The most important reason is this: if a scooter is too large fit in your car, too heavy to schlep, too cumbersome to take on every dive, it will sit and home. And if your scooter sits at home, its no fun.
The X is light - I do close to 200 dives a year with my Scooter, nearly all of them through the SoCal surf, and nearly all of those while also schlepping the deathstar (my Camera rig.) If my scooter was too heavy to toss over my shoulder while I scramble down the stairs, ramp or rocks while in full gear while carrying the DS, I'd leave it. The thing is, its no thing. I can make it all on one trip.
The X is rugged - I beat my scoot. Sand, rocks, parking lots, steps, driveways - my scooter gets worked. It has never one time leaked or failed to turn over. I've knocked it off the tailgate, I've kicked it over, I've dropped it a zillion times. No worries. Dive X-tras has done a great job in making parts available and posting all service and repair information on their site. When I ran over my X with my truck in October (don't ask) and thought it was a goner, it took me all of 3 days (and 3 or 4 calls and eMails to Ben) to get it back together. I dive that same scooter today (I've named it "Laz")
The X is small - it fits in the back of my Land Cruiser with 6 tanks, 2 sets of gear, a K bottle of O2 and another scoot, the deathstar and associated clothes and camping gear. If the scoot was huge, I'd leave it.
The X is simple - its a simple, solid design that is completely field strippable and field repairable. Plus, its easy to dive. I'm in the water with a can light, the deathstar, a dry suit and my scooter. That's a lot to manage, and the best part about the X is it stays out of the way. I zoom to where I want to go, clip off the X, deploy the DS to get the shots, stow DS, re-reploy the X and move on to the next subject. I do this 10 to 25 times a dive. Its a no brainer now. I've taken many, MANY divers out on my scoots, and I haven't had one yet that didn't get it dialed in enough in a few minutes to have a fun dive.
With the X, you'll expand what's possible - there are dive sites here in SoCal that we dive more than once or twice a year now because we have the X. These sites require such a kick that we'd either get very little time on them because we burn too much gas to get there, or the surface kick is just prohibitively long. With an X, getting there is a no brainer, and we dive them more often. Same with your local sites. It used to take us 10 - 12 minutes to get to 110 FSW at one of our local sites. It now takes us about 4 to 5 minutes. That gives us more time there, and we use less gas to get there and come back now. I do longer dives with the X for the same reason.
The X is fun. The bottom line is this: The X is fun. There has been no single piece of gear I've added to my diving that has increased the fun of every dive more than my X scooter. It makes a great dive unforgettable, and makes a bad dive tolerable. It upgrades every dive I take it on, and I take it on nearly all of them.
Be warned: All of your favorite and familiar dive sites become very small when you have a scooter. I don't know who goes in a shrinks 'em down, but somebody is.
Becoming a scooter diver is one of the best things I've ever done. I bought two so I have a buddy scoot. One by one, most of my team members have secured X scooters as well. There is nothing like a skilled team on X scooters, in formation, zooming over the dive site. I love it.
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Ken
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