She Nearly Crashes the EBike Rickshaw! You'll Be Amazed What Happens Next on This E Trike for Two

Our over 60 senior riders will take their first-ever ride on the e-bike Rickshaw. Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. And today I'm joined by Howard who's 63 and Teresa who's 70. And they will take their first ride on the e-bike Rickshaw ever. All right, so we've got our e-bike Rickshaw here for bringing passengers on the back. This is a 750-watt e-trike with a 750-watt motor. It's a lot of fun if you wanna ride with friends, loved ones, or whoever is around town.

Dustin: So, Theresa, have you ever ridden anything like this before?

Theresa: No.

Dustin: Have you ever been on a tricycle as an adult?

Theresa: No.

Dustin: Okay. So never on an electric tricycle either.

Theresa: No.

Dustin: Okay. All right. Well, here's what we'll do. Howard has a little more experience. So we're going to let you drive first. And then Teresa, you want to jump on the back as a passenger. So go ahead and get on. And then you can buckle up and you can.

Howard: Where would you like me to keep it around the, around the?

Dustin: Just make a little trip around the block. How's the comfort back there?

Theresa: Oh, it's very comfortable.

Howard: Okay, you ready, Teresa?

Theresa: Uh-huh.

Howard: All right.

Dustin: Hold on. So you've got your parking brake released. Pull this to release the parking brake. There you go.

Howard: Okay, then here we go.

Dustin: And then you're in zero, so you've got to push that up to one. Yep, now you're good to go.

Howard: All right. How are you feeling, all right?

Theresa: Good. Very comfortable.

Howard: So was there traffic today? A lot of traffic?

Dustin: How's the steering?

Howard: Great. Much better. You learn.

Dustin: Yeah?

Howard: You get better at it.

Dustin: Yeah. It's comfortable, right?

Theresa: Yeah. He went pretty fast. I didn’t know if I’ll go that.

Dustin: All right, let's switch.

Howard: Was that too fast?

Theresa: No, that was fun. But, you know, that was fast.

Dustin: All right, let me turn it around for you here. Okay, so the one thing I'll say. Now, Teresa's never been on an electric trike. So tricycles drive a little bit differently than a bike in that you have to steer, not lean. So you can give her a little coaching when you're in the back with her.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: And I can put the seat down for you too.

Howard: Decelerate going into the turn.

Theresa: Yeah.

Howard: Take the…

Theresa: So take... Take what?

Howard: Take the... Don't give it any juice.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: Slow down into the turns. Yeah. Is that too high for you?

Theresa: Oh, it's fine. It's fine. So…

Dustin: Okay. So let me walk you through everything here. Okay. So... Brakes. This is a throttle here, so if you push this, it's in zero right now, it won't go, but it's like a gas pedal, you can get a feel for if you want you to ease into it, it will go. Right now you're in zero. This is up and down. So if you put it into one, when you pedal, you'll have assistance. You can also move that…

Theresa: Right here.

Dustin: Yep.

Theresa: Okay, and then…

Dustin: There you go. Slow down a little bit. Slow down. Hit the brake. Brake.

Howard: Squeeze the brake.

Theresa: Yeah. Okay. Sorry.

Howard: Please brake.

Theresa: Okay, so then I go.

Howard: Let's just walk it out of here.

Theresa: Okay. Sorry.

Dustin: Howard saw his life flashing in his eyes right there.

Theresa: So I can't, it wasn't cooperating with me when I wanted to turn it.

Dustin: You got to turn the, yeah, that's the, you got to turn. Like leaning won't do anything. So try it again. Go a little slower though.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: Are you comfortable getting back on or do you want to let her figure it out first? 

Theresa: No. I'm so sorry.

Dustin: No, you're good.

Theresa: Oh, my gosh.

Howard: You're hitting right in my car.

Theresa: Sorry about that. Oh, my gosh.

Dustin: Okay, you're good. Okay, so put it into one.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: Go real slow on the throttle. So practice turning the wheel. There you go. So you got to turn. Now turn to the right.

