If this title rings any bells with you, then you are my age. It came from an old tag line by the now out of business, Oldsmobile division of General Motors. Their advertisement said, “It is not your father’s Oldsmobile”. This article is going to hit some with agreement and others will take offense. Let me begin.
I hate to share this with everyone however, “the world does not revolve around only 20 to 30-year-old.” There is an age group out there with whom demands attention. This group is funny, intelligent, interesting, educated and engaging. They are very giving and appreciative of what life and our world had given all of them. What they crave the most, it simply to be young again. This is their unattainable goal, I am afraid. All they really want is for the manufacturers of quality products, like Electric Scooters to acknowledge them as part of their market share opportunity. Don’t piss them off, they got the money.
At our stage in life, the alternative is to create a plan to manage our day-to-day lives to have greater mobility, with less stress on our aging joints. We are not quite ready for portable oxygen tanks nor those bright red seated four-wheel mobility devices. Not quite yet.
We are what is known as “Baby Boomers”. I personally am 62 and my wife is about to be 60. Instead of moving to an adult community with daily bus’s to/from Walmart; where they drink tea and serve every different type of mac & cheese every night dinner. We have decided to travel the path less traveled. We live in an up-in-coming urban city, Birmingham, AL. We are building a 4-level townhome.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant super hungry, then ordered to much food? The statement we used to say was, “My eyes where bigger then my stomach.” That is what Urban life can be for a 60+ year old. “Our vision is bigger then our ability to physically get there.” Do we simply give up? Toss our hearing aids out, sell our aluminum walkers with the tennis balls on the bottom, and sell our crutches from the last knee and hip surgeries?
The answer is, “Hell NO!!!!!”. We just buy, NOT rent; BUY a brand new Electric Scooter. Our generation does not like to rent anything. If it is not worth owning, it is not worth renting. We also don’t like others to take our items and abuse them. It is wasteful in the Cities where folks leave scooter rentals all over the place. Hell, it should be easy to design a rectangle enclosed charging station kind of like how city bikes are distributed. All that is needed is some innovation and creativity.
We have a respect for whatever we invest our hard-earned cash into. We are also a royal pain in the ass. Before we buy anything, we torture ourselves with the deepest dive possible researching the brands, models, options, reviews and customer service available. All that being said, we are also brutally loyal to the brand that we love. I love Airstream, Tommy Bahama, Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, the Bonnaroo Music Festival and Perry’s Steakhouse. Just a few examples.
You see, we have some quality time on our hands to research. We could watch old reruns of “Law and Order SVU” on the USA channel or learn something new through our research. We choose education with an end in mind. That end is the purchase of the perfect Electric Scooter for OUR unique usage. Not perfect as a product, not perfect for YOU. Perfect for our unique wants, needs and motives. What is very interesting about us, we can pretty much afford anything we want. If we make a mistake in a purchase, we sell it, pass it on to a family member or give it away.
My first electric scooter purchase was a $500.00 Glion Dolly. Every article on “Best Electric Scooters” had it first or second. I liked the look, options and most importantly the extra wheels so when folded, so you could pull it alone like a piece of luggage. Great unit but felt like it needed some suspension. Those solid plastic wheels were a bitch. Within 3-weeks, I bought my second scooter, the Segway Ninebot ES2. I will admit, I loved the brand Segway and it drove me in this direction. The unit looked great, had suspension, neat lights, cost about the same as the Glion Dolly and the special that day was a free Segway helmet. A deal for the old guy, perfect. Another great unit, yet even with suspension, it was a rough riding.
Both scooters were obviously under powered for my needs. This was mainly due to my weight at 260 (I am fat, so? I eat a lot of pizza) and hills. I also got the distinct feeling that within just a few months, these scooters were going to fall apart. Neither of them gave me the feeling of excellent quality, materials or longevity. They came across to me as “adult toys” with planned obsolescence. This was supported with the many articles about the rented scooters life span. This is only my opinion after spending my hard-earned cash on both scooters.
What I learned through my experience? I love what having an Electric Scooter did for the quality of my life. I have no regrets for the money invested so far. Worth every penny. Now I am not wasteful. I let my 27-year-old daughter ride the Segway Ninebot ES2. She fell in LOVE with it. I gave my wife the choice of the Ninebot or the Glion Dolly. She hands down took the Glion Dolly. She loves it. She also weighs far less then I do, thank goodness. Being portly is a lonely life.
