Patent ID: 8662228

Claim:
A three-wheeled leaning passenger vehicle comprising: a frame rigidly mounting a driver seat; a drive wheel rotatably mounted on the frame; a frame-mounted rotary drive cooperatively coupled with the drive wheel for rotation of the drive wheel relative to the frame; and a frame-mounted steer system including two wheels rotatable relative to the frame in a forward region thereof, and a handlebar coupled with the two rotatable wheels for turning the two rotatable wheels substantially parallel with one another to corner, the vehicle being configured to substantially freely lean left and right in a natural leaning response to a driver thereof in the driver seat steering and leaning respectively left and right, the vehicle being further equipped wherein the free leaning of the vehicle is selectively inhibited or controlled by an automatic stand-up mechanism to control the lean of the vehicle as necessary such as at stops, low speeds, emergency situations, or to assist the driver in attaining a desired lean of the vehicle, wherein the rotary drive includes a frame-mounted power plant operatively couple-able with the drive wheel, the rotary drive including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor selectively operatively couple-able with the drive wheel to power the vehicle.