E-Bikes: The phenomenon, The Problem.

soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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53198

If they are confiscating bikes on a truck how come they aren't waiting outside every Halfords for deliveries of scooters?
ebike shop fits and sells dongles to there bikes but that's buy appointment only so if you want a bosch smart bike with dongle and warranty he is the only option now. :mad:
 

FastFreddy2

Pedelecer
Apr 19, 2023
186
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If they are confiscating bikes on a truck how come they aren't waiting outside every Halfords for deliveries of scooters?
Ownership isn't illegal. Using one in a public space is....

During the last couple of years, I must have seen hundreds of these. In fact a couple of weeks ago I was driving North/clockwise on the North Circular passing Ikea doing 40mph, when me and a good number of other vehicles were overtaken by an e-scooter in the outside lane. No personal protection, like gloves or helmet. I was impressed and amused in equal measure. Striking an insect at 40mph on your body is easily bearable, not so getting something at that speed in the mouth or an eye. He has a date with destiny, hopefully with some tarmac, and not the wheels of an artic.

I've yet to see any evidence of uniforms chasing or confiscating e-scooters around where I live. Some riders performance suggest they have little care for anyone but themselves, but that is far from every rider. Using e-scooters, and overpowered e-bikes are victimless crimes 99.9999999% of the time. As the police are a limited resource, I would prefer they concentrate on crimes with victims.

For example, if there was going to be a crack down on something, I would prefer car drivers who jump red lights be caught, and lose the use of their drivers license for a month. I see this almost every car journey I make. I've seen what the aftermath of a red-light jumper did to someone I knew. Nearly died, and he spent the better part of 6 months in hospital. He'll never work again, and never walk without a limp again either. Could be worse though. My partners best friend lost her mother to a drunk driver who went through a red light.

E-scooters are not universally liked, but they are here to stay. They are a lot safer (even with electrical fires) than motor vehicles. Provisional figures for RTA's during 2022 indicate the following:

136,002 reported casualties of all severities.
29,795 people killed or severely injured.
1,695 fatalities, 85 of which were cyclist, 376 were pedestrians.

If, and it's an if, ONE person is killed each year while riding an e-scooter, how does that compare to those figures?

These are worse. In 2021, 6,840 people died due to "falls".

53200

People aren't safe at work either .....

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These are figures published by the government.

And bringing it back on thread ....

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From Morgan Clark's 'Statistics' page.

I've at least half a dozen lithium batteries I use with DIY tools. Got a mobile, two cameras, camcorder, two sets of earbuds, none of which have given me a problem. None of which get charged at night or without me being in the same room as the battery and charger. Battery fires don't seem to be a big thing with members here either. Storm in a teacup? (Statistically speaking.)
 

soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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Just ordered one , thanks Guerney.
I'm confident this is scuff resistant, and more oil-proof - covered in self-adhesive vinyl. A bit tricky to cut straight using scissors, so I used a Poundland paper guillotine (bought when everything at Poundland actually cost exactly £1).

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guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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I say put the label on the motor.
I put a label on the motor, but it would only fit sideways lol (there's yet another one of a different type underneath, which doesn't mention max assist speed).

53209
 

FastFreddy2

Pedelecer
Apr 19, 2023
186
87
id say most ppl are fkn stupid and brain dead morons.
In truth, I think we all have our 'moments', some more lethal than others. I can think of at least 5 times I could have been killed, and sometimes wonder why I escaped the grim reaper. One I've already given a nod to, was of when I was still at school. I made an electrical circuit that ran into my garden from the garage, likely the thing that saved me was the light bulb in the circuit that may have restricted the current. I made the circuit live, then couldn't understand why the light wasn't on. I walked out into the garden and found wires had separated. Without thinking, I picked up the parted wires to rejoin them, one wire in each hand. I was 14 or 15 at the time, and although this event happened over 50 years ago, I can remember the details of having the current pulse through me like it happened yesterday. The strangest thing I remember at the time, was that I could think. I was fully aware of what was happening. I can also remember vividly, exactly what I was thinking at the time. [To do with dying.] Plainly I didn't perish. I went back to school that afternoon with scorch marks on my left hand, and a sense of euphoria at still being alive.

Car, motorbike, cycle crashes aside, the next big one was 21 years ago that pretty much f mucked up my life. Putting in some Cat V cabling in to an old Victorian shop to make it an Internet Cafe in Bristol (70 miles from home), I tripped at the top of a stairway. The treads were very short, the stairway very steep. No banister, so I couldn't break my fall. I effectively took a swallow dive down a 10ft staircase. The event played in slow motion it seemed to me, in that again, I had clear thought on the way down. Broken neck/dead? Broken back/wheelchair bound? Rather obviously, I lived, but it was a pretty serious event with me being hospitalised. While having my temporary 'plaster' replaced for my journey homeward for remedial surgery and me blitzed out of my mind on gas+air, the nurses inadvertently informed me by their subdued conversation, that likely I was going to lose an arm because of the damage to it.

As luck would have it (and I was due some), my local hospital had a guest surgeon (later to join the staff) who was a refugee medic from the Serbian/Croat war, and had experience of these injuries through gunshot wounds. He saved my arm. And in fact, he became quite famous locally for helping many other keep their damaged limbs.