This left me with no scooter. My opinion on life is, “I might die tomorrow, so what the hell am I waiting for?”. The research began again with a much better perspective of what I wanted and needed. No longer was I evaluating $300-$600 scooters. Now I was looking at $1,500 to $4,000 units. This is a much different world and one that making a mistake is lot costlier. I was completely up for the challenge.
Suddenly, scooter became super-fast. Speed ranging from 40 to 60 mph. Weights on the machines went from 30 to 95 lbs. Video’s emphasized off road, sport usage and danger. I was getting disappointed. With cars, if you wanted sporty fast ride, you chose BMW. If you wanted soft luxury ride and safe, you chose Mercedes. If you wanted a hybrid, you chose Lexus. I wanted Lexus and I could not fine it.
Then bam, it suddenly appeared. The emphasis was put on quality build, parts designed by the company not third parties. Problem area’s like folding mechanisms refined/invented, focus on battery quality/management, safety, controllers and customer service. Not so much flash as much as low key luxury. Stuff only we would notice.
My greatest example is a Rolex Presidential Watch. Most folks buy the Yellow Gold version because everyone will know they are wearing a Rolex. My generation would choose the white gold because no one would notice except you would know what you had on. Subtle luxury I like to call it.
When you are 60, you don’t Instagram a picture of your meal in a restaurant. You eat it when it is hot. You could care less what others think of your life or how you live it. You are a bit more private yet happy to share any information if someone asks you for it. Other 60-year-old want and appreciate knowing the product that make your life better. We are just different, not better or worse, different.
My research landed me solid on the ground of a company called “Boosted” as a brand. I liked the company and what they were trying to accomplish. Their customer service was the best I had seen of any manufacturer. The was very important to me and my demographics. The Electric Scooter they designed hit all my hot buttons. The price was hefty at $1,599.00; however, it was not $5,000.00.
Boosted were one of the first company to offer a 30-day drive guarantee. It does have a $100.00 restocking fee. Unlike the Ninebot MAX, you did not have to buy it at introductory price, on a start-up site (Indeogogo.com), a month before delivery. With Boosted, you put a $100.00 reservation for a unit, that was completely refundable. When your unit was ready to ship in early July, they email you for the rest of the funding. Also, free shipping and no tax. Old people love a bargain. Why do you think we eat the “Blue Plate Special Early Dinner”?
To many things right in this decision not to pull the trigger, which I did. Now for the really, really hard part. Not letting my wife know how much I paid. I might be old, but I am not stupid. You are not married for 40 years without knowing how to stay married. I won’t lie to her, I just won’t tell all the facts. “Learn from me LUKE, I know the FORCE. The FORCE is with me.”
It seems every time I make my final decision, I have something else that gets my attention. It seems the very top of the line electric scooters, with the best reputation is called DualTron. It is sold by a few California Based retail companies called MiniMotors USA. We older folks like nice things. I had to at least look carefully at the DualTron line. I called MiniMotors and got a real surprise. John, the co-owner was great on the phone. He answered all my questions and invited me on to the Reddit subdirectory for some information he was providing that day.
John and MiniMotors was a game changer. Knowing there was a great customer service organization that retailed these scooters was a relief. The lines John sells are only to top tier scooters. Starting prices in the low to mid-$2,000.00. After my new research, I realized that my next step had to be a baby step. $500.00 to $1,599.00 was a big jump. It kind of reminded me of buying an RV. My first RV was an Airstream Flying Cloud 25 ft. trailer. I kept it for a year or so and then got an Airstream Interstate class “B” motor home. Much more expensive for sure, yet not at the 45-foot bus level quite yet. Soon though.
Will I be in the market for the DualTron Thunder soon? Probably not at the price tag of $4,750.00. Will I think about it, while I own the Boosted REV scooter, probably? That is my normal self-talk. Would I even consider it if I was not completely impressed with John, the co-owner? No way. People, communication and respectful education go a long way with my age group.
Well that is my story and I am sticking to it. Have a question, ask it. Think I am an asshole, join the club. All I am really doing by writing this was attempting to light a fire under all the manufactures butts. Make the 60+ crowd a priority. We will serve you well. Just my two cents, ONLY.
Links:
Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.: www.garytilkin.com
Boosted, Inc.: https://boostedboards.com/
Indiegogo Online: https://www.indiegogo.com
Mini Motors USA: www.MiniMotorsUSA.com
Dualtron Thunder: https://minimotorsusa.com/collections/frontpage/products/dualtron-thunder