How to Install the Canopy on Your EVRYjourney Electric Rickshaw: A Full Walkthrough

Why a Canopy Changes How You Ride the Rickshaw

I'm Dustin, and I've spent the last twenty years around bikes and e-bikes. Of everything we make, the rickshaw might be my favorite to talk about, because it's the one that changes how people ride rather than just how fast. It puts a bench behind the rider and invites someone else along. Kids pile on for the trip to school. A grandparent rides where they can actually see and talk to the person pedaling. The dog gets a seat instead of a crate. It's a machine built around company, and once you add a canopy over the top, it becomes a machine built around comfort too.

That's what this guide is about. The canopy is a frame-and-fabric roof that mounts to the passenger area of your electric rickshaw and gives everyone in back real protection from the elements. On a bright summer day, shade is not a small thing. Sun beating straight down on a bench seat will cut a ride short faster than tired legs will. With a roof overhead, an afternoon loop stays pleasant from the first block to the last. And when you add the side flaps, which I'll cover later on, the same canopy turns into cover from the rain, so a few clouds don't send you scrambling for the garage.

Who gets the most out of a canopy

If you use your rickshaw to carry people, you'll feel the difference immediately. Families riding with young children get a shaded, sheltered spot that keeps little passengers happy on longer outings. Anyone caring for an older rider or a passenger who needs a bit more consideration will appreciate that the seat stays out of direct sun. Folks who run their rickshaw around a resort, a campground, a large property, or a busy neighborhood get a ride that looks finished and feels hospitable. Even if it's just you and one other person heading out for ice cream, the roof makes the whole thing feel like a proper little vehicle.

And here's the part people don't expect until they take that first ride: the roof shades the driver too. Because of how the frame extends forward over the cockpit, the person pedaling ends up under cover right along with the passengers. You're not building shade for the back seat at your own expense. Everybody on board comes out ahead, which is exactly how it should be on a ride designed to be shared.

Shade in summer, cover in a shower

There's a seasonal angle worth naming too. In high summer, the canopy is about beating the sun, and that alone can be the difference between a ride your passengers ask for again and one they merely endure. But it earns its keep in the shoulder seasons and in iffy weather as well. A passing shower that would normally end the outing becomes a non-event once the sides are on. Early-morning and late-afternoon rides, when the sun sits low and glaring, get easier on everyone's eyes. A roof widens the window of days and hours when taking the rickshaw out sounds like a good idea, and a ride you'll actually use is worth far more than one that sits in the garage waiting for perfect conditions.

It's worth setting expectations honestly, though. The canopy is a shade-and-shower roof, not a sealed cabin. With the top on you get excellent sun coverage; with the side flaps added you get real protection from rain coming in from the sides. What it gives you is a dramatically more comfortable, more usable ride in conditions that would otherwise keep you home, and for most riders that is precisely the point.

Where the rickshaw fits in the lineup

If you're newer to what we do, it helps to know the rickshaw isn't a one-off. It's part of a broad family of electric tricycles we've built around stability and comfort, and it sits at the social end of that range. When your main goal is bringing other people along for the ride, our passenger-focused e-trikes are the place to start looking, and the rickshaw is the headliner of that group. Riders who want an even more planted, tip-resistant platform sometimes look at our four-wheel electric bikes, while those who simply want an easygoing, upright ride tend toward our comfort electric bikes. We also put a lot of thought into accessibility, which is why our electric bikes for seniors get so much attention from us. The canopy is one of those upgrades that makes a good rickshaw better, and it's worth browsing the full range of sixthreezero canopies to be sure you're matching the right roof to your ride.

Before we start turning wrenches, one honest word about the project itself. This is not a hard installation, but it is a patient one. You're assembling a frame out of tubes, connectors, and clamps, then draping a fitted fabric top over it and fastening everything down. None of the individual steps are difficult. The trick is doing them in the right order and keeping both sides even as you go. Rush it and you'll spend the back half of the job loosening things you tightened too soon. Take your time and it goes smoothly. I'll flag the spots where a little patience pays off. And if you can, grab a helper. I do a lot of this solo in the video to show it's possible on your own, and it is, but several steps genuinely want a second set of hands, so put someone to work if they're around.