Howard: Yep.

Theresa: I think.

Dustin: Turn to the left. Turn to the left. There you go.

Theresa: Okay. There we are. I didn't want to turn around this way. So he doesn't want to get back on with me?

Dustin: He does. He just wanted you to take a test around. Let me lower the seat just a touch for you. I think it'll be a little bit better. There you go.

Theresa: Wait, it doesn't seem to be.

Dustin: Step onto the pedal. There you go. There you go.

Theresa: I won't go fast. Oh, see? Because you got to turn.

Dustin: Yep. You have to keep it straight like a car. So you got to keep the wheel.

Theresa: And it's heavier than the other. Yeah, it's pretty heavy. Okay. Just like that. Whoa. Like a motorcycle almost. Whoa. Okay.

Dustin: And just ease into the throttle. Don't jerk it. Either push it a little bit.

Theresa: Oh, or... Whoa, whoa, whoa. It just gets away with me. Yeah. I don't know if I can ride this one.

Dustin: It's okay. That's okay.

Theresa: Sorry.

Dustin: No, you're good. Okay. Let's bring her back.

Theresa: It's kind of big for me and heavy.

Dustin: Yep. No worries.

Theresa: Yeah, it's heavy.

Howard: This one is, you know, a little heavier than the other ones.

Dustin: Yep. Well, I think it's more the trike steering than anything. You got to get used to the, the, how it, how you have to negotiate the steering. Let's try something. All right, try sitting on this. I'm just curious if this will be easier for you to steer. Okay, try that. Can you sit on that one?

Theresa: Oh, my grandson should have stayed and watched. He would have cracked up, but okay.

Dustin: Try just pedaling it. And see how the steering is on that turn to the left there you go.

Theresa: Yeah, okay. I keep on wanting to treat it like a regular bike.

Dustin: Right, exactly. It's different.

Theresa: Okay. Very different.

Dustin: Maybe tricycles aren't a good fit for you. Do you wanna try that again or give up on that one? Too big, too bulky?

Theresa: I could try it again.

Dustin: Okay, maybe we can just try without the motor on that one and see.

Theresa: Yeah, and see if you could get some shots of that. Okay, I won't run into a car. Do you have an electric bike?

Dustin: Okay.

Theresa: Do you bike ride a lot?

Howard: No, I'm very athletic.

Theresa: I think that's my problem. I'm so on a bike so much that I just want to treat it like a regular bike.

Dustin: That's true. It is. It's not uncommon that I was saying to Howard before that it's a different transition. You have to retrain your brain. Okay, try that.

Howard: Want me to hop in the back for the picture?

Dustin: Well, let's just see…

Howard: If she can do that without the motor.

Theresa: Yeah, it's regular. Oh, yeah.

Dustin: Turn the wheel. Turn it. Don't lean. Just actually turn the handlebars.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: Yep. Yep. Yeah, so you're leaning. You don't have to lean like that.

Theresa: But I feel like it's going to fall over if I don't lean.

Dustin: But try it with just…

Theresa: Is it because I'm doing it too sharp?

Dustin: It's because you think it's going to fall over. After all, you're thinking you're on a two-wheel bike. But on the three-wheel bike, you have the two wheels. So you just steer it like a car. You know what I mean?

Theresa: Okay. Okay, I'm going to turn it.

Dustin: Yeah, it's a hard mental thing when people have been riding bikes for 40... You okay?

Theresa: Yeah. Okay. Whoa. That wheel is really big back there. Okay, so what should I do? What do you want me to do? Can you try it one more time?

Dustin: See if you can go down here and just make a loop.

Theresa: All right.

Dustin: Yep, just turn. You're good. Just turn. Yep. Yep. There you go. So you kind of got to get used to how it will balance. It's also a little more flat back here, which makes it easier.

Theresa: Oh, yeah. Then going uphill.

