Speeder Bikes were basically floating engines with a seat on it. They were used as military vehicles, usually for scoutting, but also used by civilians at times. Swoop bikes were very similar.

  They were very fast, and the controls were intuitive enough that they could be operated by just about anyone.  They did have a pretty significant design flaw, in that if you put any weight on the little pouch thing behind the seat, the entire speeder blew up.  Other than that, they were very reliable. In fact, this was fixed in later models, but it was kind of disappointing because there was less carnage.