We love the Swingtrike and its tilting tricycle frame. But a recreational leisure machine that requires you to pedal to stay moving just doesn’t feel all that leisurely. The Sway, a tilting three-wheeled scooter, sounds more like a ride befitting those adjectives.
Designed by Joe Wilcox, the motorized trike not only makes it easy to maintain your balance during rides — it can lean into turns just like a regular sport bike, too. Sure, the vehicle is a bit lacking in power, but for beer runs and short trips to the local mart, it should provide a particularly attractive option.
To allow the tilting motions, Sway uses a patented linkage system that banks the vehicle to one side without ever falling over. Not only can it make for a fun and exciting ride over city roads, the creator says they rigged it to handle well over snow, mud and ice, too.
The current prototype measures 52 x 35 x 40 inches and weighs 230 pounds. Drive is pushed by a 3000W hub motor installed on the solitary rear wheel, allowing it to run at speeds of up to 40 mph. A 20-Ah lithium iron phosphate battery pack is installed on the prototype, which will be replaced by a bigger 60-Ah pack in the production version, giving the vehicle a range of a little over 30 miles.
The Sway is being prepped for a limited production run in 2013. No pricing has been announced.