Street legal?

[Adwb]

Given my inability to cycle for more than a couple of miles and the use of throttle only being illegal in the U.K. I assume my choice becomes a street legal pedal bike , requiring licence , insurance And so on.
Do you mind if I enquire what brands are available in this category ?
Thank you.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Given my inability to cycle for more than a couple of miles and the use of throttle only being illegal in the U.K. I assume my choice becomes a street legal pedal bike , requiring licence , insurance And so on.
Do you mind if I enquire what brands are available in this category ?
Thank you.

Wisper do a throttle option https://wisperbikes.com/full-throttle-option/

Woosh - as I understand it, you have to peddle initially to get the throttle to work

Camino MTB electric bicycle from Woosh

The Woosh Camino, a very sturdy electric bike with hydraulic brakes 36V 15/17AH battery from Woosh. Price range: �£1049-�£1119.

wooshbikes.co.uk

"
If you don't want to pedal, use the thumb throttle (by simply pushing the throttle lever by your left grip with your thumb gently downward).
The bike will woosh you along nicely.
Please note that the throttle is not twist and go and activated only after you pedal a turn."

 

[saneagle]

Given my inability to cycle for more than a couple of miles and the use of throttle only being illegal in the U.K. I assume my choice becomes a street legal pedal bike , requiring licence , insurance And so on.
Do you mind if I enquire what brands are available in this category ?
Thank you.

Nobody cares about throttles. Nobody will check as long as you're not cruising around at 30 mph without pedalling.

 

[thelarkbox]

If you have the ability to rotate pedals with little or no resistance? may i introduce you to the concept of ghost pedaling

By selecting the lowest gear your bike has, and selecting maximum pedal assist mode, you effectively have full throttle as long as the pedals are turning they dont need to turn fast or even engage the gears/wheel drive at all, just keep them rotating .

Your only real input to cycling will be the initial pull away from junctions, lights etc in the lowest easy gear to pedal in , and once you have pedaled a revolution or 2 the motor kicks in and off you go..

 

[flecc]

Given my inability to cycle for more than a couple of miles and the use of throttle only being illegal in the U.K. I assume my choice becomes a street legal pedal bike , requiring licence , insurance And so on.
Do you mind if I enquire what brands are available in this category ?
Thank you.

No motor vehicle requirements are necessary to have a throttle on a legal pedelec, almost any of them qualify if taken through single vehicle approval at an authorised testing station. There's a £55 fee for doing that, plus the hassle of getting the pedelec to one of the small number of stations. Any supplier could do it for you, but to date only Wisper offer this service with new machines bought from them, for a fee to cover their costs.
.

 

[Nealh]

Wisper bikes if you want a legal twist and go with a V5 for proof, or a pedal first option throttle with the display setting set to zero start up & pedal first.

 

[Saracen]

Given my inability to cycle for more than a couple of miles and the use of throttle only being illegal in the U.K. I assume my choice becomes a street legal pedal bike , requiring licence , insurance And so on.
Do you mind if I enquire what brands are available in this category ?
Thank you.

Well surely insurance is common-sense for cyclists anyway !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Saracen]

Nobody cares about throttles. Nobody will check as long as you're not cruising around at 30 mph without pedalling.

100% wrong, there are many locations in Wales that ban throttles, off road, any many will report people using them, also it is flippant to say no one cares, if a cyclist with a throttle hit me, the car etc I would not hesitate to involve the Police

"as long as you're not cruising around at 30 mph without pedalling."

But that IS what the idiots do

 

[soundwave]

i can paddle going nearly 40 mph

 

[AGS]

100% wrong, there are many locations in Wales that ban throttles, off road, any many will report people using them, also it is flippant to say no one cares, if a cyclist with a throttle hit me, the car etc I would not hesitate to involve the Police

"as long as you're not cruising around at 30 mph without pedalling."

But that IS what the idiots do

Well in that case many locations in Wales are illegally banning the use of throttles and are 100% wrong.

As Wales is in the UK it must abide by UK law, and UK law does not ban the use of throttles on e-bikes.

 

[StuartsProjects]

100% wrong, there are many locations in Wales that ban throttles, off road, any many will report people using them, also it is flippant to say no one cares, if a cyclist with a throttle hit me, the car etc I would not hesitate to involve the Police

I agree.

The flippant 'nobody bothers' attitude might be fine for some regular law breakers.

These days, injure someone with your bike, even if it may be not your fault, and there is a distinct possibilty that you could be sued for very large amounts on money. If the bike is 'illegal' does that improve your chances of a defense ?

I own my house, fortunatly, and I would rather not risk losing it by being persued by a team of no win no fee laywers.

 

[Craiggor 2]

Well in that case many locations in Wales are illegally banning the use of throttles and are 100% wrong.

As Wales is in the UK it must abide by UK law, and UK law does not ban the use of throttles on e-bikes.

I think Saracen is talking about private mountain bike courses.

