the fire concern directly rather than ignoring it. 

2. Swagtron. In response to the fires, Swagway developed a new model called the Swagtron. It has all the features the original one should have had. 

1. http://chinaehealth.en.alibaba.com/ As mentioned above, this is where I got it. The price was good. They have the LG battery model. They have the Batman style I wanted. Correspondence is great. Via text, Linda responds in minutes and sometimes seconds if she’s awake in China. My original purchase came with a free bag, but since I ultimately got a delivery from the US, it does NOT come with a bag. I bought one separately from Aliexpress (backpack version as opposed to the more popular duffle bag version). Correspondence for me is very important in case I have trouble later. They also claim to have a factory and manufacture these themselves as opposed to being a reseller. I did get a Fedex tracking number. No signature though. It’s going to my dad’s office so it doesn’t get swiped off my doorstep.
2. http://smart-balancewheel.com/ This guy I found from Youtube. He admits he’s new to the scene and claims to have bought a factory and improved the product. Not sure I believe him, but he genuinely seems excited about the product and isn’t just trying to make a buck. Totally subjective reading of him. I noticed just now, for some reason they’re not selling the boards for the next two weeks. This company also makes LED lights unrelated to the hoverboard.
3. http://sunvgo.en.alibaba.com/product/60364456235-802183178/New_Design_self_balancing_electric_scooter_2_wheels_Hover_board_hoverboard_smart_balance_wheel.html These guys replied to my email inquiry and their prices are good. The price you see on the website does NOT include shipping so don’t get excited about the $170 you see there. These guys are one of the few that sell the Batman style. 

Good-bye Vino 125

After plans to have a baby, the scooter's been sold to a dear friend who hopefully is enjoying it almost as much as I did. Unfortunately, this is the end of the blog. There will be no more posts regarding the my beloved modded Vino 125. She will be missed.

Reported scooter stolen

I had left the Vino outdoors overnight for the first time. Not only that, but I had left it outdoors in the rain. The worst thing I figured could happen is that the mirrors get rusty.

My attempts to contact my friend to let me store the scooter in his garage temporarily failed. He was not available until the next morning. By then I was already driving to my scooter to go pick her up.

As I approached the intersection looking around the corner expecting to see my blue scooter, I saw nothing.

The scooter was gone!

Could I have parked it somewhere else? Could it be on craigslist? No and maybe.

I drove quickly to the closest police station to file a report. I had never done anything like this before. I came prepared with a photo of my license plate number from my phone. As I gave the full description to officer Hernandez, I could feel the reality of never seeing the scooter again become more and more real.

As I left the police station with my head trip down I knew was time to call the insurance company. Luckily I had theft coverage.

I made the claim over the phone then headed home to tell my wife what had happened. Only having driven five minutes did I realize I had my garage door opener in my jacket pocket hidden inside the scooter seat.

The thieves could be in my house right now!

My wife was sleeping but I called to wake her up immediately.

"Sorry to wake you honey but I need you to set the alarm right now and lock the garage door manually!"

Why, what's going on?

My scooter got stolen.

In hindsight I should've asked my wife to call me after unlocking the garage door. I was so worried about her for the next 10 minutes while driving home.

It only took the second before I started to smile.

"Did you look around my moms house?" said my wife.

"No, why?"

"You parked in there yesterday. Don't you remember?"

"Oh shit," I said with embarrassment. "I am such an idiot I thought to myself."

She drove me back to where she thought I parked my scooter. She was right as usual. I don't know exactly how to read I was but is definitely embarrassing.

"You can tell your friends how much of an idiot I am."

I am now blogging on a street corner because apparently you cannot take your own property after it has been stolen without it first being formally released by an officer.

It's been at least 40 minutes Where I had time to think exactly what I would say To the officer once he showed up.

"I am sorry. Thank you for coming out. I know you have better things to do than to compensate for me being such an idiot.

Scooters of Asia

Just came back from a trip to the east not long ago and got a chance to check out some of the local rides.

Battery Dies

I purposely drive home to pick up my scooter to run an errand only to find that the rear light was on! I had left the key in the ignition with all power running for the past 4 hours! Ugh, I attempt to turn the engine over halfway anticipating that it won't start. To my expectation, it didn't. 

Great, that means I gotta drive the car. Fuel ain't cheap at $4.95/gallon.

I had read awhile ago when I first got the Vino 125 that you can't jumpstart a scooter with a car safely. My friend has done it on occasion, but I keep hearing that jumping a tiny bike with a big automobile could cause serious damage to the bike. Safety also becomes a concern. 

After calling up my buddy with a battery tender hoping to borrow it only to find out he's out of the State, I research a bit online and find some good news. 

Others had shared the same concern about jumping a scooter with a car, but the way to do it safely is to do it without turning the car on. Hmmm, typically the donor car is running as it's hooked up to whatever vehicle is being jumped. Not the case with jumping a scooter apparently. 

After further researching, I found out the simplest solution. But would it work? The emergency kickstart. I didn't think this would work b/c my logic says if there's no juice, there's no juice. The kickstarter would only work if there was some sort of mechanical glitch. 

And last time I tried it for fun, it didn't turn the engine over even on a perfectly good battery. 

Problem? I hadn't engaged the brake which is required for the engine to turn over. Having read this reminder online, I ran downstairs with my laptop to give it a try. Pulled the bike on it's center stand, pulled the kickstarter peg out, engaged the brake and stepped down. 

Nothing. 

Stepped down a second time. 

Bingo! It worked! The engine started!!! Awesome! Too bad I did this the next day and wasn't able to ride the scoot to run my errands, but this new knowledge is still saving me from having to borrow the battery tender. The kickstarter officially works and now I know how to use it. If you're reading this, you do too. 

So next time either one of us leave the key in the ignition at position two with all the electronics running only to return later to find out there's no juice in the battery, use the kickstarter! Awesome!

Selling Point

With gas prices reaching skyrocket prices, it's probably a great time to sell. The thought of parting with my scoot though is a bit depressing. It's done so well for me. Parking has been awesome. Negotiating through traffic has been a plus. The time it's saved me has bee priceless. Leaving all that to go back to a car is just plain sad. 

The scoot will most likely be on the market next month. That's only a few weeks away!

No Pee Pee

I almost learned the hard way. 

Never ride a scooter if you gotta go pee. I downed 3 glasses of water over dinner, used the restroom once and figured I'd wait until I got home to go again even though I had to go again before I left. Bad move. 

The road vibrations make it unbearable, not to mention unsafe. Having to think about not drenching the scoot on a hot dry day is way too much to think about when you have road hazards to avoid. I'm hitting up the restroom one last time before I ride home next time. That's for certain.