How To Ride An Electric Scooter

Published May 2, 2022

Riding an electric scooter is easier than a bicycle and most people can pick it up right away. This guide will help get you started and covers valuable tips on how to ride plus the most forgotten insights from our team.

Before you hop on your scooter, you need to be wearing appropriate gear.

First and foremost, you should always wear a helmet when you ride, no matter how short the trip or how fast you are riding. You can browse our helmets here. Before riding, it’s important to familiarize yourself with your scooter. Make sure you know where the accelerator, brakes, lights and horn are.

If you just received your scooter, it’s best to take it to a protected outside area, like a parking lot, and make sure you have a sense of how the throttle feels and brakes work.

Cautious?

If you want to be really cautious, you can test out your scooter without even powering it on by using it as a standard kick scooter. This can give you a good sense of the balance, steering and brake feel.

Finally, make sure you understand how the folding mechanisms on your scooter work.  Depending on what scooter you own, you will probably have a folding stem and possibly folding handlebars.  Make sure you know how to lock both into place. There are many mechanisms and some have extra safety features that must be engaged to prevent it from folding while riding.

The first time and every time you ride, do a pre-flight check to make sure your scooter is good to go.

A – The tires are in good condition and inflated to correct pressure
B – Folding mechanisms locked into place
C – Brakes properly adjusted
D – The scooter looks and sounds good (no weird noises, obvious damage, anything changed or unusual)
E – Battery charged enough for your trip
F – Gear bag for longer rides (tire slime, pump, multi-tool)
G – Mobile phone for emergencies

Launching Your Scooter

Starting to ride is as simple as putting one foot on the deck, kicking off and pushing down on the accelerator.

When riding your scooter, use your handlebars to help you balance, but your feet and legs should be doing most of the work. If you notice that you’re pushing or pulling really hard on the handlebars, this is not a good sign and means you need to work on your balance.

The handlebars are on the end of a very long lever arm and even the best-built scooter is not designed for the rider to frequently crank on the handlebars.

At very, very low speeds, you’ll actively use the handlebars to steer your scooter. You will also have to engage your core and adjust your weight to maintain balance. At normal riding speeds >8 kmh you should keep the handlebars mostly straight and rely on weight shift and leaning to manoeuvre and turn.

When braking hard, bend your knees and shift your weight back over your rear leg — as though you are about to sit down. Most of the braking power comes from the front brake, so be sure to use both. Braking hard while turning, is much more likely to cause a crash than braking hard in a straight line, so whenever possible, straighten up before executing an emergency stop.

Accelerating by squeezing down on your throttle control. If you are accelerating hard on a more powerful scooter, double-check that your feet are in a stable position and bend your knees to lower your centre of gravity.

Use the handlebars for stability but avoid overstressing them. Your legs should be providing the majority of your balance.

Summary

Learning to ride an electric scooter is relatively easy, though being able to safely commute in traffic is learned through experience. If you’re a total beginner, make sure to wear a helmet, practise, and gain confidence before riding in mixed traffic.