Trikke Owner’s Manual 6/5/07
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The following five warnings have been selected from the list at the beginning of this
manual for more in depth description and instruction. Please read and understand
these and all warnings before riding.
Safety Issue #1: Riding in Wet Conditions
Because Trikke
™
cambering vehicles use hard polyurethane wheels, we want to warn you
about the potential hazards of riding on wet pavement. Just like inline skates or skateboard
wheels, Trikke wheels become very slick when wet, and the vehicle can come right out
from under you if you are not very careful how you are carving turns in wet conditions. If
it’s raining or the pavement is wet from dew or drizzle we do not recommend that you ride
without extreme caution and awareness of the potential for sliding out. If you encounter
a puddle or a wet place in the pavement that you cannot avoid, you may want to walk the
vehicle until you are on dry pavement again. If you find yourself on wet pavement at any
time while riding, you may want to coast straight through the wet area without turning. When
you reach dry pavement, give the wheels a few rotations to dry off before you do any turns.
Experienced riders may ride on wet surfaces because they understand they might slide out
any time and they are ready for it.
Safety Issue #2: Weight Distribution
Since you are essentially standing directly above the rear wheels, it is quite easy to go over
backwards by leaning back. Be careful to not lean back or distribute your body weight behind
the rear wheels. This warning is especially important for riders with restricted movement,
or reaction time. Great care should be taken to avoid getting into a situation in which you
have to quickly dismount the vehicle. If you are standing still on the vehicle it is always
recommended that you keep the brakes on. If for some reason you feel yourself going off the
back, putting the brakes on will help stop the vehicle from scooting out from under you, but
you should always step off as a precaution.
The best way to insure that you are always positioned properly on the vehicle and to minimize
the potential for going off the back is to distribute your weight evenly between the front and
rear wheels. Accordingly, you should not lean forward over or onto the handlebars either but
rather move your toes up to the front of the foot platforms and always let the balls of your feet
and toes carry most of your weight. Avoid rocking back on your heels, pulling back on the
handlebars or sticking your butt out behind the rear wheels. If you put too much of your body
weight over the rear wheels or behind them (in the case of sticking your butt out) you will
inevitably un-weight the front wheel. Besides the risk of going off the back, the other reason
for evenly distributing your weight is to insure that your front wheel has plenty of traction,
which leads us to the next safety issue.
Safety Issue #3: Handlebar Etiquette
Properly managing the handlebars and especially how far to the left and right you turn them
while you are riding is vital to your safety. Because the front wheel has been designed to trail
the fork, the handlebars have a tendency to turn on their own in the direction that you are
leaning the vehicle. Unlike a bicycle, which wants to go in a straight line, the front wheel will
actually accentuate a turn. Because of this condition, new riders need to pay special attention
to not over steer. Over steering can cause the handlebars to cross up or “jack knife” which
will stop the vehicle suddenly and possibly cause an injury. Always maintain firm control of
the handlebars with both hands and never ride with one or no hands. The Trikke cambering
vehicle requires both hands on the handlebars at all times.
