Ghost Rider

18 October 2018, 17:15 UTC

Re: [After a failed dismount](my onewheel took off!!)

Day two of riding and I was really getting the flow of the board. Then, after yet another two foot jump off, the board shot forward, jumped a planting bed in a parking lot, turned 90 degrees left, leveled and accelerated to high speed for 30 yards before smashing up into a Jeep's steel wheel.

Board is mangled, and foot sensor popped off with plastic housing cracked. Its on its way back to FM and I hope they'll see fit to cover the repairs of this apparently recurring issue.

Other than THAT, I can't wait to get back on the board!

18 October 2018, 17:23 UTC

@Trackingshotjay
Bummer to hear what happened. Glad you and everyone (potentially) else are ok. Was the OW a XR?

18 October 2018, 17:28 UTC

Yes, brand new XR. Heartbreaking!

19 October 2018, 13:34 UTC

Jesus this shit is terrifying and FM needs to get a handle on it now.

And before anyone says that occasionally cars have out-of-control acceleration mishaps too, yes, they do - but automakers are so conscious of the govt. coming down on them with both feet and/or getting sued into oblivion that they are extremely careful and such issues are extremely rare, when compared to the total number of cars on the road over the years.

What worries me about the potential quality-control issues here is that...there can't be all that many OW's in the wild. What, maybe 50,000 in the US, tops? Does 1,000 per state seem like a high-end number, a very overestimated maximum?

So for there not to even BE that many OWs out there, and still hear about these types of issues, starts to suggest the kind of statistical odds I don't like. If I hurt myself, that's my lookout, but if I hurt someone else due to a faulty board, there's going to be a real reckoning for the company.

(Mass x Acceleration), folks - what's a board that weighs nearly 30 lbs., traveling at nearly 30 MPH (I have to assume with no rider weight, these things can FLY), smashing into someone else gonna do to them?

19 October 2018, 17:00 UTC

@Glyph does FM ever come in here anymore to say “hi, oh shit! We have a problem, let’s fix it”? I’m new here but joined before making the purchase. There’s been some issues that have stopped me and I’d wish they’d fix them so I can order mine already.

19 October 2018, 19:00 UTC

@tomfoolery - I haven't seen them do that, and my guess is that they would be very reluctant to publicly-acknowledge a problem like this, because that acknowledgment could be used against them legally and in the court of public opinion.

But past experience always shows it's not the crime, it's the coverup that does you in. So I hope to god that if they DO discover there is a problem, they do the right thing and issue some kind of product recall notice. If it's a software problem that can be fixed via remote update, that is an easy/cheap fix. If it's hardware, that's gonna cost them, but not as much as a class-action suit brought by bystanders crippled by runaway OWs.

Please understand, I am a huge fan of this product, even with its risks. I broke my arm on one, and bought a second one. I do not have a grudge against FM. I want FM to be around in 5 years, still making this product or even cooler ones.

But to do that, they need to be hyper-vigilant now about making the safest product possible, and acting quickly and transparently to address these sorts of issues.

I do note that the common thread between this and the other report in this forum of a runaway OW, is that the "jump-off" dismount method was used. Something may not be working right with that dismount method, and I would suggest people stop using it until we figure out what it is.

But that doesn't help if you didn't mean to dismount, you just fell off or bailed.

19 October 2018, 19:07 UTC

@Glyph said in Ghost Rider:

I do note that the common thread between this and the other report in this forum of a runaway OW, is that the "jump-off" dismount method was used. Something is not working right with that dismount method, and I would suggest people stop using it until we figure out what it is.

Agree! I always use the heel lift to disengage the board (practice makes perfect, took me a while to get comfortable with it). If it ever decides not to disengage, I will kick it on its side while jumping off, test the footpad sensors and, most likely, send it back to FM for repairs.