Razor E150 front fork (or similar)

[D Alan Stewart]

I’m building something custom (it’s not a scooter) and have acquired two E150 front wheel replacements for two of the four wheels. THESE. I’ve decided the easiest way to mount them is to acquire two scooter front forks. Every site I’ve found that advertises E150 front forks says they are out of stock or discontinued. I just need two of a fork that is compatible with these wheels and has a steerer tube. The steerer tube doesn’t need to be compatible with the E150. I’m not even going to steer the vehicle with these wheels, but the steerer tube will be used to allow the wheels to follow the direction of the vehicle. I.e, these will be trailing rear wheels. Each wheel only supports only a quarter of the weight of the single rider, so the load is far less than when used in the original application.

Any suggestion on a source for E150 front forks or for another fork that should work? I can give wheel and axle dimensions.

TIA,
Alan

 

[glennb]

Using them as castor wheels then?

Any govt urban rubbish dump transfer station recycling center type place ought to have plenty. Whether they’re buried in the scrap metal bin or have been separated out is a different matter.

All the ones I’ve been to have a stack of complete bicycles, separated and off to the side. I presume they give them to charities. I never paid them any attention. It would be reasonable to suppose that they do the same with entire scooters.

One of them has a big shop attached where they sell the more interesting trash/treasure. A lot of it is tools and decorative antiquey rusty stuff, but there’s a bit of everything and it’s all done by haggling. If I went there now I’m sure they’d have scooters.

Private scrap metal recycling places are another possible source. They separate out and sell as much as they can.

No harm in phoning these places anyway.

 

[calab]

Once the batteries go, those scooters are a really low rock bottom price. Some will let them go for free so they dont have to drive to the thrift store to dump their garbage off.

 

[amberwolf]

If the axle shoulder width is the same as other scooters, then you can use any of those forks that is at least as "tall" (uses a wheel at least as large a diameter) as your tires. There are quite a few out there, but you would probably have to look up similar sized scooters to see which ones have available replacement forks.

FWIW, goodwills and other thriftstores around here often have similar scooters for $10-$20 or even less if they're the unmotorized versions, or are broken or missing chargers, etc. I'd guess the same is true of your area; you'd probably just have to make frequent regular rounds of the ones near you until you find what you're after.

Depending on what you're building and what the wheels have to do, it might be easier to make your own mounts for them. If you were less secretive about the project we might be able to make better suggestions for alternatives.

 

[D Alan Stewart]

Using them as castor wheels then?

Any govt urban rubbish dump transfer station recycling center type place ought to have plenty. Whether they’re buried in the scrap metal bin or have been separated out is a different matter.

All the ones I’ve been to have a stack of complete bicycles, separated and off to the side. I presume they give them to charities. I never paid them any attention. It would be reasonable to suppose that they do the same with entire scooters.

One of them has a big shop attached where they sell the more interesting trash/treasure. A lot of it is tools and decorative antiquey rusty stuff, but there’s a bit of everything and it’s all done by haggling. If I went there now I’m sure they’d have scooters.

Private scrap metal recycling places are another possible source. They separate out and sell as much as they can.

No harm in phoning these places anyway.

Great suggestion, thanks!

 

[D Alan Stewart]

If the axle shoulder width is the same as other scooters, then you can use any of those forks that is at least as "tall" (uses a wheel at least as large a diameter) as your tires. There are quite a few out there, but you would probably have to look up similar sized scooters to see which ones have available replacement forks.

FWIW, goodwills and other thriftstores around here often have similar scooters for $10-$20 or even less if they're the unmotorized versions, or are broken or missing chargers, etc. I'd guess the same is true of your area; you'd probably just have to make frequent regular rounds of the ones near you until you find what you're after.

Depending on what you're building and what the wheels have to do, it might be easier to make your own mounts for them. If you were less secretive about the project we might be able to make better suggestions for alternatives.

For sure it’ll be shared when I’ve made more progress. It’s a e-mobility project for people uncomfortable with balancing on two wheels, pedaling, and standing. Basically a power wheel chair, but not, suitable for bike paths, bike lanes, and sidewalks. There will be optional weather protection. Two goals are minimizing the materials, tools, and skills necessary to build one yourself and open sourcing the plans. At this point it’s research and a 3D model that is still changing frequently. It’s to be constructed of plywood, a bit of 2x4, pop rivets, wood screws, e-bike parts, and scooter parts. So far everything can be done with a circular saw, jigsaw, hand drill, pop rivet gun, screwdriver, and wrenches.

I think fabrication of metal parts is off the table. I have considered building wooden forks, but if they’re available metal scooter forks would be more durable and less labor. One barrier is the scarcity of dimensional info from parts suppliers.

 

[amberwolf]

For sure it’ll be shared when I’ve made more progress.

Ok. It's just hard to really help without more info. What you've posted so far may help, but without having some idea of actual layout, etc., there are too many possible ways to build something like this for me to suggest anything specific just yet. If I think of anything, I'll post it here, though.


It may not apply to you, but I've found I make much more progress much more quickly if I share my projects as completely as possible from the beginning (including my reasonings and intent), so that those interested can make any suggestions they can think of based on what I post, and I get better feedback. (there's always unusable feedback/info for one reason or another, but I can filter that out. )

One barrier is the scarcity of dimensional info from parts suppliers.

If the pics they provide are reasonable resolution, you can make some guesses based on known standard bits of the stuff in the images. For instance, if there is a pic of a whole scooter with a given dimension (tire diameter, etc) then you can extrapolate some other dimensions from the number of pixels given to that, vs those on other parts you're looking at. Or for things like steerer tubes, which are probably either 1" or 1-1/8", etc.

 

[glennb]

For sure it’ll be shared when I’ve made more progress. It’s a e-mobility project for people uncomfortable with balancing on two wheels, pedaling, and standing. Basically a power wheel chair, but not, suitable for bike paths, bike lanes, and sidewalks. There will be optional weather protection. Two goals are minimizing the materials, tools, and skills necessary to build one yourself and open sourcing the plans. At this point it’s research and a 3D model that is still changing frequently. It’s to be constructed of plywood, a bit of 2x4, pop rivets, wood screws, e-bike parts, and scooter parts. So far everything can be done with a circular saw, jigsaw, hand drill, pop rivet gun, screwdriver, and wrenches.

I think fabrication of metal parts is off the table. I have considered building wooden forks, but if they’re available metal scooter forks would be more durable and less labor. One barrier is the scarcity of dimensional info from parts suppliers.

Sound worthy.

Will it be in kit form?

If so, I guess you need a steady fork supplier.

And if you need wheels as well (which I can’t see how you couldn’t), then it’s likely most expedient to hit up a single alibaba scooter seller for both.