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Exion Scooters
Cees Bakker's amazing home-built speedsters
By Jeffrey the Barak
Published May 2005

Just one look at the carbon fiber creations above tells you, now those are some fast looking scooters! And fast they are. Designed for the racing circuit which exists in Europe, but not in the USA, these home built human-powered scooters make everything else (except the gorgeous Kickbike) look mundane. The name is Exion, remember it.

Netherlands racer Cees Bakker is simply an individual with talent. He does not own a scooter factory or an airplane factory or a racing car factory or a boatyard. But somehow his desire to get something better to race with was all it took for the emergence of these amazing carbon fiber contraptions.

Light weight and aerodynamics are the key to going faster and longer in the scooter world. Its the same for both racers and cruisers. Lower the weight and cut through the air, and your muscles will get you further and faster. While scooters do not have the mechanical advantage of the gears and pedals, found on the more familiar bicycle, the considerable weight savings can almost make up for it in the long run. Cees' Exion Scooters are so light and strong that you can easily walk around holding one in one hand for a while. Try that with a bicycle!

Aside from low weight and good aerodynamics, designer Cees has introduced a low footboard, essential for efficient kicking, a stiff frame and good steering, as well as a custom front wheel braking system more in tune with the needs of a scooter. Even the fork is carbon fiber.

As his subsequent models evolved, the footboards got lower and narrower and the side views continued to surprise with new eye-popping looks. About the only disadvantage of the higher frame on this scooter is the loss of the ability to quickly dismount to one side for an uphill run without swinging your leg over the top. But with a rear wheel and fender just a couple of feet high, its no big deal. If you really care about that one little thing, well there's always the Kickbike (see the article "Human-Powered Scooters" elsewhere in this magazine).

Even the prototype model was pretty stunning:

And the variations keep on coming as Cees Bakker keeps on Scooting:

The red scooter shown racing above even has a carbon fiber curved nose handlebar cover to cut through the air. I'd like to see that in a velodrome or on a downhill. Cees is not a world champion, but he did take second place behind scooter king Hannu Vierikko in a race in Wales. So if you are a scooter rider with a desire to have the latest and fastest in your stable, why not contact Cees Bakker and commission him to build you an Exion? His email address is: exionman @ wanadoo .nl (spaces inserted to foil the Spambots)

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