I think you're all misunderstanding the situation.
- The motor is a legal 250w motor because it's marked 250w and rated at that by Bafang.
- It's identical to the 500w BBS02 in all respects apart from the marking.
- It comes programmed for 25 amps, not 15 amps, so is nearly twice as powerful as the 15A BBS01
- The speed is adjustable via the LCD. You can set the maximum speed anywhere you want (15 .5 mph) up to about 40 mph.
- The reprogramming that you can do via a special cable affects other characteristics and isn't necessary to make it legal, nor to change it to full power.
- Each level on the display relates to a different current, so if you want less power, you can turn it down using the normal power control buttons. The number of levels can be adjusted with the LCD buttons (I think 3, 5, 7 or 9 levels). The levels are pre-programmed, though you can change them with the programming lead.
Nah, pretty much as I though, so thanks for your clear clarification.
The setting of the amps (thus restricting power) via the programming software is fine and, so I'm told, upon request can be programmed at factory when the controllers are manufactured (flashed with 15A max settings opposed to 25A).
Equally, the max. speed that the power will be delivered up to can be set via the software to max 25kph to override the onboard display's ability to allow this on the fly if you will, so the rider cannot increase this via the second back menu accessed with the code.
I think the only concern I had outstanding, was whether it could be viewed as a clear effort to deceive and get around the law of the relevant country?
From my view, it's just an uprated motor set to run way below it's potential, thus offering greater protection if maltreated (pushed hard uphill on throttle or with too low/slow cadence and heavily loaded).
Apart from the slightly higher cost and marginal weight increase from more copper etc. inside the unit, I can't really see any problems with running a 36V 500W at these lower 'dialled-down' settings.
Thanks again for everybody's input