Electric Tricycle design

[ynot]

We bought a delta trike for the wife, because of age and a replaced knee, she rides it slowly and is getting used to riding on rough ground and trails, seldom above 10 mph. She found it trike-y at first to anticipate the down hill steering, and still has to do a 3 point turn to do a U turn on the road.
I am building a freighter trike tadpole with a hub motor in each front wheel, it too is difficult to steer but am learning how, has a couple of interesting tricks if one wheel spins on gravel it wants to turn towards the slipping wheel quite hard. Best way to corner seems to be power off until past the apex then giving er some throttle seems to pull out of the corner quite nicely.
My bike bike much better behaved, rides like a nice ol' friend.

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

When a trike manufacturer uses a bicycle-like head angle and a bicycle fork (which almost all of them do), the result is a bicycle-like amount of steering trail. The same lever that makes a bike easy to ride makes a trike unruly and difficult.

All you have to do to counteract this bad trike behavior is use a fork that has enough offset to more or less cancel out its steering trail. I know of no manufacturer of granny trikes that does this, though. They use a bicycle fork because it's cheap, so the trikes point themselves downhill. You can say the design is faulty, but they're all like that, so is it really? If you've ridden one before, you know what to expect.

Hey Chalo, sorry to drag you back to this thread but I came upon something I want your opinion on.

I got to mess around with these in a local shop (I doubt they're still there) which had an entire 3-member familys worth of these tilt trikes. I've always loved messing with tilt trikes from when I was a kid, but what disadvantages do they have? I know their steering is wide and kind of difficult, and that you would need the tire with the strong enough sidewall to handle the strain, but nothing else.

 

[JerryUtah]

I'm the original OP. A few weeks ago I had sent back the Daywins Demiegi trike when the manufacturer Rep. sent me labels. I eventually got a full refund from MobilityParadise upon disputing the sale including a 5% cancel fee attempted.
Yes, the fork likely had a part to play about the horrible steering control. I call it a concept of design failure. Or design concept fault. Why would they finalize it is beyond me. No rigorous testing? After all, it has fat offroad tires! They had to know. In fact, they did know. the first sentence in the manual (after receiving it) says that under certain conditions the trike may be difficult to control and of no fault of the manufacturer. I didn't quite register that. What conditions? I soon found out after putting the trike together. Within 10 minutes of pedalling I was screaming "This is Not Acceptable"! I was on a gravel road that was a little slanted and uneven in spots. 99% of my driving territory. There was an error about the motor connection also and could not use it which may likely have saved me, but if I could not pedal, so what? Also, I wonder why the bike reviewers I saw on YouTube never said a word about this major problem. Oh, they just floored it on level ground.

 

[Chalo]

I got to mess around with these in a local shop (I doubt they're still there) which had an entire 3-member familys worth of these tilt trikes. I've always loved messing with tilt trikes from when I was a kid, but what disadvantages do they have? I know their steering is wide and kind of difficult, and that you would need the tire with the strong enough sidewall to handle the strain, but nothing else.

Man, I couldn't tell you. I've seen those things around, but never ridden one nor spent any time analyzing them. They're somewhat reminiscent of the Dutch Flevotrike, which I'm told you steer with your feet.

I call it a concept of design failure. Or design concept fault. Why would they finalize it is beyond me. No rigorous testing? After all, it has fat offroad tires! They had to know.

They're probably aware that the vast majority of fat tire choad-wagon e-bikes in the USA are never taken off road at all. I see them all over the streets, getting in their own way and in others' too.

In any case, the design that you call faulty is the same as pretty much any other granny trike, apart from the goofy tires and suspension fork. I'd say the primary fault lies in your misunderstanding of what trikes are like.

 

[JerryUtah]

I fully understand what these trikes with two rear wheels are like. They SUCK. End of story.

 

[The Toecutter]

I fully understand what these trikes with two rear wheels are like. They SUCK. End of story.

No, you just never rode one that was designed for being ridden at speed. The Hase Kettwiesel is an example of a good design with this layout. So too is the Velotilt. But you're also going to pay dearly for either, if you can even get one.

So for the most part, and for anything within the price range you're willing to pay, your point stands.

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

Man, I couldn't tell you. I've seen those things around, but never ridden one nor spent any time analyzing them. They're somewhat reminiscent of the Dutch Flevotrike, which I'm told you steer with your feet.

Cool, thank you anyway! I kind of imagined few would really *know* much anyway.

They were asking $200 each, and each trike had like 15-30 degrees of tilt but it was hard to not give full 100% tilt to turn. Real nice to sit in tho.