This past week I came across a couple of cool gadgety type vehicles in Buffalo that I had never seen in person.
The first was the Scoot Coupe, which was spotted parked in the Medical Campus. The cute ride is part car, part dune buggy, part motorbike-trike, and part golf cart. It comes in a 50cc model (considered a scooter – goes 30 MPH), and a 150cc (considered a motorcycle – goes 55 MPH). The gas operated trike gets 70-80 MPG, and is street legal.
I placed a call to the Buffalo Scooter Shop, and they told me that they are looking into seeing whether they might carry it or not. Otherwise it would need to get shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer in Florida (Made in USA). The vehicle was featured on The Price is Right around six years ago – it runs between $6K and $6.5K. I can see this ride being popular in Larkinville, as it grows into a more residential community down the road. See here for details.
The next personal cruiser that I can across was the two-wheel gyro-scooter. A young guy was traveling down a sidewalk on Elmwood on Saturday and stopped when we called him over (at The Peddler Flea Market). The rider, whose name was Svend (below – wearing Pace shirt), invited us to take a spin on the contraption. He told us that he had purchased the futuristic gyro-board 24 hours earlier, and he was was already a seasoned pro on the mini-vehicle.
So a couple of us gave it a go. “Think about where your brain wants to go,” Svend told us. “And you will naturally go that way as your body becomes relaxed and riding becomes natural. Within five minutes I didn’t need Svend to hold onto my arm anymore. It was a bizarre sensation to have the scooter “read” my slightly shifting and rotating movements, as I thought about where I wanted to go.
Watching Svend maneuver on his 36V board was super impressive (a lot more than I was). He spun in circles, cruised forward, stopped, cruised backwards, effortlessly. All the while passersby would stop to check the gadget out. My buddy Jeff (photo below right) also tried out the ride, and agreed that it was a surreal experience.
At this point I don’t think any shops in Buffalo carry the scooter, but I’m sure that will change as this phenomenon catches on. The personal gyro transport goes 10MPH, is rechargeable/battery operated (12-18 miles per charge), and runs $300+.