Salt Sliders Electric Drift Trike

Drift trikes are tricycles that have slick rear wheels, normally made from a hard plastic, often PVC. They are designed to drift, by intentionally initiating loss of traction to the rear wheels and counter-steering to negotiate corners. They are usually ridden on paved roads with steep downhill gradients, with corners and switchbacks.

The origins of drift trikes come from New Zealand, where the sport was first invented, fuelled by New Zealand's car and drift culture. Drift triking quickly began to spread to other countries soon after, including Australia, the United States. -from the Drift Triking Wikipedia page.

The Beginnings of Salt Sliders

In the fall of 2016 we got our hands on a couple used drift trikes. As you can see from the Wikipedia description above, drift trikes were originally intended for downhill fun. What if we put an electric bike hub motor on one? Being an electric bike store, we just happened to have a motor and battery system laying around. This action triggered an addicting serious of events and many miles of fun!

Miles immediately laced up a hub motor to a 20" wheel, assembled a disc brake and strapped on a battery and controller. We were off and running, er, sliding. Many hours of 'research' were done to find the optimal battery placement and find just the right components to withstand the rigors of sliding. Cad drawings, tube bending, welding, milling, water jet cutting, parts sourcing are all leading to a custom, hand-made-in-Utah electric drift trike.

Originally, drift triking required climbing a hill to get your adrenalin rush of drifting on the way down, only to climb back once again. With the electric motor, you can drift right out of your driveway. The learning curve is easier as you can go as fast as you feel comfortable using the thumb throttle. We've even used the trike for light commuting. Currently, the drift trikes are just a hobby but we might be talked into building one for a customer down the road. Take a look at @saltsliders on Instagram to get more of the story or send us an email with any questions.