We had a lot of fun with our tongue-in-cheek, yet informative, Scooter Lingo - Volume 1 article which resulted in quite a few web hits and some positive feedback. This article, volume 2, covers a few more terms that you'll hear from scooter kids around the skate park. Don't forget the 3 most important terms from volume 1: legit, dialed, and steezy. :o)

snake
verb

Justin Wharton of JJW Designs and 110% Clothing is a friend of mine and he recently agreed to help me out with the site by answering some questions for our first interview. As a rider, company owner, sponsor, and someone involved in the industry on many levels, Justin has a unique perspective on the freestyle scooter world. If you run into Justin at a scooter competition or a skate park, be sure to say hello. He's a friendly and supportive guy with integrity and we need more people like him in the scooter world.

Hey Justin, tell me about your freestyle scootering background:

I'm very proud to announce that Inward Scooters is now the featured sponsor of ScooterDad! I've known JP Kosters from Inward Scooters for a couple of years now and he is one of the most professional people in the scooter industry. His customer service can't be beat and his time-to-ship is quick and consistent.

Inward Scooters sells great products from replacement and upgrade parts for Razor Ultra Pro scooters to the best pro models including Phoenix Pro Scooters, Madd Gear, District, and Blunt. The also make some of the best T-bars on the market at a great price available in many different colors. You can even order your bars cut to your desired height, width, and with or without a slit. You can also find many parts powder coated in colors you wouldn't be able to find elsewhere, such as Razor Ultra Pro decks, forks, brakes, and more!

Many of you reading this blog will undoubtedly know quite a bit about scooter parts already, but since the focus of my blog is educating beginners and parents, I thought it wouldn't hurt to write an article outlining the basic parts of a freestyle scooter. If you already know what all the parts on a scooter are, then move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for. However, if you're brand new to scootering, then hopefully this article will be a helpful starting point in getting you familiar with freestyle scooter parts.

When someone at the skate park tells you that you need a new headset, you might not even know what a headset is, so how can you determine if you truly need a new one? Many of the parts on a scooter will have names that are easily identifiable and recognizable to you have any experience with bikes, motorcycles, or other similar riding equipment. For the sake of being thorough, I'll cover all the major parts.

Last Friday, my scooter kid, Paxton, and I went up to Sammamish, WA for the Lucky Summer Blow Out tour. He had never ridden Sammamish before and he was having a great day until horror struck. Paxton was trying to clear a quarter pipe to ledge gap when he came up short and clipped his rear wheel. The impact stopped his forward momentum but his head kept moving and he smacked his mouth right on his handlebars.

From across the park, I heard a blood-chilling scream as the park went completely silent. I snapped my head toward the sound and realized it was Paxton screaming, "KENNY! KENNY! KENNY!". I leapt out of my seat and sprinted across the skate park as all the riders stopped and cleared the way for a terrified dad running to his kid. As I got closer, I could see that Paxton was holding his hands over his mouth. He was covered in blood from his mouth to his elbows and he was repeatedly yelling, "Kenny! I chipped my tooth!".

This is the first article in what I expect will be a series of articles to help teach parents and kids who are new to the scooter world about some of the lingo you'll hear from other riders. I apologize in advance if some of my definitions and usage isn't perfect. This dorky ScooterDad will do his best to fit in with the kids and talk the talk. :o)

The first thing to know about scooter lingo is that it comes from the skate park and the streets, so many of the words crossover from skateboarding, BMX, and snowboarding. If you have a background in any alternative sports, you may already know some of the terms. When in doubt, don't be afraid to ask what someone means. It's better to ask than assume you know and be wrong.

Listen to how the words are used so you can learn the dialogue like you're visiting a new part of the world where you have to learn a new dialect. Have fun!