How to Ride an Electric Tricycle | E-Trike Tutorial and Tips

Hey guys, Dustin here, CEO of SixThreeZero. And today, I'm going to show you how to ride an electric tricycle. Stick around.

All right. So today I'm going to show you how to ride an electric tricycle. But before I do, hit that subscribe button below, be the first to know about everything we're doing here at SixThreeZero, including new content, new products, new giveaways. You'll want to be a part of it. So hit subscribe.

So today, I have the beautiful SixThreeZero electric tricycle, one of our best-selling electric bikes. And today, I'm going to show you how to ride it. Now, you would think in general, "Oh, tricycles are easy to ride," but a couple of things going on here. One, it's electric, and two, tricycles actually require some different know-how and knowledge on how to ride them versus a regular bike.

So, all right, the first step, I'm going to put my helmet on because safety first, and then I'm going to come a little bit closer so we can show you exactly how to ride. Now, just adjust, make a quick adjustment. So now, on the electric tricycle, it's very much similar to a standard tricycle, except for the fact that we have a motor. So first thing I'll show you is, in our case, we do have a switch located in here. The battery needs to be turned on so the motor can be turned on. So the switch is already turned on. So we're good to go on that front.

Now, in mounting any electric bike, I always recommend keeping the motor off till you're fully mounted and on the bike before you start turning it on and then get the pedals in a comfortable position for you. I like to have this pedal for my right foot like that, so I can be prepared to push forward and start moving. And then once I'm on the bike, I will turn the power on.

Now, if you've never ridden an electric bike or an electric trike, a couple of things you want to know. Most electric products, not most actually... There are two different options. Either you can have a pedal-assist bike. You can have a pedal-assist only bike. Or you can have a pedal-assist with a throttle. We actually have both. So this bike can do pedal assist with the motor, or you can do full throttle. You've got your display here and there's a couple of things going on. You've got your miles per hour, your battery life, and also your level of assistance.

I have it in zero because when it's in zero, nothing will work. So you can't engage the motor, can't do anything. Can't accidentally hit the throttle. It is important. Get on the bike with the motor off. Once you're on, turn it on, but leave it in zero-till you're ready to go. It's much safer. We don't want the bike to get away from you. As an example, if you were standing here and you had it in, let's put this in three, and you hit the motor, see the wheel's going to try to go. Now, in this case, the motor's in the front hub, which makes it a little safer than having it in the rear. If you had it in the rear and you pulled the throttle while standing the bike can get away from you. And bring that down to zero again.

Now, riding it is very similar to riding a regular bike. Get your pedals ready. I'm going to start it at zero and I'm just going to show you. Important things to know about tricycles when riding them, you do not want to accelerate into the turns on tricycles. On a two-wheel bicycle, you can really accelerate into the turns because you're only on two wheels. Tricycles can tip over. That's important to know. They can tip over. Because you've got the two wheels in the back, if you come in too fast on one side, you can lift that wheel up. So when you're coming into a turn, you want to decelerate, not accelerate. Very important to know. And I think that's important to know. You need to have control over the electronics when you're coming into turns.

I'm just going to start riding in without any motor and just kind of show you. So push off with your foot. Get going. Now I'm coming into a turn. Actually, we have gears here, so... Let me put this... There we go. Okay. Now again, if you keep a nice even pace, you can make the turns, but you just don't want to accelerate into the turns. It is also helpful when you're riding a trike, just shift the weight of your butt to the direction you're turning. You don't have to do an extreme lean, but like if I'm pulling up a little bit faster, just shift to the butt cheek in which you're turning. That's just going to help. Then when you come back, just straighten up. Turning, just shift your weight.

And it really depends on how fast you're going. I mean, if you're going very slow, like me right now, is it necessary? No, probably not, right? So, okay, now coming to a stop, pull your rear brake and then pull your front brake. Remember, always engage the rear brake first, then engage the front brake when stopping. Now I'm in zero, right? So let's go ahead. I'm going to get going first. And then I'm going to increase my pedal assist. So if you can see right here is your pedal assist level. You're going to have levels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and zero. Zero means it'll be off.