 

[saneagle]

100% wrong, there are many locations in Wales that ban throttles, off road, any many will report people using them, also it is flippant to say no one cares, if a cyclist with a throttle hit me, the car etc I would not hesitate to involve the Police

"as long as you're not cruising around at 30 mph without pedalling."

But that IS what the idiots do

I keep telling you throttles are not illegal and never have been.

 

[Adwb]

I keep telling you throttles are not illegal and never have been.

please can you explain under what circumstances they are legal when they are not?
My possibly erroneous understand is that you must have the pedals rotating even if “ghost” pedalling, and you cannot travel even at legal speeds via a throttle with the pedals not rotating.

 

[saneagle]

please can you explain under what circumstances they are legal when they are not?
My possibly erroneous understand is that you must have the pedals rotating even if “ghost” pedalling, and you cannot travel even at legal speeds via a throttle with the pedals not rotating.

Any throttle is legal. All it is is a sensor that gives an input to the controller, the same as any pedal sensor does. There is no rule or law prohibiting them. The laws relate to the way the controller works, nothing to do with the throttle. It's not allowed to give power to the motor unless the pedals are turning except when the speed is below 6km/hr. You can use any device you want as a sensor to regulate the speed.

The misunderstanding comes from people not understanding what a throttle is. It's called a throttle because it restricts the flow of air going into an IC engine, so can be used as a speed or power regulator. There is no such thing for an ebike because there is no airflow to power the motor. What we call an ebike throttle should be called a speed controller because they don't throttle anything.

Many ebikes have a hall sensor to show when the pedals are turning. When a magnet comes to a hall sensor, it changes the amount of electricity that goes through it, so a series of rotating magnets give a pulsing signal, which the controller interprets as pedalling.

Ebike "throttles" have a single hall sensor and two magnets. By twisting the grip, the magnets change the amount of electricity that goes through it, so the controller can read that as a signal, then, according to its programming, decide what to do.

The controller is a microcoprocessor that has a range of inputs and outputs and a set of instructions.

In summary, if you say a throttle is illegal, you might just as well say that the battery is illegal or the motor is illegal because they have more effect on the bike moving than a sensor. Any bike can be made to go without pedalling and without even having a "throttle" if you program the controller that way. Did you know that even the Bosch system can make the bike go fast without pedalling if you have the right password?

 

[Az.]

please can you explain under what circumstances they are legal when they are not?
My possibly erroneous understand is that you must have the pedals rotating even if “ghost” pedalling, and you cannot travel even at legal speeds via a throttle with the pedals not rotating.

Why won't you read again what was written in this thread and pay special attention to what Flecc said?

 

[Adwb]

If you have the ability to rotate pedals with little or no resistance? may i introduce you to the concept of ghost pedaling

By selecting the lowest gear your bike has, and selecting maximum pedal assist mode, you effectively have full throttle as long as the pedals are turning they dont need to turn fast or even engage the gears/wheel drive at all, just keep them rotating .

Your only real input to cycling will be the initial pull away from junctions, lights etc in the lowest easy gear to pedal in , and once you have pedaled a revolution or 2 the motor kicks in and off you go..

Thank you had not thought of that option.

 

[Adwb]

Why won't you read again what was written in this thread and pay special attention to what Flecc said?

If you can’t be constructive why answer? The reply from flec while welcome did not answer my original question and my 2nd further question which was actually addressed to Saneeagle (hence the inclusion of his previous reply.)
His excellent detailed response is useful not for my understanding but giving a sound basis to a future discussion with any form of law enforcement , over the use of a throttle and not pedalling an e-bike in the U.K.

 

[guerney]

If because of an unanticipated stop, I haven't managed to change to a low enough gear to easily get moving again, I lean the bike to one side on it's kickstand, thereby lifting the electrically driven rear wheel off the ground, then switch to a lower gear and turn the crank, until I am on the suitably low gear for takeoff. On my 20" wheeled bike, gears 3 or 4 (out of 8) are appropriately easy and fast enough for that purpose. Very shortly after I've taken off, I rapidly click through higher gears, with power to the motor being automatically disengaged between each gear shift by the BBS01B's gear sensor. There's no crunching.

On flat ground at least, it is possible to get moving on my highest gear by standing on the pedals, and after detection of rotation, mid-motor assistance has no problem taking over, but I don't like doing that - too much effort for my old knees.

 

[Az.]

If you can’t be constructive why answer?

I was being constructive. I pointed you out to answer to your question and to what you are looking for.

The reply from flec while welcome did not answer my original question and my 2nd further question which was actually addressed to Saneeagle (hence the inclusion of his previous reply.)

Lets agree to disagree. We all now e-bike throttle is not really a throttle... yet everybody is using that term.

Flecc shown you a way how to have full acting throttle on road legal EAPC. I thought you might have missed that and that is why I suggested to read thread again.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Also see https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/woosh-big-bear-throttle.38170/post-566498