It started when former closer Brian Wilson mentioned that he liked scooters to team chef Joe Day, who happened to build them as a hobby. Before long, Wilson, Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence, Sergio Romo, and Brandon Belt were cruising to the ballpark from their nearby downtown homes on their own heavily modified two-wheel electric rides.
The project really kicked into gear after the 2010 World Series. With some free time on his hands during the offseason, Day started pushing his scooter-making skills to the next level at a shop called Rustworks in San Carlos.
A chef by trade, Day, 28, works well with his hands and can offer about as many modifications to his custom scooters as he does ingredients in his cuisine.
"He's just a solid asset to an organization that is caring and affectionate to everybody," Romo said of Day.
Romo's scooter has a custom orange paint job, a turbo button, three-inch speakers that are mounted to a custom plate featuring his number, 54; an iPod dock to crank out the tunes and his name is painted on the baseboard.
"Mine is up there, but I think Timmy's might take the cake a little bit," Romo said.
Lincecum's scooter has all the features of Romo's ride and a special carbon fiber trim.
During Giants telecasts you'll often see shots of Pence cruising around town on his 2 wheel electric scooter. While he gets most of the airtime, his ride is a bit less flashy.
"There are some other guys with some very expensive scooters compared to mine," Pence said. "I have a very low-cost scooter."
Mindful that former Warriors guard Monta Ellis severely injured his left ankle on a moped shortly after signing a six-year, $66 million contract, all of the scooters made by Chef Day include extra large brakes, as well as engines that don't go any faster than 25 mph for added safety. There hasn't been an incident with any of the Giants players.
Day made two scooters for Pence, two more for Belt, and is currently making two for Madison Bumgarner, who is soon to join the scooter-riding ranks. Having a second scooter is key because these guys don't just hum down the Embarcadero to the ballpark, they also take joy rides alongside their significant others. Day says the average cost of the modified scooters is $2,000.
"I found out from Pence, Lincecum and Romo because they all had one," Belt said. "I talked to them about it and they said that they had a blast on them. I thought it might be something cool, since I live in the city this year, that me and my wife could have and drive around on."
Belt's scooter features a larger motor -- because he says he is a "bigger dude" -- with special shocks. While his scooter is orange, his wife Haylee's scooter is powder blue.
Chef Day did some special paintwork on Belt's scooter and they added some decals with his nickname 'baby giraffe' and jersey number for a personalized touch.
Day, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy, has been the team chef for the Giants since 2009. Every day he does his own grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooks up to three meals for about 50 people -- including Giants players, coaches, and clubhouse staff members.
"Every day he has grass-fed beef and kale salad for me ready to go for lunch," Pence said. "He's awesome."
Day is able to find time to work on his side projects when the team is on the road or during the baseball offseason.
His fine cuisine and scooters are currently only available to people inside the Giants organization, but he is willing to branch out. Day recently started a Twitter account: @RocketPed. He says he will make his scooters available to everybody if the interest level is there.
In an earlier video, we talked about how to narrow down a list of potential suppliers to a select group of highly qualified candidates.
Now go ahead and contact this short list. This starts the RFQ (request for quotation) phase. The feedback from this initial contact should allow you to further narrow down the list to the top 2 or 3 based on pricing and non-price attributes.
The next step is to validate if the suppliers are legit. In my opinion there are two essential types of verification.
Type One is the Factory Audit. This is to verify that the supplier has a quality control system in place and they have the production experience to supply you with the goods they say they can make for you.
Type Two is an Operational Audit or Due Diligence. This is to confirm that the supplier has a good reputation and is financially strong enough to stay in business long enough to complete your order. In other words, they are not likely to disappear with your initial payment.
There are professional service providers available who conduct these types of verification at very reasonable prices. I highly recommend you engage professional support if you don't have the skill set in-house to audit factories in China on your own. Contact me and I would be happy to recommend the 3rd parties I use for verification. But for your reference, here are some other tools you can use on your own or in conjunction with those 3rd parties.
It doesn't cost you anything to ask for references. If a supplier can't give you a few happy clients to visit with…this is a big red flag.
Confirm that you have the right to visit the production line and check on your order. If they come up with a bunch of excuses why you can't visit, it either means they don't have the ability to produce your product and are scared that you won't like what you see if you visit or it could be as simple as that they are a trading company and worried you will cut them out of the supply chain once you realize they provide little value. Speaking of trading companies, sometimes, especially if your order is small, it makes sense to use them, but I hate trading companies that say they are the factory when really they are just brokers.
