Kirby Air Ride: Wheelie Scooter

[Benton188]

Springtime has finally arrived. That means it's time to head out to the garage and try to build something stupid. Over the past Winter I got to thinking it would be a fun challenge to try and make one of those 1 Wheel Scooters that have started becoming popular. This idea came to life while playing one of my favorite games of all time: Kirby's Air Ride. The game has a number of odd vehicles to choose from including a few of these one wheel vehicles, including my favorite one the Wheelie Scooter. While not as iconic as say the Wheelie Bike, the Wheelie Scooter is very fun to use in the game. Making a cute little engine noise as you ride around the level, and can turn on a dime....provided you can ever stop the thing cause I swear it has no brakes lol.

Back in December I got a hold of a few Electric Razor Scooters from a guy giving them away. All of them were left outside to rot in the elements, but I decided to take them and use the framework and a few other pieces for the project. One even kinda matched the colors of the scooter already, so bonus on that one! Though I don't think I'll be using an of the original body work as I've found a 3D model that I turned into a pep file so I can build the body out of different material and more accurate to the shape of the scooter. Probably making the body out of foam to keep the weight down.

I've begun some work on the project, going as far as to strip off all the body panels on the one scooter and getting an idea of how I can mount everything with the very limited room I'll have. So far I have ideas on how to properly power the wheel while keeping the body separate, and I'm working on an idea to make a simple counter balance design so it can't easily rock forwards and backwards and therefore can self balance itself upon the rider hopping off. The tire will be wide enough to keep the left and right balance as well, using a 18X8.50 Golf Cart tire. The tire is still on it's way in the mail so there's not much more I can do until it arrives and I can truly get to work on planning the framework out. So until next time!

 

[FlipFlop]

I have a love/hate relationship with Air ride, Loved to drive around and look at the world, but hated when my friend would hunt me down and blow up my ride in the free roam. Def gonna watch the progress on this!

 

[Benton188]

UPDATE!!
Albeit a small one, but some work has been done moving it forward. I installed the drive shaft onto the wheel, a 12 inch solid 316 steel rod through the center of a brake assembly hub. I also had to fabricate and weld on the sprocket for the drive chain to the rod. I then put a pillow block bearing on each end of the rod and then fabricated the initial frame to go up and across the top of the wheel. Next I'll be moving onto the motor mount, seat mount, and start work on how I want to do the front handle. Currently trying to figure out where the batteries will go. Thankfully they'll be small, but due to the design of the scooter it's a bit difficult to find room anywhere.