Scooters, Scooters, Scooters Which one?? Why??

[JT2]

Okay folks, I need the opinions and thoughts of those of you who have owned and used scooters on who makes the best ones. My main buddy and I are thinking about buying a couple of new ones and we will mostly be using them just to explore some local freshwater lakes with long wall and cliff formations in 30-110ft of water, but we also want some that are capable of doing the tech stuff since we plan on starting on our cave certifications late next year, as well as some advanced wreck training. I have read what I could find on the Silent-Submersion, Gavin, Mako/Tekna, Apollo and Farallon, and I am thinking from what I have read that the Gavin or Silent-Submersion is the way to go and they seem to be almost identical. The only thing I know for sure is that we do not want a (ride-on) type scooter. It appears to me that the Gavin and the Silent-Submersion are basically copies of the Mako although I have only read about the Mako and have not actually seen one in a picture or anything, and I also noticed that both Gavin and SS offer a large trade in allowance for Mako scooters and was wondering why this was? 99% of our diving is done from a pontoon boat with a large low to the water platform for getting things in and out of the water, so I am not that concerned about weight since they will be taken out of the shop and placed on the boat until we are ready to get in the water, and we also have a little swing out hoist on the front platform of the boat that we use to snatch the Seadoos out of the water with whenever we take them along, so I am not all that concerned with weight. I have not been able to find any info on who has the best batteries and best/fastest chargers, and I am also concerned with how easy it is to get service work done on them, or if parts are readily available if I decide to try and work on them myself. Oh well, I guess that is enough of my rambling for now, let me know what ya'll think.:mean:
Thanks!

 

[Master Chief]

Hi

Farallon just came out with a new smaller pull behind scooter designed for the cave and technical diver specifically. The price is just over $2000 US affordable when your looking to purchase two. I suggest you call Darren at Farallon with any of your questions and I'm sure you'l get plenty of opinions on this topic on this board.

Master Chief

 

[Uncle Pug]

To answer some of your questions...

Gavins and Silent Submersion are very different from Makos but the reason you can get the good trade in is that they use Mako motors (rewound.)

If you want to see a picture of a Mako do a search on ebay.

As for batteries... we buy ours locally... 12v 18amp (<$50 each)... we use two in series (24v) for the short body Gavin. We bought a single 12/24v smart charger from Sears ($90) and I made a Y connector so we charge both scooters at the same time.

I can't say about the Silent Submersion but you can take a Gavin completely apart on the back of your boat... not that you would need or want too... just very simple. You don't need to do much to replace anything.

I did have the SS wire from the trigger to the magnet (that turns the motor on) break once.... we continued with the dive... I just used my thumb to hold the magnet in position. After the dive I fixed it in a few minutes.

BTW... a scooter should have a clutch... if you get anything caught in the prop whether kelp, line or body parts... you don't want the motor to burn up or the relay board to fry. We have our clutchs set so that if anything other than water hits the blades they slip. This also is important if you were to ever have a runaway for any reason... you can grab the prop to stop it and turn your prop setting back to 1.

 

[WetDane]

UP -
What is the battery weight factor in the Gavin/SS scooters like? I am sitting here with a very small pack that holds 9 AmpHr at 24V - could put a few of those together and make your scooters run forever...

Just a thought,

Dane

 

[JT2]

I totally agree that any scooter should have an adjustable clutch, and one of the other questions I have is, does the Gavin have a manually adjusted clutch (such as a dial or something) or do you have to modify the clutch yourself? I also have read that the Gavins have two different clutches available, does anyone know why this is or what the difference is between the two?

PS Hey UP, is the E-mail addy you gave me a while back to reach George III the same one I would need to get sales info on the Gavin?

 

[WreckWriter]

JT2 once bubbled...
I totally agree that any scooter should have an adjustable clutch, and one of the other questions I have is, does the Gavin have a manually adjusted clutch (such as a dial or something) or do you have to modify the clutch yourself? I also have read that the Gavins have two different clutches available, does anyone know why this is or what the difference is between the two?

PS Hey UP, is the E-mail addy you gave me a while back to reach George III the same one I would need to get sales info on the Gavin?

Pitch is adjustable as it comes from G3. You turn a knob on the back of the prop, real easy.

I'm not Pug but I know the answer to your other question is yes, same email.

Tom

 

[Uncle Pug]

JT2... yes, same address... website: www.gavinscooters.com
The mako clutch is plastic and won't take a lot of abuse but is cheap to replace (so I'm told... haven't had to replace mine) the WKPP clutch is metal and will withstand a lot. Both are easy to get to... and adjustment is made by adding or removing cupped disk washers.... really simple. Once the adjustment is made that is it... and they will usually come already adjusted.

This is different that setting the blade thrust angle... that is done at the hub by twisting it from 1 to 9.

Terkel... I'm can't remember just what the batts weigh but two of them put the scooter right at neutral. If you look up Yuasa 12v 18amp specs you can get the weight. When I get a chance I'll weigh the batt pack and let you know.

 

[JT2]

Thanks guys, looks like I will be getting in touch with them tomorrow so that I can see how bad they want to hurt me for a couple of new Gavins. Wish me luck!

 

[jonnythan]

That's http://www.gavinscooters.com/

Dear lord, that pic on the main page is priceless.

Why does GI feel the need to appear in a speedo as much as possible?

 

[Aquamaniac]

jonnythan once bubbled...
That's http://www.gavinscooters.com/

Dear lord, that pic on the main page is priceless.

Why does GI feel the need to appear in a speedo as much as possible?

Because Trey knows that his band of loving followers all sit here and admire his physique on a regular basis.
He IS God remember, just ask him, he'll tell you.

uke: