Oversized Scooter Is Fun To Ride

Oversized Scooter Is Fun To Ride FARM HOME recreation 28-4-21 "It's a lot of fun to ride and a real attention getter. And, it's good exercise," says Murray Wells, Fullerton, Calif., about the home-built, oversized scooters he builds from old bicycle parts. He makes them with either 12, 18, or 26-in. dia. wheels. The scooter's rear wheel has an off center axle with a series of homemade, uneven spokes welded to it. The axle is connected to a metal frame that the rider stands on and, as the wheel rotates, the axle moves up and down a total of about 6 in. The rider holds onto the handlebars and bends his knees to absorb the up-and-down motion. To assemble the "eccentric" rear wheel, Wells built a jig to mount the axle in, then made each spoke individually and silver soddered them between the axle and rim. "It provides great exercise and is quite a workout," says Wells. "After I started riding mine in parades, people started asking me to build scooters for them. So far I've made nine. They ride great on level ground, but it takes a lot of effort to go uphill. The bigger models work a lot better than the smaller models because they go farther with every revolution of the wheel. As a result you don't have to work as hard. The speed also depends on the wheel size. The 12-in. model goes about 15 mph and the larger models a little faster. There are brakes on the front wheel. "On some models I build vertical brackets onto the back part of the frame to keep it rigid. On other models I simply extend the frame all the way back behind the rear wheel," notes Wells. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Murray H. Wells, 2411 Nicolas Dr., Fullerton, Calif. 92833 (ph 714 879-1278).

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