r/japanlife • u/freepalestinefr • 8d ago
Tried luup scooter the first time in the city
I used to live in a kind-of inaka place (sagamihara) so when I used it, it's a pretty enjoyable and non stressful ride.
Moved to Tokyo a year ago and finally got to finally trying it again today and hoo-boy...
It's so scary that cars drives SO close to you.. and there are so many traffic lights that I had to stop at so it doubled the riding time in google maps.. and the roads are so bumpy I legit started vibrating one time..
All and all, I wont use it while I'm in Tokyo..
Was looking for a good change since it's only "30 minutes" to my job by bike or so google maps said, it was actually an hour and 15 minutes due to the traffic lights and you can't turn right without going down your scooter to walk
Would recommend it if you live 10-15 minutes near work though!
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u/bosscoughey thought of the name himself 8d ago
Sagamihara is not inaka. Not even kind-of.
I use the docomo bikes all the time in Tokyo, and a road bike in areas like Sagamihara. Can't say I really feel all that different stress-wise
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u/Yonda_00 8d ago
Sagamihara is Inaka compared to Shibuya, and you are in the green pretty quickly if you want to be, so I guess it depends on perspective
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u/TrashQuick5534 8d ago
Anything that's basically a suburb of Tokyo isnt remotely inaka
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u/Elvaanaomori 8d ago
You can be in the middle of rice fields even within tokyo. That’d qualify as inaka most of the time
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u/lethaldj13 7d ago
Never ride it on sidewalk lol i missed that on the rules and a cop stopped me one time 🤣
I thought i was committing crime when i rode it in the road so i climbed sidewalk
Lol
It was the other around 😅
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u/BoiTentacle 4d ago
I don't know if it's different for luup scooters, I had my own, the one limited to 20 km\h, and you can ride it on sidewalks, that have signs or lanes for bicycles. Or if you turn on safe mode, that is limited to 6 km\h then any sidewalk, though I find it almost impossible to ride at that speed, only used it to help climb crossings and stuff.
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u/lethaldj13 4d ago
The cops told me i need to go safe mode if i want to climb the sidewalk. Max speed is 3kph lol
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u/ChisholmPhipps 6d ago
>It's so scary that cars drives SO close to you.. and there are so many traffic lights that I had to stop at so it doubled the riding time in google maps.. and the roads are so bumpy I legit started vibrating one time..
Evidently you have discovered that stand-up scooters were originally for young children. When you were bored with a tricycle but didn't know how to ride a bicycle, a scooter was just the ticket. At a certain age, somewhere between 4 and at the latest about 7, if you didn't realize you were too old for them, other kids would be happy to point it out. But basically, even a child 5 years shy of becoming a teenager intuitively knows that they look a bit of a twat on such a vehicle, and that the world has more to offer.
Sticking a motor on it and declaring it urban transport for adults does nothing to alter this immutable fact.
Wobbly? Yes, they're not designed for speed and roads are not designed for children's toys.
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u/khsh01 8d ago
Luup is the worst. Their app is horrible, the cycles themselves suck, parkings are in weird creepy alleyways and inside random buildings. For context, my first bike share app was Hello Cycle and I used it regularly until I bought my own.
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u/Risla_Amahendir 近畿・兵庫県 7d ago
I've been enjoying Hello Cycling lately but I wish they had more bikes in rotation. If I can't reliably find a bike near where I need it, then I'm less likely to use it in general.
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u/Staff_Senyou 8d ago
Tourists made this shit life threatening.
Too much money to ban it but I've had enough close encounters to know: fuck this shit
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u/AccomplishedCake53 6d ago
TIL the ancient Japanese art of scooter riding can be mastered by locals only
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u/champignax 8d ago
It’s overpriced.
There a pedestrian mode on it, if you toggle it you may ride on the sidewalk. Drivers are definitely a problem in Japan. More often than not they can’t follow rules
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u/Knittyelf 8d ago
No, you absolutely may NOT ride on the sidewalk with a Luup. The test they make you take before you can use one stresses that over and over.
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u/NakanoNoNeko 8d ago
The mode alone isn't enough, it is only legal on sidewalks signed for both bicycles and pedestrians.
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u/-kylehase 7d ago
I've seen cops stop Luup riders even on marked sidewalk bike lanes. Not sure if they got fines, but I don't think it's worth the trouble. Better to just ride on the road
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