Dustin: There you go. Turn it. Turn it. Turn it. Just trust the bike. Turn again. Yep. Yep. There you go. So you just have to trust that it balances. That's the difference between two and three.

Dustin: Okay. Think you can throw a passenger on there?

Theresa: Yeah. We're going to line you up right with Mike's car, or it's Mike, Howard's car.

Howard: No, Harold's car.

Dustin: Yeah, and we're going to see if she can evade it. I'm just kidding. In all fairness, we sort of threw her to the wolves straight out of the gates.

Howard: No, no, no way.

Dustin: Absolutely. Yeah. Yep, you can turn more, turn the wheel more. Turn the wheel more. There you go. Is it getting easier? Yeah.

Theresa: Yeah. Getting used to it.

Dustin: Yeah, it's hard for me because now I've been riding tricycles so often that, you know, I have to realize that there's a learning curve for some people, you know? Do you want to try with the assistance now?

Theresa: Okay. No. Oh, yeah. I don't know if I want to go a little bit faster.

Dustin: Not the throttle. You could just do the pedaling. So let's try this. Don't even do the throttle at all. Try pedaling a little bit right now. See how that feels. If that's too much, too scary. If you stop pedaling, the assistance will stop.

Theresa: Oh, really?

Dustin: Yeah.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: There you go. You're getting it. Just remember, turn, and trust the three wheels. There you go.

Theresa: Yep.

Dustin: Turn. Yep. Yep. Okay. So you can throw Howard on the back?

Theresa: Yeah.

Dustin: All right.

Theresa: Just to do… Can we just do the loop?

Dustin: Sure. Or I'll say it might be better if you went this way truthfully because it's flat.

Theresa: And you want me to go all the way around that way?

Dustin: Or, if you guys can switch riders down there and see if I could do it.

Theresa: Okay. I got the brakes and..

Dustin: Because of the tilting here, you're not the first person, but the tilting, a lot of people have, you have to counter steer but that can throw people off. So flat ground is a little bit easier for a first ride.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: But it's up to you.

Theresa: All right. So, oh yeah. I have it on one right?

Dustin: It's in two right now. So let's put it, put it down to one. There you go.

Theresa: Okay.

Dustin: There you go. Yeah. All right. You figured it out. How was it?

Theresa: It's great. It was great.

Dustin: Can you even tell that he's on the back?

Theresa: No. No, it was so easy. Oh, I'm going to turn around this way.

Dustin: How do you feel back there now? Good?

Theresa: A little bit nervous. He says, you could go on the flat line, flat ground if you want. Okay.

Dustin: All right. So walk us through your experience now riding that for the first time.

Theresa: There was a huge change between just a normal bike and an electric bike.

Dustin: Uh-huh.

Theresa: And you have more balance with this, with the big wheels in the back, where you would fall over on a regular bike. This holds you up.

Dustin: But it took some getting used to. And then so towards the end, did you feel like you…

Theresa: You trust it to hold me up.

Dustin: Uh-huh.

Theresa: But it was great. Nice, sturdy bike.

Dustin: And with him on the back, no big deal.

Theresa: No, I couldn't feel him in the back.

Dustin: And you only had it in level one for the assistance, so you could take it up to five, and you'd have even more power, you know? So, cool. I'm glad you got it. We went from near running into Howard's car to a full safe lap around. It's her first time on an electric trike, and honestly, if you're out there considering an e-trike, it's not an uncommon experience. My advice is just to take it slow, and be patient. We threw Theresa to the wolves here. Her first time on an e-trike, we gave her a passenger on the back, and... And so she got it, and that was less than 10 minutes. If you have any other questions or comments, please put them in the comments section or reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. 

In addition, we offer a 30-day test ride on your e-trike policy. Anything you don't love in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we're going to warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of its parts and labor. Lastly, be a part of our community, our sixthreezero Facebook group, and also download our app. Talk to existing members before you purchase so you can get comfortable. Then post in the group, make friends, and download the app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. It's a lot of fun. So thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the ride.