Before any assembly starts, do yourself a favor and unpack the whole kit. Lay every piece out in a line where you can see it, ideally on a clean floor or a workbench with room to spread out. I do this every single time, even after building more of these than I can count, because a canopy frame is a set of similar-looking parts in slightly different sizes. Getting them sorted up front means you're never squinting at two tubes mid-step trying to remember which one is longer.

What's in the canopy kit

Start with the small stuff, because it's the easiest to overlook. You'll have a pair of little PVC spacers. They're unassuming, but they matter, so make sure you've got both before you go any further. Set them somewhere you won't lose them.

Next come the connectors, which are the plastic joints that tie the frame tubes together. In the kit you'll find two four-way connectors, two corner pieces, and two three-way connectors. Each type joins tubes at a different combination of angles, and each has small set screws built into it. Those screws are what lock a tube in place once it's seated, and they're what you'll loosen when you need to feed a tube through or slide a joint into position. Keep a mental note of which connector is which, because the instructions call for specific ones at specific stages.

Then there are the frame tubes themselves. They come in a few different lengths, and throughout the build I'll refer to them by their role, the rear support bars, the long cross beams, the top support beam, and so on. The kit also includes clamp-style brackets that wrap around a tube and cinch down, plus the T-shaped fittings that ride along the top rails. Rounding it all out is the star of the show: the canopy fabric itself, which is the fitted top, and the separate side flaps that attach later for weather protection.

Take a slow look at everything laid out. You want to walk into the assembly with a clear picture of the parts, so that when I say "grab your three-way" or "we're using the second-shortest bars here," you know exactly what to reach for.

One more habit worth building: count your parts against what should be there before you begin, not halfway through. It's a lot less frustrating to discover a missing spacer or connector while everything's still boxed and traceable than to hit a wall three steps into the build. The kit also ships with an assembly instruction sheet, and I keep mine out and visible the entire time. I lean on it constantly, even after doing this many times over, because it's the fastest way to confirm which bar or connector a given step calls for. There's no shame in checking the sheet at every stage. That's exactly what it's there for.

Set up your work area

Give yourself space. You'll be walking around the back of the rickshaw repeatedly, reaching over the passenger seat, and eventually climbing a step ladder to work up top, so clear enough room to move on all sides. A flat, level surface keeps the rickshaw from rolling or leaning while you push and pull on the frame. If your rickshaw tends to drift, chock a wheel or park it against something solid so it stays put while you work.

Two tools make life easier here. The first is a step ladder or a sturdy step stool. The top of the canopy frame sits higher than you can comfortably reach from the ground, and trying to muscle a tube into an overhead connector while stretching on your toes is how parts get cross-threaded and tempers get short. The second is a screwdriver or the small driver that fits the connector set screws, kept within arm's reach so you're not hunting for it at every joint.

The mindset that makes this easy

There's a rhythm to this build that's worth internalizing before you start. Most connectors get a tube fed into them, then a set screw snugged just enough to hold, not cranked down tight. You leave things a little loose on purpose, because you'll almost always need to nudge, rotate, or slide a piece into final position once its neighbors are in place. Tighten everything the moment it goes on and you'll fight yourself the whole way through. Snug it to hold, keep building, and do your real tightening once a section is aligned and looking right.

Symmetry is the other thing to keep front of mind. This is a frame with a left side and a right side that mirror each other, and the fabric top will only sit correctly if those two sides match. So whenever you set a measurement on one side, you carry the exact same measurement to the other. A frame that's a half-inch off from left to right won't ruin anything, but it'll show up as a canopy that pulls or sags unevenly, and it's so much easier to keep both sides matched as you go than to chase the mismatch afterward. If it helps, keep a tape measure in your pocket for the whole build; you won't need it at every joint, but at the moments that matter it turns guesswork into a quick check.

The canopy is one of several add-ons that make the rickshaw more livable day to day. If you find yourself enjoying this kind of upgrade, it's worth a look at our seats and cushions as well, since a comfortable perch and a shaded roof are a natural pair. For now, though, let's get the frame going, starting at the back.