So I'm going to start pedaling. Then I'm going to increase that and you'll see how it starts to pick up my speed. So I'm going to start pedaling like normal. Now I'm going to start hitting the motor. There we go. Now it's engaged. Now, I'm going in a very small area. So I don't want to accelerate into these turns. So I'm going to go ahead and get straight now. There we go. I can pick it up. There we go. Now I'm off and running with the pedal assist. And again, coming into the turn, ease into your brake. There we go. Now accelerate when you're going straight.

Now I'm stopping and I'm going to downshift to zero pedal assist, pull my rear brake, pull my front brake and stop. Now I've got it in zero again. When riding an electric trike, you want to disengage the motor going into the turns. So when you are coming into a turn, okay, I'm going to just put the... Okay, now I'm in three. So when I'm coming into this turn, stop pedaling. That'll disengage the motor. Now I can turn. When you're coming out of the turn, go ahead and start pedaling. There you go. And now you can pump up your pedal assist. Now I'm going straight. Now I have to make a turn up here. So let's prepare this, disengage the motor. Now I'm coming out of the turn. I'm still in pedal-assist five. There we go. Now it's going to pick up. Now I'm going to take my pedal assist down to zero as I prep to stop. Remember, slow down into the turn.

Okay, now I'm going to show you how the full-throttle works. It's very similar. The key is when you go into the turn, take your thumb off the throttle. If you just have a pedal-assist electric tricycle, then you can just stop pedaling. In this case, if you're using the throttle, come off the throttle into the turn and then engage the throttle out of the turn. Very important. You want to slow into the turns, speed up out of the turns.

So I'm going to get going with no pedal assist. Then I'm going to shift up. Now I'm actually doing full throttle. See, I'm not pedaling at all. And I'm going [inaudible 00:08:49] throttle. Don't know if you can see my hand. I'm easing into the turn and now I'm engaging it out of the turn, once I've created or gotten through the toughest angle. And now I'm full throttle again. And we're building speed. We're up to 10, 11, 12. Now I'm going to turn soon. I'm engaging the rear brake, front brake. I'm off the throttle, into the turn. And now I'm going to engage the throttle and remove the brake, and now engage the rear brake and get this down to zero.

That pretty much sums it up. It's really basic and easy. You just have to get a little bit used to manipulating the throttle in and out of the turns if you're going to use the throttle for riding. Otherwise, just don't accelerate into turns if you're using the pedal assist. Stop pedaling, make the turn. When you're coming out of the turn, you can start pedaling again. So that's going to help keep the tricycle leveled and balanced and make for a nice smooth ride. So now I'm going to turn this off and park.

So that's it. I hope that the video helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to comment below. We're always happy to answer. Or email us, TheTeam@sixtythreezero.com. You can also call us at (310) 982-2877. And don't forget, browse our bikes, e-bikes, and e-trikes on our website, sixthreezero.com, and take our body fit quiz. Our proprietary algorithm will ask a few questions about your life and your body, and we will fit you to the perfect bike for you. And we also have a 90-day test ride on your e-bike policy. If you don't love your bike within 90 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket.

And lastly, join our Facebook Pedalers group and download our app on the iOS and Android store. You can be a part of the community even before you buy a bike. See how others are riding their bike. See how others are riding the e-trike. You can see photos of them, ask them questions. It's a great resource in advance of making a purchase from SixThreeZero. And once you have a bike, it's so much fun to be a part of it. You can track your rides on the app, compete on the leaderboard, see where other people are riding, what bikes they're riding, and how many miles they're logging. Tons of fun and we'd love to have you.

All right, I hope that helps teach you on how to ride an electric tricycle. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.