I bought an ebike labelled 250 watts and all that because I didn't want ot have my investment seized. It's been less than a week and I haven't been riding more than 30 mins a day, and I've seen an electric scooter in the bike lane, a guy throttling his e - bike down the cycle lane at like 30 mph, and a teen around 14 with what looked like an e bike that could do over 30mph.
Do police even bother to check if an e-bike is legal?
- Thread starter lieinking1
- Start date
[/QUOTE]
www.walesonline.co.uk
www.coventrytelegraph.net
Lorry full of e-bikes confiscated on the streets of Cardiff as part of crackdown
The bikes which were seized had the capability to travel at speeds of between 30mph and 42mph
www.walesonline.co.uk
Crackdown on e-bikes in Coventry city centre
Illegal bikes could be seized and crushed
www.coventrytelegraph.net
And they're all illegal. Seems to me that the police, responding to public pressure, are starting to take notice and action, so I think you've done the right thing.
'Course if you lived where I do, very rural west Wales, the only time you see a police car is when they're in a blue light hurry - probably trying to make the chippy before it closes at 8 o'clock !
I would've wanted a more powerful bike is so I could get up steeper hills and I guess maybe to throttle up a hill without much leg effort because it takes it's toll on me. But I don't want the bike taken from me. I can't afford to replace it.
A manufacturer rated 250W mid-drive on 20" wheels makes for a very capable hill climber, in my experience. Even while towing up very heavy trailers weighing more than me, my old Dahon folder BBS01B conversion has never failed - and that's with 52T>32T, 36V, 15A, no throttle, and an unfit body (not in the trailer). Someone on another thread was considering converting a new non-folding 20" wheeled Challenge Urban, although with a rear hub motor.
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/rebuild-a-woosh-supplied-dwg22c-into-a-20-wheel.45955/#post-690571
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I had to scrimp for my 1st ebike, I still paid for public transport so the money I saved thereafter I put in a pot. I know in these hard times it can be hard to save, however there is a possibility you will need to maintain your bike so put what ever you can to one side for chains, cables, tyres etc...
Since my 1st ebike I doubled downed, to save as much as possible and starting cutting back using MSE, bill checking and switching, down shifting products and changing super markets, the bike helps me pop to different shops to get the bargains, like nightly yellow sticker reduced section. I count myself lucky though, living in a small area densely packed with shops. Some would argue I am tighter than a Duck's....
I do exactly that on my Brompton.
Leave around 16:00 so stuff is down to 50% or lower. Around trip of circa 4km, 2 One-Stops and one Co-op.
My favourite bargain is cheese, I mean a block of Cheddar on its sell by date will still keep a long while.
Pretty much the same this end, However when inquiring about insurance I actually made a couple of phone calls I wanted to confirm my kit built ebike was covered and i wasnt gonna pay premiums only to not get a payout when the bike gets nicked..
Both agents i spoke to were explicitly clear that any motor other than one rated 250w or less was NOT covered , as soon as i mentioned kit motor size questions followed..
And while only anecdotal, i have seen the odd OTT ebike cruse past once or twice but unlike the run of the mil legal looking ebikes these never appear frequently and often next time i spot the rider they are walking..
I was shocked to spot a conversion a couple of days ago, because I normally never see them - it zoomed by too fast down the hill I was walking up, so I didn't get a good look.
I do see a lot of Saurons/Sur-rons... this very fat guy zoomed right towards me:
Looking back at my action camera footage, he was easily keeping up with cars without pedalling, and was tailgating one a few seconds before I noticed him:
...then he sudenly turned towards me...
I feared being crushed by his blubbery mass!
...but his blubbery mass zoomed past, his rivulets of fat wobbling:
IMHO, there's no reason why a guy even his weight can't use a legal ebike.
I do see a lot of Saurons/Sur-rons... this very fat guy zoomed right towards me:
Looking back at my action camera footage, he was easily keeping up with cars without pedalling, and was tailgating one a few seconds before I noticed him:
...then he sudenly turned towards me...
I feared being crushed by his blubbery mass!
...but his blubbery mass zoomed past, his rivulets of fat wobbling:
IMHO, there's no reason why a guy even his weight can't use a legal ebike.
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Are we allowed to use e bikes labelled 250 watts with a throttle that only pushes the bike at like 3.7mph? I've seen some of them. Apparently they make it easy to walk the bike uphill. The thing is I would be worried a policemen would just see a throttle and try to seize the bike. Do they just check the motor wattage and see how fast the throttle goes or do they confisquate it and run tests or something?
There have been some forum members involved in accidents on illegal bikes. The police didn't didn't do anything. IIRC, one was taken away after the accident, but was returned afterwards with no comment. maybe they only wanted to check the brakes.
There is no law against having a throttle, nor using it. The only rule is that the power must stop when you stop pedaling if the bike is going more than 4 mph.
I believe you but do you have a link or something that one could shop a police if stopped?
Possibly things might be rather different if a third party was injured and they, the law, or the injured parties' dependants started to take legal action?
Then, possibly not being able to afford losing one's e-bike would become but a trivial matter in the scale of the potential costs being faced?
I suspect the depth of interest the police take in e-bikes, particularly those with the hallmarks of illegality, will reflect how much society is prepared to tolerate the dangers they present, like if third party serious injuries become an issue.
I once was being pursued for "negligence" by what thankfully proved an unsound claim; the potential cost looming was financially, of "life changing" amounts. Makes one super cautious of the ramification that can spin out of things.
While it lacks the immediate response of real throttle control, 'virtual full throttle' can be obtained via setting pedal assist to max, Ghost pedaling, and rear brake lever micro control over motor on/off.
Probably even worse for battery consumption than a standard throttle and you dont have the benefit of that ability to just speed up and out of a 'situation' familiar and dear to every motorcyclist.
"Own nothing and be happy" sounds like a good option when scenarios like this arise. Failing that there's always Bankruptcy.
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