We build this frame from the back forward, and the very first move is placing those two little PVC spacers. Bring them over to the rickshaw and set one on each side, resting just above the cross piece that runs behind the armrest. They sit there as the foundation for what comes next, so get them seated in the right spot before you start adding bars.

It's tempting to treat the spacers as an afterthought, but they set the starting height and position for the whole rear assembly, so a minute spent seating them correctly saves you from a frame that sits wrong later. Get them square and stable on both sides before anything else goes on.

Choosing the right bars for the rear supports

The rear support bars are the first tubes to go on, and picking the correct ones is the whole game at this stage. The bars you want here are the second-shortest in the kit. If you've laid everything out in order the way I suggested, they're easy to spot, they're the "threes" in the arrangement, one step up from the shortest. Grab the pair. And this is one of those moments where a helper earns their keep, because holding a tube steady while you work a connector open is genuinely a two-person job. I'll do it solo to show it can be done, but if you've got a second set of hands nearby, this is the time to wave them over.

Feeding the tube and setting the depth

Here's the technique that makes this connector cooperate. You have to open it up before the pipe will go in. Loosen the clamp portion, work it all the way down and open, then set the connector loosely into position where it needs to live. With it opened up, slide your tubing in. The tricky part, and the reason a helper is handy, is that you have to keep that clamp held open while you feed the tube and then hold everything in place long enough to snug a screw so it stays put for a moment.

Once the tube is in, you want a little bit of it protruding out the bottom past the connector, not flush and not hanging way out, just a small amount peeking below. It doesn't have to be an exact science, but there are two things that do matter. First, don't leave it hanging out too far. Second, and this is the important one, whatever amount you leave sticking out on one side, match it exactly on the other. Measure if it helps you feel confident, then repeat the identical setup on the opposite side so both rear supports sit at the same depth. Even distance, left and right, every time. With both sides matched, come back and tighten each connector down.

Bringing in the four-way connectors

With the rear supports standing, we move to the end-cap pieces that will cap the top of those bars and start giving the back of the frame its shape. The connector you're reaching for here is the four-way. It's the one with connection points arranged so that two tubes come in on top and one comes in on the bottom. Like every connector in this kit, it has those little set screws that clamp the joint tight once everything's seated.

Set the four-way onto the support bar and snug its screw enough that it won't slide off or spin, but keep it workable. Then bring the next tube into the four-way's open port and tighten that screw too, again just enough to hold. You're not going for final tightness yet. You're assembling the shape and keeping every joint cooperative until the whole back section is together and squared up.

Work one four-way at a time, and resist the urge to perfect any single joint before its neighbors exist. A connector that's cranked down tight while the tube next to it is still loose has a way of ending up slightly twisted, and you won't notice until the fabric goes on and pulls unevenly. Keep them all a little free, get the shape roughed in, and let the final tightening pull everything square together.

Adding the rear cross beam

Now, before you lock down the far side, you need to get the crossbar in that runs across the back and ties the two sides together. This is where a little of that patience I mentioned pays off. If you feel the crossbar not wanting to seat, don't force it, back off the relevant connector a touch, ease the bar in, and let it find its home. Sometimes you'll need to pull a joint out just slightly to make room, drop the crossbar in, then push everything back together as a unit. Fussing gently beats forcing every time.

Connect the crossbar, seat all the pieces together, and then, with the back section actually holding its shape, go around and tighten it down for real. That's your rear frame assembled: two upright supports off the spacers, capped with four-ways, and tied together across the back by the crossbar. Give it a look. Both sides should mirror each other, the joints should be square, and nothing should be flopping loose. It's a satisfying little milestone, because from here the frame only gets taller and more like a roof.

With the back assembled, the frame starts reaching forward and up. This section is where the canopy stops looking like a cluster of tubes and starts looking like a roofline, so it's also where a helper and a step ladder are worth the most.

Running the long cross beams

The next tubes to go on are the long cross beams, and these are the longest pieces in the kit. There are two of them, and they're a matched pair, so before you commit, hold them together and confirm they're the same length. Set them into their connectors and run their set screws down enough to hold them in place. Same rule as before: snug to hold, not cranked tight, because you'll likely make small adjustments once the front comes together.