My broken bits took a year to get working enough so I could wash my face in the way I used to. I had better than 10 years away from cycling, and even now, I have to take great care I don't break the repaired bones because there's no re-repairing them. My smarter half tells me I was a real PITA for two years after the event. Well, I had taken 100% fitness for granted. I had a business that produced good money, both gone. Took a while to adjust.

On balance, I was lucky. Might not seem like it to some, but I was. Either of these two events could have terminated what I can tell you has been a very interesting life. I've had a blast, and as long as my health stays good, I see no reason for that 'fun' to stop. :cool:


My experiences suggest it's a moments lapse of thought that causes a lot of premature terminations. Of course I've had experience of the "brain dead morons" too. Usually while I'm driving somewhere..... :rolleyes:
 
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guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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The law states the label should be on the cycle in a "conspicuous and easily accessible position", not the motor.
..and the final label high up on the back of the seatpost (too high by a smidge, also not high enough - this one may get damaged when the bike folds). Finally ready to smash a bottle of bubbly over my bike...


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saneagle

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Oct 10, 2010
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..and the final label high up on the back of the seatpost (too high by a smidge, also not high enough - this one may get damaged when the bike folds). Finally ready to smash a bottle of bubbly over my bike...


View attachment 53212
That's not conspicuous enough . Policemen with stiff necks won't be able to bend down to see it. You should stick a couple more on the cross-bar, then make up a number plate bracket to hold a plate on the back of the bike with a larger version of that label so that they can see it from their police cars without getting out. Make sure that you have a number-plate type light to light it up at night time because they could be dazzled from seeing it from of all your other lights.

Another thing you could do is attach one of those programmable hologram fans to the back of your bike and get it to show a gisnt image of that label, and if it rotates in the right direction, you'll get a bit of extra thrust too. When those guys were chasing you, you could have put up a hologram of a bazooka or something pointing at them. Win, win, win.
 

soundwave

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guerney

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FastFreddy2

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Apr 19, 2023
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Thanks for the tip. :cool: One ordered from the same place, to be placed on the boom. Different wording of course. :D
Arrived this afternoon. Sadly, I'm a bit disappointed. I wasn't told the text wouldn't go on 3 lines, and I wasn't sent a proof copy of the makers alteration. The maker might have an engineering background, but has no notion of layout.


53291

It will have to do for now, but it's going to get replaced. :(
 

soundwave

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guerney

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Arrived this afternoon. Sadly, I'm a bit disappointed. I wasn't told the text wouldn't go on 3 lines, and I wasn't sent a proof copy of the makers alteration. The maker might have an engineering background, but has no notion of layout.


View attachment 53291

It will have to do for now, but it's going to get replaced. :(
These plaques are tiny. I didn't believe the listing's claimed 250 characters = 62.5 characters per line would fit. Why not try @saneagle's solution?

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/e-bikes-the-phenomenon-the-problem.45666/post-685861


That's basically what my latest purchased label in post #189 is.
 
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FastFreddy2

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This is how it should have read:

Manufacturer: Mxus, China.
Max assistance: 15.5mph
250 watt motor

I wasn't overly bothered by separating the the top line, but the last line as supplied, not acceptable.

These plaques are tiny. I didn't believe the listing's claimed 250 characters = 62.5 characters per line would fit. Why not try @saneagle's solution?

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/e-bikes-the-phenomenon-the-problem.45666/post-685861


That's basically what my latest purchased label in post #189 is.

It looks good, but that's a lot of trouble for something I would prefer to buy. I'm not overly keen to put anything sticky into my laser printer. I'll have a think, and see if I can get one of the silver labels made elsewhere. They are much easier to fit too. :cool:
 

saneagle

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Oct 10, 2010
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This is how it should have read:

Manufacturer: Mxus, China.
Max assistance: 15.5mph
250 watt motor

I wasn't overly bothered by separating the the top line, but the last line as supplied, not acceptable.




It looks good, but that's a lot of trouble for something I would prefer to buy. I'm not overly keen to put anything sticky into my laser printer. I'll have a think, and see if I can get one of the silver labels made elsewhere. They are much easier to fit too. :cool:
You don't put anything sticky on the printer. You stick the aluminium to a piece of paper so that the printer prints on it. You only need to hold the aluminium in place. You can have any label you want in 2 minutes if you use that method.
 

guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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This is how it should have read:

Manufacturer: Mxus, China.
Max assistance: 15.5mph
250 watt motor

I wasn't overly bothered by separating the the top line, but the last line as supplied, not acceptable.




It looks good, but that's a lot of trouble for something I would prefer to buy. I'm not overly keen to put anything sticky into my laser printer. I'll have a think, and see if I can get one of the silver labels made elsewhere. They are much easier to fit too. :cool:
You appear to have some sort of image editing program... how about printing white lettering on black background, on white paper using your laser printer, cutting that out and sticking that on with double sided sticky tape, weatherproofing with clear vinyl over the top? There are bound to be MXUS logos somewhere on the interwebs. Personally, I'd go with thin photographic glossy paper.
 
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