2020 AddMotoR M-340 Review

Video Review

Written Review

This is the AddMotoR M-340 electric trike, which is set to launch January 6, 2021 with an Early Bird discounted priced of $2,379.00 USD; the MSRP will $3,399.00 USD. AddMotoR is also offer a free rear basket liner and fenders to the first 80 orders (both of which are featured in this review).

The M-340 is offered in three different colors — Pearl White, Starry Blue and Neptune Blue, which is the color of this trike right here — and comes with a 1 year comprehensive warranty. We’ve already covered what we know about pricing, so let’s go ahead and dive into the specs.

The M-340 has a 750 nominal watt Bafang hub motor with 80 Newton meters of torque. We are a huge fan of Bafang motors, not just because they offer so much power compared to some of the more expensive brands out there, but also because they offer quite a bit more torque as well. Now, because this motor is in the front wheel, as they are with virtually all hub-drive trikes, you’re probably going to get some wheel slip. This isn’t really an issue, just something to be mindful of while riding. 

This motor brings the M-340 up to a top speed of 20 mph out of the box, but that top speed can be cranked up to around 28 mph by adjusting the settings through the display. Honestly though, you may not want to be going that fast on a trike anyway. Trikes have incredible stability at low speeds, but the faster you go, the more unstable they become. 

To accelerate you can use the half-grip twist throttle on the right-hand side of the handlebars, or you can use the cadence sensing pedal assist. Like all cadence sensors, this one has some latency with motor activation and deactivation, but the throttle on the M-340 is live from 0 mph and the brake levers are equipped with motor inhibitors, so you can kind of hack the latency by using those two features. 

The battery on the M-340 is going to be a 48 volt, 16 amp hour system with Panasonic cells and a max estimated range of around 50 miles in perfect conditions. Real world range will probably be closer to around 25 miles, but just like every car commercial ever… actual mileage may vary. Because this is a silverfish style battery, you do have to take out the seat post in order to remove it, and you also have to keep the keys in the battery during operation. Normally, silverfish style batteries tend to make ebikes with hub motors in the rear wheel a bit back heavy, but I actually think they work great with front-wheel hub drive trikes like this one. It just helps to keep the weight distribution balanced. 

I love the step-thru frame on the M-340 because it makes getting on an off incredibly easy. The single tube design also has gussets near the head tube and bottom bracket to increase the frame’s rigidity and strength, and with a 350-pound load capacity, that’s going to come in handy. Speaking of load capacity, there’s just so much storage on this trike it’s bananas. The rear compartment has a 48 liter capacity, and the front basket has a 9 liter capacity and can carry up to 100 pounds. And that front basket is attached to the frame of the M-340, which will minimize the felt effects of the added weight from whatever is inside. It also means whatever is inside won’t spill out when you turn the handlebars. Nice. And right above the bottom bracket there’s a wooden footrest, which is a really comfortable place to put your feet up and just chill if you’re not in the mood to pedal. Very nice. We’ve also got an integrated headlight and tail light, and while they’re not the brightest in the lands they do a good job of increasing visibility, and therefore increasing safety, which is always welcome. The wire management overall on this frame is actually pretty good, with practically all the wires being internally routed as well, which just makes for a way cleaner look. Last thing I want to say about the frame is the handlebar reach, saddle height and backrest height are all adjustable, so you can really dial in your ride nicely. 

The suspension on the M-340 is an AddMotoR branded fork with approximately 80 mm of travel and these do a great job of smoothing out the ride and especially for mitigating jolts like when you’re spacing out and you fail to notice that piece sidewalk that’s 3” higher than it should be. Yeah, that’s never happened to me. *conspicuously clears throat* There’s no rear suspension or seat post suspension, but with the huge air volume of the three big ol’ 4” fat tires, I don’t really think you need them.

Positioned right in the middle of the rear wheels is a Shimano Tourney derailleur with a 7-speed cassette, paired with a Shimano SIS Index thumb shifter on the right-hand side of the handlebars. This drivetrain also has a double-sided aluminum bash guard, and while you probably won’t be getting any strikes on your chain ring here, this bash guard is going to help keep derailments at bay, especially with the super long chain.

For stopping power the M-340 has Tektro mechanical disc brakes with 180 mm rotors in the front and BOTH rear wheels. I love that AddMotoR has dual brakes in the rear, but on the version we tested the brake in the left wheel pulled WAY harder than the brake in the right wheel and kept locking up whenever we hit the rear brakes. This might be something that can be adjusted, but honestly we’ve found this to be the case with most trikes so I’m not really sure. If you guys have any advice on this we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

In summary, the M-340 is a comfortable trike that comes stock with pretty much everything you need for a fun day at the beach, trip to the grocery store or just a nice, leisurely ride. Whatever. You get it. This trike, like all trikes, is super stable at slower speeds and that step-thru frame makes it incredibly approachable. And probably the biggest selling point of this trike right now is the upcoming early bird discount, which is going to knock off a huge chunk of the sticker price.