Once the long beams are seated, grab your two T-fittings and slide them onto the beams. You don't need to tighten these yet at all. You're just parking them on the rails so they're ready for a later step, and if you forget to slide them on now, you'll be annoyed to discover there's no way to add them once the ends are capped. So get them on, leave them loose, and keep moving.

That little step, sliding the T-fittings on early, is the kind of thing that's easy to breeze past and painful to fix. There's no shortcut for it later. If you cap the ends first and then realize the T's aren't on the rails, your only option is to take an end back apart to thread them on. Thirty seconds of foresight now saves a real headache a few steps down the line.

Building the front end cap

Now we build the front end cap, which mirrors the back but sits at the front of the passenger area. Come around to the front and reach for your four-way connectors again, because the front tubes join up through them the same way the rear did. As with the back, there's an order to it: connect the pieces that need to be joined first, push them together so they seat fully, then bring the assembly up to where it belongs.

This is where the step ladder comes out. Get it positioned, and if you have any doubt about your footing up there, have someone hold the ladder for you. There's no prize for balancing solo. Once you're steady, bring the front cap assembly up into position and set it onto the uprights. Just like everywhere else, I try to get all the connectors started loose first, seating each tube into its port before I commit any of them. Get it all hanging together loosely, then come back through and drive the set screws in, making sure every joint is good and tight. Then climb down, reposition, and repeat the same process on the other side so the front cap is solid on both ends.

Mounting the top support beam

Here's the piece that ties the whole roof together across the top: the top support beam. It attaches using the clamp-style brackets, and there's one detail about these clamps that trips people up, so let me be clear about it. You clamp the bracket onto the frame first, and only then do you feed the pipe into it. Clamp on first, pipe in second. Try to do it the other way around and you'll be wrestling the whole time.

The reason the order matters is simple mechanics: these clamps close around the frame tube, and once a pipe is already sitting in the bracket there's no clean way to get the bracket wrapped where it needs to go. Clamp to the frame first and the bracket sits open and easy to place; then the pipe drops in from there. Commit that one to memory and this step goes from a wrestling match to a thirty-second job.

So take your first clamp and get it started on the frame, but before you commit to a spot, line it up carefully. You want the clamp centered on the apex, the high point at the top of that end piece. Position it right at that peak, then start tightening it down just a little, enough to hold while you check your work. Sight down the frame and confirm you're centered. If you're off, and you often will be by a touch, just slide the clamp over until it's dead on the apex, then a little more if needed until it's truly centered. Once it's right, run the clamp down snug.

Don't fully tighten that first side yet, though. Move over and get the beam's other end clamped on the opposite side, again lining the clamp up right at the apex of that end. When both ends are seated at their respective peaks, go back and really clamp them both down, nice and snug, and double-check the first side got its final tightening too. When you're done, that top beam should be locked in, centered end to end, running straight across the very top of the frame. Step back and take it in. You've now got a complete skeleton, back cap, front cap, long beams down each side, and a top beam bridging the peak. The hard structural work is behind you. What's left is fitting the fabric and fine-tuning, and that's the part that makes it feel finished.

The frame's up, so now we position the last brackets, dress it with the fabric, add the side flaps, and tune everything until it sits clean. Take these final steps slowly, because this is where the canopy either looks tailored or looks like it was thrown on in a hurry.

Positioning the T-fittings

Remember those T-fittings you slid onto the long beams and left loose? Now they get set to a real position. Each one needs to sit about twenty-seven and a half inches in from the beginning of the beam. Measure it out, twenty-seven and a half inches, and bring the T to that mark, then tighten it down. Cross to the other side and do exactly the same, finding your twenty-seven and a half inches and locking the T there. As always, you can come back and loosen these to nudge them if something downstream doesn't line up. In practice there's a little range to work with here, roughly twenty-six to twenty-seven and a half inches, so if a bracket needs to shift slightly to get the top bar sitting right, that's expected. Get it close, then fine-tune.

