SwiftyONE

SwiftyONE
A scooter story in 3 Acts



Every once in a great while, circumstances align and all is right with the world



Act I: Pining

I have coveted Swifty scooters for quite some time now. From what I have read and watched in reviews, it seems like a fine scooter / kick bike. Numerous personal testimonies from owners repeatedly lavish praise on the Swifty brand. Out of the many scooter brands and models out there, although larger than my other scooters, I felt this would be a fit. I spent so much time on the Swifty website daydreaming about the various models. A folding one would be nice, maybe something in metallic blue. They have a gorgeous color they call Atlantic Blue. Regrettably, Swiftys are priced well beyond my budget. Add to that the exorbitant cost to ship one from the UK and it seemed that my pining would have to continue. 



Besides, how would I carry it with my Miata? That has been a long standing prerequisite for any scooter in consideration. Although I have a larger vehicle (Subaru Forester), I wanted to be able to transport my scooter with my Miata. Smaller scooters such as the Xootr or Boardy fit in the trunk, but the Swifty, even folded, would be too large. Oh if only it was more affordable, accessible and transportable! If only there was a way ... (cue orchestral whimsical - contemplative music)



Act II: Jonathan

When I first got my Xootr scooter, I looked around for other Xootr riders and found a well written, interesting guy named Jonathan Kelly. He'd written many articles on a website (andythousand.com) about his love of the Xootr scooter. He is 81, wrote not only about his experiences, but also his reflections and insights on why he loved to scooter with his Xootr. We connected and I now have a book that he's written about his Xootr adventures (get it here). From his website I saw that we had a lot in common. We stayed in touch and I'd send him a link to articles I posted now and then.

One of the articles Jonathan published was a review of a blue SwiftyONE, folding scooter that he had just purchased. "Ah!", I envied, "There it is! A folding blue Swifty scooter!". I sighed several times as I read the article. In another article, Jonathan described that although he thought the SwiftyONE was a fine scooter, it didn't fit his needs and he preferred the Xootr. I do understand why.


I hadn't written to Jonathan in months. One day, on a whim, I sent Jonathan a link to a review I had written about my Razor A5 Air. He responded back with some thoughtful comments and mentioned that he was going to sell his SwiftyONE. Wait ... what?! My heart skipped a beat. I wrote him back, palms sweating, and inquired how much he was going to ask for it. With grave anticipation, I soon received a response AND price. It was beyond reasonable, something I could JUST afford! Now to break it to my wife, Sandy ... 



After explaining and stuttering over my reasoning (see THIS is why we need another scooter ...), Sandy seemed to acquiesce to the purchase. I immediately wrote Jonathan back and we arranged to meet! My heart still kept skipping beats.

Jonathan and I meet

Sandy, Sean and Selah came along. We had also planned to do some scootering and Geocaching. We met Jonathan on a beautiful Southern California day at Newport Beach.  He tried out my Boardy and A5 Air. 


I then tried out the SwiftyONE and gave it a quick ride


Jonathan is a down to earth, nice and interesting guy! We were going to introduce him to Geocaching, but he had other commitments that day and had some errands he needed to attend to. We chatted for a bit and plan to meet up again sometime to scoot, geocache, discuss music, the meaning of life and other important matters.

So the coveted Atlantic Blue, foldable, SwiftyONE was now mine! BUT now the conflict: How do I  transport it with my Miata? Is it even possible!? (cue dramatic music)

Act III: Transport



I took the Swifty out for a quick ride and photo-shoot



I love the attention to detail



The Swifty rode GREAT on it's inaugural scoot



I did some research, actually a lot of research and found a car rack that I thought would work. Here's the one I ordered. Would it hold the Swifty safely? Would it be sufficiently high enough, on my low Miata, to keep the scooter sufficiently elevated? The rack eventually arrived ...


(cue fanfare music) Yes! Here they are: My Miata carrying the SwiftyONE. The Saris rack holds the Swifty nice and solid. No wiggling, no swaying, no bouncing and nice safe ground clearance. The weight distribution on the rack arms is surprisingly near equal. The rack is rated to 70lbs and the Swifty is 18lbs. I created a DIY anti-sway mechanism as a final touch. It may look a little odd with a "sideways" mounted bike, but it's all solid and safe. 

I was interested in a blue SwiftyONE, but couldn't afford it AND didn't think I could carry it on my little car. I bought a Xootr, which serendipitously led me to Jonathan. I randomly sent Jonathan a review of my A5 Air where he happened to mention that he wanted to sell his Swifty at a cost that I could afford. I fortunately live close enough to Jonathan to drive and meet him (no shipping charges). I figured out a way to safely carry the Swifty on my car.

Circumstances aligned and at this moment in time, all is right with the world. 

(curtain)

I'll review the SwiftyONE in a future post. 


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