The most dangerous electric trike, Big Cat 2021 Khansports electric trike.

[DaveMatthews]

This one is NOT tippy. Front end articulates/tilts but you can lock out the tilt.
Webpage

Just got it on Friday, assembled it myself. Reasonably easy.


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Coolio!

 

[PedalUma]

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I want to race this one on the figure 8 with the crowd.

 

[Lenny]

Wouldn't all bikes of this style be tipsy with so much weight up high? I would think if it doesn't lean, a recumbent style e-bike would be the way to go. Keep the rider and the battery close to the ground, and voila.

We have sold many trikes, many are somewhat tippy when you turn really sharp of too fast. None of them have ever started tipping as soon as you get it moving.

 

[Lenny]

Check out this one in comparison.

As long as it can lean it makes a huge difference, many trike motorcycles have lean even the Polaris slingshot.

 

[Lenny]

When I was a kid (more than 50 years ago) you saw very similar trikes (some of them with gas engines) with a 3 by 3 by 3 foot insulated box on the front, selling ice cream which they kept cold with dry ice. I can still remember getting my tongue frozen to a fudge cicle!

I've also seen dozens of variations of this same concept in half a dozen countries overseas, primarily in Asia, but a few in Europe too. I think anybody can tip over any three wheeled vehicle . . . . or, if they're careful and understand it's limitations, they could ride one for many years without issues

Hyundai and some other manufacturers made three wheeled dump trucks (single wheel in the front though) some of them capable of carrying several tons, in Korea and when I was there it wasn't all that unusual to see one sitting on it's side with it's contents spilled all over the road. No three wheeled vehicle is as stable as something with 4 wheels . . . . but for some people (my wife included) three wheels are much more stable and less likely to spill you than two wheels . . . .

Don

Yes i agree, many trikes are unstable. But not trike should try to throw you off as soon as you start moving, you cannot even move forward in a straight line with the death trap that Big Cat is trying to sell.

 

[Lenny]

@Lenny, thank you for posting this, very important to share.

If you put the brand name and model in the thread title, it may come up more readily in Google search results.

Good tip, i will edit the post.

 

[Lenny]

I am an arborist and think of risk management as a part of my job, so shares like the original post become essential at times.

After that, shares like PedalUma did in post number 9 above are what makes this forum and it's members invaluable.

The unfortunate thing is Big Cat will continue to sell this dangerous bike if nobody speaks up. That is why the team here at Lenny's wanted to make this as public as we can. We mean no harm to the company, but we think the company should stand up and recall this product, since i'm sure they are aware of the dangers it poses.

 

[Lenny]

Sorry to ask, but was it assembled correctly? Those ice cream trucksters seem to turn OK.

In the videos from China, they are moving it around with 100 pounds of cargo on the front wheels.

We assemble 10's thousands of ebikes per year. The issue is the overall design.

 

[Lenny]

This one is NOT tippy. Front end articulates/tilts but you can lock out the tilt.
Webpage

Just got it on Friday, assembled it myself. Reasonably easy.


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Thats a cool looking buy Randall, do you have any information on it so we can try them out?

 

[theemartymac]

A big problem with that type of steering mechanism is that it actual reduces the track (width wheel to wheel) relative to the midline of the bike as soon as you start to turn the bars. The more you turn, the narrower the track gets, and the tippier it will be. The articulated ones you see generally maintain the track width throughout the turn, just like a car does. The Ice cream carts have all the weight down low in the very front. Unless this design had a very wide front track to begin with, or a heck of a lot of weight down low and well forward (also below the center of gravity), it's doomed to be a wreck. The majority of the weight is rearward of the COG (motor/battery/rider), and it's high riding position puts most of the weight above the COG. It breaks all the rules of trike design without even having to get on it...

 

[RandallS]

Thats a cool looking buy Randall, do you have any information on it so we can try them out?

Click on the word Webpage in my post above - it will take you to the manufacturer.
Price is around $2700 USD. I will be posting more in the "Ebiking With Disabilities" sub forum in the near future.
The thread "The Joys of MS" will have more build pictures and hopefully more info about putting it together etc...