Ask to see the suppliers Quality Control Manual. If they don't have an ISO compliant, written quality management system…run away. If you want to see what a Product Quality Manual looks like, you can check out china company verification at the link below:http://www.cnbizsearch.com/search/cc/
Having verified that your suppliers are legit, the next step, and our next video, deals with negotiating the price and then moving into production.On that note, as always, I sign off-wishing you successful sourcing in China! And if you found the information in this video useful, consider returning the favor: subscribe to my YouTube channel, hit the "like it" button and post some comments. Or check out my blogs and monthly newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via Linkedin, find me at the China Sourcing Academy or visit my company's website.
As an adult, an electric scooter for adults might not appeal to you at first glance, mainly because you associate scooters with a time in your life when you were carefree and life was a big adventure that was playful and fun all the time. However, you should note that a scooter calibrated for an adult may very well be the best thing since sliced bread for you, especially if you are working in a big city that is always teeming with traffic and heavily crowded places. The following are some of the benefits that should convince you to buy an adult electric scooter :
Convenience in making your daily commute
One of the biggest advantages that the electric scooter is going to give you is the advantage of arriving at your work place in style, without being sweaty or angry, as most of your work colleagues are probably going to be. Cycling to work is bound to make you sweaty and all heated up, and this might mess up your productivity, especially in the morning. If you decide to drive to work, you will have to deal with the prospect of getting embroiled in a nasty morning traffic jam. You will probably come out of the traffic jam very angry and frustrated; a mood that does not bode well for those who are most productive in the morning.
The chance to be eco friendly
By using an electric scooter instead of any other fuel driven machine, you will be able to get the convenience of using a machine to ease your work while not contributing to the pollution of the atmosphere. In other words, you will be getting what you wanted while reducing your carbon footprint, thus effectively killing two birds with one stone.
Cost effectiveness
The fact that this electric scooter does not use fuel means that you will be able to cut back on a lot of money that would have gone towards buying fuel for driving your car or for bus fare if you decide to use public transport. This is money that can then be funneled into other purposes. Guess what? This electric scooter for adults is available on wheelster.com, the most reputable online shop to get cheap electric unicycles.
They aren't just speed fixes or ways to get around for teens or young adults, electric scooters are real transportation solutions for those who don't need a large vehicle just to do their daily errands or to get from A to B. Buying your first electric scooter can be an intimidating experience if you've never owned anything on two wheels before. Consider these tips before you get started on your search for purchasing your first electric scooter.
Popular Electric Scooters
First thing you should ask yourself is who will be potentially riding your electric scooter. If it's just yourself, then the rest of the decision-making will be easy. If you expect other passengers to ride it regularly, consider what type of build you want to have for your electric scooter. Lighter, easier to handle scooters will be made largely of plastic, but they will also be more susceptible to damage from accidental drops or minor accidents. Maybe you can consider about china electric scooter, it's nice for adults.
The build quality of your scooter is very important, as needing to take your scooter in for repairs can cost you a lot of money at specialized scooter repair shops. If you intend on buying a scooter for your teenager, you should be looking at electric scooters made specifically for kids, rather than beginner-level scooters at scooter shops.
Electric Scooter upkeep
To expand on the last point about buying scooters for kids and adults: electric scooters that are found in places like Toys'R'Us are often much easier to maintain and are made for casual usage, while regular full-size scooters require more attentiveness and responsibility.
The batteries that come with kid's scooters are not as strong and don't hold a charge as well, made for a few hours of usage and needing at least twice as long to charge them. Also, most toy scooters have built-in batteries that may not be swapped or upgraded, while adult scooters allow for more freedom, depending on the manufacturer.
Another way to also research the longevity of an electric scooter is by confirming if it has genuine chrome plating to prevent rust and increase durability on its most vulnerable areas. Scooters tend to fall down unexpectedly, whether you're careful or not, having that extra layer of protection helps.
If you have chosen a full-sized electric scooter, learn as much as possible about what you can do to maintain the engine, any moving parts, and especially the braking system. You'll probably have change the brake pads a lot less often than a car, but you never want to have your brakes fail on a vehicle that leaves you so exposed.