Adding the last brackets

With the T's set, install the final brackets that carry the last curved top bar. There's a washer piece that goes on first, then the curved bar seats so its bend runs the right way. This is another spot where a second set of hands makes a real difference, holding the curve steady while you clamp it, so if you've got help, use it. If you're solo like I often am, you'll clamp the bracket down and then insert the pole into it, working patiently until it seats. You want just a small amount of the pole, roughly a quarter inch, sticking out the bottom once it's home. If the geometry feels a bit off as you go, that's normal, this is exactly the stage where you'll loosen the T-fitting and the lower clamp, slide things a touch, and let the bar settle into a clean bend. Move the T within that twenty-six to twenty-seven-and-a-half-inch window, ease the lower clamp up or back as needed, and the bar that looked like it was tilting up will pull down closer to parallel as everything tightens. Get one side dialed, then repeat the whole process on the other.

Getting the canopy oriented the right way

Before the fabric goes anywhere near the frame, find the front and the back of it, because the canopy is not symmetrical and it absolutely matters which way it faces. Look along the inside edges and you'll see Velcro lining one end. That Velcro end is the rear. It has to go toward the back of the rickshaw, because that's your attachment point for the side flaps later. Install it backward and the flaps won't have anything to grab. So confirm it before you commit: Velcro-lined edge to the rear, every time.

Draping and anchoring the fabric

With the orientation sorted, it's canopy time, and the step ladder comes back out. Throw the fabric up and over the frame, then stretch it across so it reaches from one side all the way to the other and hangs evenly. Once it's draped, start anchoring it down. I like to get a corner locked first, it settles the whole top and gives you something to work against. Set one of the corner fasteners, then move around securing the rest. Most of these are self-explanatory once you're on them, you twist the fastener around and tighten it on. If you've got extra slack in a strip of Velcro, you can trim it down to length so it isn't flapping around.

Don't forget the inside. Along the top, there's a run of fasteners that attach the fabric to that top bar you mounted earlier. Reach up and fasten those in as well, because they're what keeps the roof from ballooning or sagging in the middle. Once the corners, the edges, and those inside top fasteners are all done and snugged down, your roof is installed. Go around one more time and make sure everything's tight and even.

Installing the side flaps for weather protection

The roof alone gives you shade. The side flaps are what turn the canopy into real weather protection, the part that keeps you dry when it rains. On each flap, the Velcro goes to the top, mating with that Velcro you made sure to install toward the rear. Bring the flap up and press it onto the top Velcro on the inside, then work it all the way around into position. You'll almost certainly need to adjust it to get a clean fit against the bars, sliding it one way or the other a touch until it hangs right. This is, honestly, one of the best two-person moments in the whole build, one person holding while the other aligns, so grab your helper if they're still around. Working it back and forth by yourself is doable, it just takes a little fussing to get it seated evenly on both ends.

Once the flap is aligned, tighten it down. Tuck the bottom edge in where it belongs, and if you need to, gently pull the canopy out a bit so the flap and roof meet cleanly and the flap sits up in there properly. Then fasten the flap's straps around the pole to lock it in. Repeat the whole thing on the other side, and you've got full enclosure, shade overhead and cover on the sides.

The test ride, and a few last words

That's the install. What you've got now is a genuinely cozy seating spot, a rider in back sits under full protection with a proper little roof overhead, and everything fastened down and ready to roll. I always take a short ride to see it work, and every time I'm reminded of the best part: because of how the frame reaches forward, the driver is fully shaded and protected from the sun right along with the passengers. Nobody's stuck out in the heat.

A couple of closing thoughts. Give the whole frame a once-over after your first few rides and re-snug any connector that's backed off, that's normal for a bolt-together frame that's just been through some road vibration. If you ever want to compare your roof against the current options, or you picked up a rickshaw without one, our 30-day test ride program makes it easy to try the ride and its accessories with confidence. For coverage questions on your e-bike, always check the current warranty details rather than relying on anything you half-remember, terms are best read straight from the source. And if you get stuck at any step or want a hand, don't guess, reach out. You can visit our store to see one in person, or contact our team and we'll walk you through it. It's your journey. Get that roof on, load up your favorite people, and enjoy the ride.