This is my wife's - she has MS and her balance no longer allows for a normal e-bike.
She used to ride a BionX Hub driven Townie.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

For those interested in researching this topic further: One of the most well-designed three-wheel E-bikes on the market is Gleam out of Austria.

Full suspension frame
Bosch Gen4 Cargo motor + dual battery
Gates belt drive
Tilt / lean
400 lbs cargo capacity

 

[Lenny]

For those interested in researching this topic further: One of the most well-designed three-wheel E-bikes on the market is Gleam out of Austria.

Full suspension frame
Bosch Gen4 Cargo motor + dual battery
Gates belt drive
Tilt / lean
400 lbs cargo capacity

Thank's for the post Ravi, that video demonstrates that a trike can be done right and safely if you have the correct geometry and components.

 

[PedalUma]

I agree with the potential demand for e-trikes, in that it will continue to grow in two market areas: 1) Transport and cargo. 2) Disabilities and, or aging in mobility, for health and recreation.
In the US trikes such as the Schwinn Meridian are (sometimes) available for mid-drive conversions. The tires, saddle and grips need to be upgraded immediately. These are inexpensive trikes and do not have a rear differential so only one of the two rear wheels is driven which means that they will turn faster in one direction than the other, which is weird at first. I will be doing an aluminum seven-speed when it arrives in early August for a woman who has balance issues and still wants to ride with her husband and grandchildren. I helped her purchase it on Prime Day. When it arrived a few days later it was a one-speed, not a seven. The return was free and they are sending the correct trike for the same price. The box had the UPC and photo of the Al-7, but the bike had no shifter, one cog and no derailleur. It was something like $360. Is it an ideal trike, No, but it is 1/10th the money and does 90% as much has a high-end adult trike for an older, slower rider. By the way, when the single-speed arrived I looked at the same bike on eBay and the price there was $1,200.
An elderly physicist uses one of these mid-drive torque sensor Meridians to transport satellite equipment across campus in the large rear basket between the wheels.

 

[Lenny]

I agree with the potential demand for e-trikes, in that it will continue to grow in two market areas: 1) Transport and cargo. 2) Disabilities and, or aging in mobility, for health and recreation.
In the US trikes such as the Schwinn Meridian are (sometimes) available for mid-drive conversions. The tires, saddle and grips need to be upgraded immediately. These are inexpensive trikes and do not have a rear differential so only one of the two rear wheels is driven which means that they will turn faster in one direction than the other, which is weird at first. I will be doing an aluminum seven-speed when it arrives in early August for a woman who has balance issues and still wants to ride with her husband and grandchildren. I helped her purchase it on Prime Day. When it arrived a few days later it was a one-speed, not a seven. The return was free and they are sending the correct trike for the same price. The box had the UPC and photo of the Al-7, but the bike had no shifter, one cog and no derailleur. It was something like $360. Is it an ideal trike, No, but it is 1/10th the money and does 90% as much has a high-end adult trike for an older, slower rider. By the way, when the single-speed arrived I looked at the same bike on eBay and the price there was $1,200.
An elderly physicist uses one of these mid-drive torque sensor Meridians to transport satellite equipment across campus in the large rear basket between the wheels.

Yes we bought them for one of those demands. It's hard to find a good trike for people with disabilities.

There should be a topic tread of all unsafe ebikes to own. People getting hurt on unsafe ebikes creates a lot of negative press for the industry. The last thing we all need is more regulations. It is hard enough as a retailer to convince prospecting buyers that most ebikes are legal for trail use. But if city officials start seeing really bad accidents they may look into banning more ebikes.

Example products that are unsafe.

Nakto City commuter sold on Walmart and Amazon. The fork is known to snap under force or impact.

 

[Elkman]

The problem is the complete lack of any rake for the head tube. Normallly the angle is around 70 degrees and with this bike it is 90 degrees. Lots of people were injured with the early tricycles that had a single wheel in front and it did not take much speed with a turn to flip the bike (and these were usually older folks whose bones heal more slowly).

 

[tomjasz]

Last Winter a guy in Canada made a one-off Ice Bike. But, riding solo is not much fun. We could do the same thing with these E-trikes and race them on Great Patchogue Lake this Winter on Long Island.
Who's In?
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More fun hard water sailing!