I Went To The Onewheel Headquarters & Learned This!

Jimmy went from banned commenter to invited guest at Future Motion headquarters, sitting down with founder Kyle Doerksen for a podcast and coming away with ten things he learned about the company. The biggest ones: the GT's ghosting issues have reportedly been fixed with an updated footpad, and after months away from it, Jimmy called the GT the best Onewheel yet. He also finally got the real story behind why he'd been blocked from Onewheel's own YouTube channel years earlier, which turned out to be a mix up rather than a grudge. True to a promise made in an earlier video, he bought a new GT on camera once he was sufficiently convinced the launch issues were resolved.

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Back in 2022, Jimmy got an invitation he never expected: a sit down with Kyle Doerksen, founder and CEO of Future Motion, at the company's own headquarters. The wrinkle is that Jimmy had, at one point, been blocked from commenting on Onewheel's official YouTube channel. Going from banned to invited is a strange arc for anyone, and Jimmy walked onto the Future Motion campus genuinely unsure what to expect. What follows is his account of that trip with Andrew, plus some interesting things he learned along the way...including the real story behind that ban.

Three Days, Three Rides

The trip started in the Bay Area with a visit to Alien Rides and PEV Works in San Francisco, where Jimmy toured their electric unicycle and scooter sales floor along with their PEV repair operation, followed by a fast paced group ride with a local Bay Area riding crew. The next day brought something entirely new: electric hydrofoiling with BayFoils, where Jimmy met owner Danilo and took his first ever hydrofoil group ride out on the San Francisco Bay, a certified bucket list experience by his own account.

The third day was the main event. Jimmy and Andrew drove down to Santa Cruz to visit Future Motion's headquarters, where they met several members of the team, including Jack, Joey, Laser, and Tyler, and rode Onewheels together along West Cliff.

Behind the Curtain at Future Motion HQ

At headquarters, the day included lunch, a tour of the facilities, and a walk through of how the business actually runs. Within all the activities, Jimmy was clear that the people mattered more than anything else. That culminated in a sit down podcast conversation with Kyle Doerksen and Jack, recorded for Onewheel's own YouTube channel. Jimmy kept most of that conversation for the podcast itself, but the topics ranged from the Onewheel GT's rocky launch to where the community's DIY repair culture fits into Future Motion's plans, to where the company sees Onewheel heading next. They also traded notes on other personal electric vehicles, including electric unicycles (Jimmy's personal favorite PEV).

Putting His Money Where His Mouth Was

One moment from the podcast bled directly into the video. Kyle brought up an older Freshly Charged video in which Jimmy had returned his Onewheel GT over ghosting problems and dead on arrival units from the initial release. In the podcast, Jimmy had said he genuinely liked the GT and would buy one for real once Future Motion sorted out those launch issues. Now convinced they had, Jimmy made good on it on camera: pulling up the Onewheel site, noting the GT's 240 reviews sitting at five stars, and picking the treaded tire option over the slick for an extra fifty dollars. Total came to $2345.

Ten Things Jimmy Learned at Future Motion

1. Kyle and Jack are both very tall, somewhere in the six foot two to six foot three range.
2. They're also just normal, down to earth people. Kyle may be a CEO and inventor, but Jimmy came away describing both him and Jack as easy to talk to.
3. The GT's ghosting problem has reportedly been fixed with an updated footpad, and reports of the issue have dropped significantly since.
4. Taking a brand new category of personal electric vehicle to mass production, from a first prototype to where Onewheel is now, took serious technical and business work.
5. After months away from it, riding the GT again in Santa Cruz reminded Jimmy how good it's become now that the early kinks are worked out. He called it the best Onewheel yet.
6. Water resistance across the current lineup has improved substantially over older models, which were far more inconsistent.
7. The Santa Cruz office does not handle repairs, returns, or warranty work, so don't show up there expecting service.
8. A commenter who once claimed to be Kyle's father turned out to be telling the truth, something Jimmy finally confirmed by asking Kyle directly.
9. Onewheel is one of the few personal electric vehicles actually made and assembled in the United States, with customer support and servicing based here too.
10. The real reason Jimmy got blocked from Onewheel's YouTube channel years ago finally has an explanation, covered below.

The Real Story Behind the Ban

Back during the buildup to the original Onewheel Pint launch, expectations were high and the hype was heavy. When the Pint finally arrived, Jimmy was underwhelmed by its lower range and top speed, and left a comment to that effect, a little snarky, by his own admission, but not intended as mean spirited. At the time, Future Motion was managing their YouTube comments through third party moderation software, and hiding a single comment through that tool also blocked the commenter's entire channel without anyone realizing it. Jimmy's comment got hidden, and his whole channel, built entirely around Onewheel content, lost the ability to comment on Onewheel's own videos. Jimmy has chosen to read it as an honest mistake rather than a deliberate move, reasoning that blocking one of the platform's biggest supporters would have made little sense for a young company trying to grow. His takeaway from the whole trip lines up with that read: Future Motion isn't perfect, but the people behind it are trying, and a healthy Future Motion is good for everyone who rides a Onewheel.