#swoop bikes

[swtechspecs]

TaggeCo Air-2 Racing Swoop

Source: The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (Del Rey, 1996)

[celinamarniss]

A swoop, also known as a swoop bike, was a type of repulsorlift vehicle similar to a speeder bike; in fact, it was in essence simply an overpowered version and described as "an engine with a seat." Swoops are to speeder bikes what airspeeders are to landspeeders. Swoops were often used by gangs and criminals, and such organizations bore the mantle of swoop gang. After the Galactic Empire outlawed podracing, swoop racing became the favored alternative. Swoop racing was popular on many planets, including Coruscant, Manaan, Tatooine, Nar Shaddaa, Telos (on Citadel Station), and Taris (prior to its destruction). There were, in fact, grand tournaments held on the Taris tracks before the Sith bombardment. Some of the best known swoop racers of their time were lost in the planet's destruction. (x)

[swtechspecs]

Mobquet Flare-S Swoop

Source: The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (Del Rey, 1996)

[raven-of-domain-kwaad]

Swoop thoughts/headcanons

The most most common form of swoop racing is a 1.1 km long course. Almost all amateur tracks are this length but the more illegal the race gets the more differences you’ll find on the racetrack.

A “Twenty second bike” is a term that refers to customized racing swoops that can travel a full 1.1 km straightaway course in twenty seconds. This is a standard that professional racing swoops all try to meet.

Drift racing is different from the standard “twenty second race” that we see in KOTOR and it is almost always illegal. Unlike the standard straightaway course, a drift course usually takes part in more urban areas with lots of tight twists and turns that make excessive speed dangerous and even deadly.

Swoops designed/modified for drifting have a different arrangement of repulsorlifts compared to twenty second swoops. A standard swoop usually has a single repulsorlift that keeps the bike at a steady height above the ground. Drift swoops have at least two repulsorlifts at the front and back of the bike. Drifting requires the rear lift to lower gravity’s pull on the bike so that it losses control slightly more than the front of the bike which then directs and allows for controlled drifting during tight turns.

Drift racers will often look down at standard twenty second racers for a perceived lack of finesse in their driving. Twenty second racers often see drifters as needlessly haughty. However most seasoned racers respect each other regardless of their specialty.

I am also treating the swoop engine as a separate thing from the repulsor(s) that keep the bike airborne (they seem to be one and the same when I look it up but my brain doesn’t like that so they become two different things for me)

[starwarsminute-blog]

Star Wars: Special Edition Minute 44: Ralph Attanasia joins us for a leisurely ride through the CGI streets of Mos Eisley!