Zumaround powered scooters and skateboards

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Dec 31, 2015 · , sent to the company Jan 15, 2016 · , published by CPSC Feb 11, 2016

   The product, in the report: Yellow “MaxiZum” Zumaround electrically motorized scooter/kickbike/foot bike with 26” bicycle wheels, approximately 250 watt, Chinese made geared hub motor, unknown controller, two 36-volt, 9 amp-hour lithium ion “bottle” batteries that may be made by Panasonic but have no manufacturer ID other than a “Zumaround” sticker.

   I was riding my new “MaxiZum” electrically motor-driven “scooter” (with 26” wheels, more properly a footbike or kickbike) westbound in a Class II bike lane when I had to merge into the main traffic lane at a point where the road narrowed to allow for reconstruction of a mid-block crosswalk near our main fire station.

   It was the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so no work was in progress. Thee excavation was covered by a smooth steel plate and the transition from the existing pavement to the plate was eased by a gentle, shallow, smooth graded asphalt ramp with no lumps, bumps, gaps or irregularities.

   The line of traffic was moving very slowly and I had plenty of time to observe the construction work as I approached. With nearly 60 years of cautious and safe cycling experience, and the knowledge that the footbike had an advertised ground clearance of 4 inches, I judged that the very minor elevation change was perfectly safe to ride over at a slow speed. I was wrong.

   As my front wheel mounted the incline, two tube ends projecting below the floor frame of the footbike grazed and dug into the asphalt, bringing the MaxiZum to a sudden halt and slightly lifting the rear wheel from the ground and causing it to rotate, airborne, to the right, around the axis of the bike’s headset. I was able to quickly step/jump off to the right and prevent myself from falling all the way to the ground, although my right knee did collapse, resulting in a strained/sprained medial collateral ligament, which is still a bit sore. following traffic, also moving slowly, was able to stop without hitting me, and I dragged myself and the scooter/footbike off to the side of the road. Not a catastrophe, but it certainly would likely have been if I and/or following traffic had been traveling faster.

   When I got home, I put the footbike on a bench, removed the footboard, and inspected the (minor) damage to the tubes that had contacted the pavement. With the footboard removed, I was also able to measure the actual ground clearance of the device. As can be seen in the photos I took (if I can find a way to share them with you), the tubes that struck the asphalt provides less than 3” of clearance. Further, a travel-limit tab on the center kickstand measured about 2 5/8 “ ground clearance, but it also shows signs of having struck the pavement (perhaps when the airborne rear wheel came bouncing and sliding back to Earth), so it’s quite likely that the original clearance there was even less.

   The close examination I was able to do on the bench made it clear that it is not only ground clearance per se that makes this motorized (to approx. 20 mph) device unsafe to operate on US streets and paths with the usual bumps, uneven pavement, projections, etc. The very design and geometry of the frame makes it dangerous, as well. The near-90-degree junction of the vertical tube cluster with the floor frame, combined with tube ends and other projections *below* that frame, means that almost any contact with an irregularity or projection from the surface will be, effectively, a “head-on” crash. With no leading curve or angle, and with the afore-mentioned projections below the frame, and with no skid plate, there is almost no chance that the footbike would be able ride/slide over even the slightest obstacle.

   When I contacted the manufacturer, he (trying to prevent me from filing this report, no doubt) promised a detailed written response within a few days. He then said he was going to Israel for a couple of weeks but would try to write when he was there. From Israel (presumably) he told me he had been busy, but would try to write “soon.” When he returned from Israel, he again promised a letter in a few days, which started and email exchange in which he arrogantly assured me that the problem is with my expectations, not with his product.

   Full disclosure: While waiting for resolution of this issue, I raised it in an online forum for scooter enthusiasts, without identifying the brand or model of the product (it turns out that some of the members of the forum, including the forum operator, are friends/customers of the manufacturer, so they probably knew which product I was talking about). Virtually every response I got was, more or less “That’s just how kick scooters are; you have to be constantly alert and ready to stop and dismount at the sight of any obstacle.” I tried to explain that is an unreasonable position to take when talking about a 20 mph motorized footbike, as big as a full-sized bicycle, that is advertised for use on the streets and will likely encounter minor obstacles frequently, and often be surrounded by auto traffic. They just kept repeating themselves.

   In the intervening period, I have test-ridden electric footbikes that have none of the inherent defects of the MaxiZum. They have more than twice the ground clearance. They have curved/angled junctions between the vertical members and the floor frame. They have no projections below the floor frame. They have skid plates. They would have been ridden safely over the little construction rise that threw me from the MaxiZum without even noticing it.

   Today, I contacted the seller. He told me what the manufacturer and the forum members told me: that’s just the way kick scooters are.

   But, no matter how often they call it that, the MaxiZum is NOT a “kick scooter” -- it’s a motorized, full-sized footbike.

   I appear to be the only person who thinks the device is inherently dangerously flawed, so you may be tempted to just let this go. Or you may simply not be able to investigate such a “minor” matter. However, I am quite certain of this:

   If very many people ride very many MaxiZum powered footbikes over very many miles of ordinary American roads and trails, there will be serious injuries and, probably, deaths. How many will simply be a matter of how many scooters he manages to sell and how far the customers ride them.

   Model

   MaxiZum

   UPC

   None found

   Serial number

   None found

   Bought from

   Ashland Electric Bikes, Oregon

   Bought

   Nov 4, 2015, about then

   Where

   Tiburon, California: Street or Highway

   Who was involved

   Age 64, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Zumaround, made or sold by Kickstart Scooters Ltd

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources