Carrying your Swifty kick scooter is probably not something many readers will be interested in learning about, of course, unless you are one of the more adventurous types who loves a challenge, or just plain daft, much like myself. I guess I’m the “to boldly scoot where no-one has scooted before” type of chap.
Having said that, there are occasions even on the simplest of urban scoots where you may find yourself having to lift or carry your Swifty scooter. A good example, might to ascend to descend a flight of stairs. The most obvious way to do this is to lift by the handlebars and this generally works okay. However, you need to be careful as the rear of the scooter will swing on way or the other and can catch your legs or throw you off balance. All you need to do is tilt the handlebars slightly and control the swing accordingly.
Another method of carrying your Swifty scooter is to grasp using both hands, one on the handlebar column and another on the rear fork. This method gives good control and is fine for short carries but can be tiring on longer ones. For longer carries, or where conditions are more technical, such as cross-country routes like the deep tussock grass above, a (slightly) less tiring method is required.
My own preference here is to grasp the curved part of the frame – see image above – and carry over the shoulder. Keeping hold of the scooter allows control and you can move to the other shoulder when needed. An alternative method I’ve seen is to carry the scooter across your shoulders, with the foot plate resting across them. This is perhaps best when wearing a rucksack.
One point to remember when carrying a kick scooter is illustrated by this example. I was out very early one morning before dawn and found myself crossing a deep dry ditch. It was a difficult as the sides where steep, dry and very loose. However, I managed eventually and it was only later back home that I realised that I’d lost a glove and my water bottle. Returning on my bicycle that same night, I found them at the ditch crossing. They had fallen out when man-handling the scooter. Note, make sure the luggage top is secure.
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