Transition Electric Scooter.

This is a more fun version of a zap electric scooter.
Kind of what Segways would be if they were more dangerous: ie fun.

Step 1: Tear Your Electric Zap Scooter to Pieces.

these things run about $500. i got given one for my birthday and wanted to try something wild. a cheaper way is to buy the 250W motor and battery direct. it'd probably run you $150 and can lead to all types of fun projects.

Step 2: Base for Skateboard Trucks.

we wanted a curved base for 3 sets of skateboards trucks. Not having the right piece of aluminum we decided to use timber as its cheap and quick to make stuff with and will give us enough of an idea as to whether this thing is worth continuing with.

Step 3: Hose Clamps

are your best friends. they are great for all sorts of things, including clamping hoses. here they are used to fasten the plank of wood to the axles. a block of wood is placed in the centre to give appropriate "rocker"

Step 4: Select and Prepare Skateboard Trucks

cheap ones from dollar stores are fine for this type of prototyping.
nice ones can be found at:
http://www.skateboard.com/shop/trucks.asp

Step 5: 3 Pairs Trucks

and six skooter wheels.
these are 100mm diameter skooter or rollerblade wheels. bigger diameter means better on bumps and rough streets. thinner means less rolling resistance and faster.

Step 6: Make Stand Offs.

stand offs are required because the big diameter scooter wheels mean the wheels hit the wooden arch through corners.

Step 7: Rocker and Roller.

the right combination of rocker and roller on the rear arch is required. of course this is a prototype and we are guessing, but here it is anyway. wooden wedges everywhere to make it happen.

Step 8: Apply the Skateboard Trucks.

self evident what's going on here...
i used 10-24 bolts and nuts, the metric skating ones are too obscure and expensive when you are in america...
Yay the metric system!

Step 9: Charge It Up.

it conveniently came with a charger...

Step 10: Take It Out and Test It.

you will see our able programmer tumbling and engineers guffawing in this video.

Step 11: The Aftermath

well, it was way fun.

the trucks on the outside should have been angled inward.

apart from that it had all the sliding smooth, vaguely dangerous feeling we had hoped for.

the wood however will ultimately need to be replace by a welded bar or something similar. you can see here how it suffered (though we did absolutely thrash it for a good few hours before this happened).