Good throttle-only bike, in cont.Europe?

[arnoldus]

Hello,

I'm looking for a quality throttle-only e-bike that:
* can comfortably do 25km/h (and perhaps a little bit more with a special unlocked mode, but not necessary)
* is easy to buy in Belgium/W-Europe or by post (I'd rather not take a trip to the UK just for a bike purchase)
* is cheaper than, or around 1000£.
* battery is somewhat theft-proof (battery shouldn't be easy to remove for a thief)

I'd be thankful for some advice about the different options. I've checked in February but it seems the market changes and improves frequently.
Are there any such models that can be bought secondhand?

 

[arnoldus]

If I'm correct, only the Ultramotor A2B and the Whisper 905 are capable of this?

 

[flecc]

I very much doubt if there are any on the mainland since throttle only operation is illegal in the mainland EU. I'd think the only possibility is if there is an imported one from a local supplier that can easily be reverted to throttle only operation.

I'd think some UK suppliers could oblige though, with one couriered to you.
.

 

[LafRo]

Trottle operation is not illegal in Holland but you need to have a bike that cannot exceed 25km/h. The bike must have a license plate and you need a moped drivers license.
Sachs has a quality bike that can be used as pedelec or e-bike.
Sachs - 3 in 1 Fietsen

 

[Cyclezee]

Hello,

I'm looking for a quality throttle-only e-bike that:
* can comfortably do 25km/h (and perhaps a little bit more with a special unlocked mode, but not necessary)
* is easy to buy in Belgium/W-Europe or by post (I'd rather not take a trip to the UK just for a bike purchase)
* is cheaper than, or around 1000£.
* battery is somewhat theft-proof (battery shouldn't be easy to remove for a thief)

I'd be thankful for some advice about the different options. I've checked in February but it seems the market changes and improves frequently.
Are there any such models that can be bought secondhand?

Hi Arnoldus,

Ezee have a range of tri-modal bikes, i.e. throttle only, pedelec or just pedal which would do exactly what you want. But, you could save to cost of buying and importing a bike, with a kit like this eZee Electric Bike kit and fit it to a locally sourced bike of your choice. Just a thought.

J hn

 

[flecc]

Trottle operation is not illegal in Holland but you need to have a bike that cannot exceed 25km/h. The bike must have a license plate and you need a moped drivers license.
Sachs has a quality bike that can be used as pedelec or e-bike.
Sachs - 3 in 1 Fietsen

Is that true Robert, throttle without any pedalling permitted? That's against the EU regulations which I thought applied there as well since it was a mandatory order on all member states on May 9th 2003.
.

 

[Alex728]

Is that true Robert, throttle without any pedalling permitted? That's against the EU regulations which I thought applied there as well since it was a mandatory order on all member states on May 9th 2003.
.

I think he means you need a bromfiets license.

My Dutch is very basic but I've been trying to read the sites about bikes and the impression I got was that until very recently (this year?) you didn't even need to do any sort of test like CBT and just wrote off for the license and got it - but the Dutch traffic authorities are now introducing this (EU rules)....

I'm not sure how the cops would enforce this law though, would they actually bother to watch people to check they aren't "cheating?"

 

[brucehawsker]

Hi Flecc,

It is rare you are wrong!

The rule on the continent enshrined in some EN whose number I can't remember is that throttles are legal below 6km/hr. This is so called "walking mode" when you walk beside your bike using the throttle instead of pushing....

Not sure why that is so useful though....

 

[flecc]

Hi Flecc,

It is rare you are wrong!

The rule on the continent enshrined in some EN whose number I can't remember is that throttles are legal below 6km/hr. This is so called "walking mode" when you walk beside your bike using the throttle instead of pushing....

Not sure why that is so useful though....

No, I'm not wrong there, since I've already posted many times about the 6 kph throttles and all the information is on my websites as well.

But of course these are very different things, only operating at walking speeds. To complete your information on these, in Britain that is part of the Pedestrian Controlled Vehicles legislation which limit powered speed to 4 mph, and this old law is for the electric barrows in use by the Post Office and others. The EU has a similar law with the fractionally slower 6 kph limit (3.6 mph). Neither were e-bike law originally, but an e-bike walked alongside can conform and take advantage of that law.

The usefulness is for those occasions when a hill is too steep for someone to cycle up even with their e-power, so then at least the bike weight can be propelled under it's own power then for the person to just walk alongside.

The first company to fit these were BikeTec of Switzerland as an option on their Flyer models using the Panasonic unit, but since then Panasonic have adopted it as an option for all their later units.

Alex728

Thanks, I carelessly missed that added part of Robert's post so misread his meaning. We have the same law which is EU wide, it's the low-powered moped class, power limited to 1000 watts rating, speed to 15.5 mph, all moped legal provisions apply.
.

 

[arnoldus]

Thanks for the suggestions.
The Sachs bike looks exactly what I need, but is 2500€, currently a bit too much for my taste. Are all such bikes going to be in this price range?

 

[LafRo]

Is that true Robert, throttle without any pedalling permitted? That's against the EU regulations which I thought applied there as well since it was a mandatory order on all member states on May 9th 2003.
.

Until from 1996 to the first of October 2009 people in Holland needed a "bromfiets" certificate. Everyone born before the first of June 1980 could get it against payment at the city hall. People born after this date needed to do a theoretic exam. The minimum age for the certificate is 16 years.
With this certificate they could ride a "bromfiets" or scooter up to 45km/h with helmet, a "snorfiets" or scooter up to 25km/h without helmet. You could also drive a "Spartamet" (a bike with little 2 stroke engine in the rear wheel) or ride an e-bike (throttle) up to 25km/u.
From 1 October 2006 until the 1 October 2009 the certificates need to be traded in for a "AM" drivers license.
From 1 October on people of 16 years and older have to do a theoretical and practical exam to get the "AM" drivers licence.
People that have the normal car or motorcycle drivers license don't need the "AM" license.

So everyone who has the "AM" or car / motorcycle license can use an e-bike with throttle up to 25km/h provided the bike has a license plate.

 

[flecc]

So everyone who has the "AM" or car / motorcycle license can use an e-bike with throttle up to 25km/h provided the bike has a license plate.

Thanks Robert, as i noted above on this link I had carelessly missed part of what you posted since you mentioned "e-bike". Its almost the same as in the UK in fact, just that we call it a different thing, the "low powered moped" class, but both are effectively EU wide vehicle law as well.

You can see the details of that EU class on our government webpage below, scroll down to Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval and the "Low Power Moped" class is shown there:

SVA fees
.