Razor (scooter)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Razor scooter was originally developed by the JD Corporation. Its design took over 5 years to perfect by a then 44-year-old mechanical engineer named Gino Tsai, the owner of JD Corporation. His inspiration came from the ease of mobility of old- fashioned scooters, but he needed something smaller and more compact to ride around his sprawling bicycle factory so he wouldn't have to walk so much. This led to the eventual design of a collapsible aluminum scooter.
In the late 1990's, the Razor Scooter became a hit in Japan, so JD corporation decided to launch it in the US. Carlton Calvin, who at the time was manufacturing and selling miniature skateboards throughout the US, saw it, and decided to distribute the JD Razor. Demand was so high, that in June, 2000, RazorUSA was incorporated and bought the copyrights. They are the current distributors.
The scooter design consists of a steel or aluminum construction, polyurethane wheels, and a lever near the rear wheel which acts as a brake. The neck uses a 1 1/8" bicycle headset, and is collapsible so as to provide easy carrying.
Most freestyle riders heavily modify their scooters by reinforcing almost every part to withstand the abuse of high impacts and crashes. In 2004, Razor released the A4, more commonly known as The Pro Model. It was modeled after the discontinued B model scooter, which was preferred by most freestyle riders because of its bigger size and added strength. The Pro Model built upon the strengths of the B model to become the strongest freestyle scooter Razor has ever released.
Razor scooters have seen a decline in popularity since 2000, but are still widely available. Razor has released a full line of electric scooters as well as many other motorized transportation vehicles and toys since the release of the original scooter.
[edit] Razor Pro Team
The Razor Pro Team, created and currently managed by Ali Kermani, consists of a handful of active members as well as a legion of "ex-pros" who show up from time to time. The active members are:
- Addison McNaughton
- Matt Pate
- Josh Toy
- K.C. Corning
- Ricky Wernicke
- John Radtke
- Jesse Macaluso
- Jarret Reid
- Chris Daigle
- Eddie Strzalkowski
- Scott McCormick
Ex. Members include:
- Ali Kermani
- Patrick Hambarchian
- John Wilkening
- Jason Fry
- Derek Beckering
- Roger Weiss
- Mark Atkins
Also, they have a team based in Australia, including:
- Coedie Donovan
- Phil Lagettie
Team Manager Ali Kermani was on the team too (he was the first sponsored rider), but he stopped riding after temporarily leaving Razor to complete college. The team mainly flies around the country, having riders compete in competitions at skateparks such as The Incline Club in New Jersey, Xtreme Wheels in Buffalo, NY, the YMCA Skatepark in Clairmont, California and recently at the Soul Planet X summer games in Melbourne, Australia.
[edit] Razor Video Magazine
Razor Video Magazine (RVM) is a video series of DVD videos which feature Professional Team Razor Riders. There are three videos in the series and the 4th one is in its final phase of production, to be released in late 2007. The first two RVM's were made by Bandwagon Productions, but starting with RVM 3 Ali Kermani and Ricky Wernicke took over the production. Unlike RVM 1 and 2, which had a host and relatively few riding sections, RVM 3 was almost completely riding and much more like standard skateboard videos. It is the first 'by riders, for riders' Razor video.
Originally every Razor product used to come with a RVM DVD video inside the box of the product, but now the only product that comes with the RVM DVD is the Razor Pro Model Scooter. Every other product except for the Pro Model comes with a postcard voucher that you can send in to Razor and a copy of the DVD will be mailed to your address free of charge.
