7 Critical Things to Check Before Your Electric Scooter Ride
Electric scooters are efficient, portable, and a ton of fun to ride. But none of that matters if you get hurt because of something you could have prevented. That’s why we made this video with seven quick tips you should follow before your first electric scooter ride, or really before any ride, to make sure you get where you’re going safely.
These suggestions aren’t just for new riders. Ramier and I have been testing electric scooters, hundreds of them, for the last four or five years, and we ride every day. Trust us, we know crashing sucks. So, let’s get into it.
1. Make Sure You’ve Got the Gear
No matter how far or fast you’re going, you should always wear a helmet on your scooter, no matter what. Head injuries are no joke, and if you’re going faster than 25 mph, you should also consider wearing a helmet that protects your face.
You should also wear eye protection, especially on sunny days for visibility, and closed-toed shoes. We always wear gloves because your hands are guaranteed to hit the ground every time you crash, and your palms are knuckles are usually the most vulnerable spots.
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2. Check Tire Pressure

Unless you’re riding on solid tires, which are getting more rare these days, you’ve got air-filled tires with or without inner tubes.
Tire pressure can make a huge difference to your ride, including whether or not you get a flat.
You can pick up a small electric pump with a digital gauge for a few bucks and easily check if your tires are filled to the PSI recommended by the scooter manufacturer. Also check your tires’ tread wear. If there are bare patches or something looks like it needs replacing, then the scooter is unsafe to ride and should be serviced.
3. Check Your Charge Level
This one might seem obvious, but sometimes you don’t notice your battery level is low until you’ve left the house. Make sure you have enough charge for the ride.
If your scooter displays the battery voltage, you can use this voltage chart to find the exact state of charge. If it only shows a percentage or four bars, then be conservative in your own range estimates.
If you want to know exactly how long it will take to fully charge your scooter, use this formula:
Charge Time = Battery Capacity (Ah) / Charge Current (A)

For example, if your scooter has a 10Ah battery, and you have a 2A charger, your charge time would be around 5 hours.
4. Check Nuts and Bolts
Give the stem a wiggle. Pull on critical parts like brake calipers and wheels, making sure everything’s where it’s supposed to be. You might not get out the wrenches and do this every ride, but you should tighten things up every week, or once a month at least.
Use Loctite on parts that tend to come loose frequently (only use the red temporary kind!), such as folding handlebars and fenders.
5. Check Brakes at Low Speed
Experts get this one wrong most often. I’ll jump on a scooter and blast off before I realize I haven’t checked the brake cables. Then I pull the brakes and nothing, the lever pulls all the way back the grip, and I realize, “Oh, it’s not slowing down.”

The trick in adjusting brakes is that you want the levers to feel good in your hands before you need them at the last minute.
The brake lever should not pull all the way back, so you have some room to slow down gently.
When you’re done tightening up your brakes, spin the wheels. A little drag is okay, but they should spin a least a couple full revolutions before coming to a stop.
6. Check the Scooter’s Safety Features
Make sure your tail light and brake lights work. Check turn signals and headlight settings. Before your first electric scooter ride, you should definitely get into the settings and get things set up the way you want them (changing kilometers to miles, for example).
If you’re a new rider, I recommend turning off zero start for now and keep the scooter kick-to-start. You can get in trouble with zero start on until you get used to the throttle.
Also, cruise control can really catch you off guard, so turn that off until you’re more experienced on your scooter.

7. Bring a Lock!
Last but certainly not least: if you love your scooter, lock it up.
If you’re riding a big, expensive scooter, you probably want a U-lock rated to resist angle grinders and other power tools. No lock is unbeatable, but the most expensive locks from Kryptonite can take 15 to 20 minutes to cut through with power tools. No thief will take that much time if you’re parked in a public place.
If you get a lightweight, ultraportable scooter like an Unagi Voyager or UScooters Booster, on the other hand, you can often just fold it up and bring it inside with you wherever you go.
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Summing Up
That’s it for our pre-riding checklist. It’s easy to forget any one of these things and to have a pretty terrible ride because of it. We know because we’ve all done it. So make sure you’ve got the right safety gear and that your scooter’s ready to ride before you leave the house.

We’ve got another big announcement at the end of our video above. This is my last one with Electric Scooter Guide. I’ve loved working on this channel, and I’ll come back to visit, but I’m happy to pass the torch to Ramier, the heart and soul of ESG. Here we come, 2025. Remember, don’t ride like me, and always wear a helmet. Stay safe! – Paul