April 4, 20215 yr My Wife and I have a FreeGo fold up each and having read the article on Pedelec Law I checked the bikes and foun the metallic labels with the legal spec on them... However they are small and I needed a magnifying glass to read them.. If we get stopped by Police this could be tricky. Does anyone know where I can get spare labels (larger) to stick on the bikes just in case? Many thanks.
April 4, 20215 yr My Wife and I have a FreeGo fold up each and having read the article on Pedelec Law I checked the bikes and foun the metallic labels with the legal spec on them... However they are small and I needed a magnifying glass to read them.. If we get stopped by Police this could be tricky. Does anyone know where I can get spare labels (larger) to stick on the bikes just in case? Many thanks. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=250w+ebike+labels&_sacat=0 https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=ebike+sticker&_sacat=0 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/36V-250W-Ebike-legal-Label/164208057541? They're supposed to simply peel, off but often the glue (if printed a long time ago) has hardened on - be prepared to apply your own glue (or transparent tape over it), and buy at least two, in case one rips while you're trying to peel off the backing...
April 4, 20215 yr My own feeling is it's best to leave it as it is - that is, exactly as it came out of the factory. That you can't read it doesn't matter: You know it's there, it's compliant with the law, it's "original" as the bike was supplied to you and it hasn't been altered. To slap these ebay stickers over your bike might suggest to plod that you're trying to disguise or hide something, even though you're not. My own e-bike has four lines of incredibly small text at the very bottom of the seat-post, printed in white over a silver metallic frame colour. It's so difficult to even see never mind try and read, and it took me a good while to even realise it was there. But it is there, it's as the manufacturer printed it, and it shows the bike and labelling is compliant. All I need to do is point to it if I get stopped! That seems a better defence that trying to argue your non-original sticky label does in fact represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
April 4, 20215 yr My own feeling is it's best to leave it as it is - that is, exactly as it came out of the factory. That you can't read it doesn't matter: You know it's there, it's compliant with the law, it's "original" as the bike was supplied to you and it hasn't been altered. To slap these ebay stickers over your bike might suggest to plod that you're trying to disguise or hide something, even though you're not. My own e-bike has four lines of incredibly small text at the very bottom of the seat-post, printed in white over a silver metallic frame colour. It's so difficult to even see never mind try and read, and it took me a good while to even realise it was there. But it is there, it's as the manufacturer printed it, and it shows the bike and labelling is compliant. All I need to do is point to it if I get stopped! That seems a better defence that trying to argue your non-original sticky label does in fact represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! I got the labels in case the cops are extremely lazy and don't want to wait for me to turn my bike upside down in the middle of the road to show them the version sandblasted on my motor. The sandblasted lettering is often hidden by mud and hard to see in the dark, so there'd be wiping and talking and "I can't see it" etc... Saves time.
April 4, 20215 yr My Wife and I have a FreeGo fold up each and having read the article on Pedelec Law I checked the bikes and foun the metallic labels with the legal spec on them... However they are small and I needed a magnifying glass to read them.. If we get stopped by Police this could be tricky. Does anyone know where I can get spare labels (larger) to stick on the bikes just in case? Many thanks. I wouldn't worry too much. For most of the life of pedelecs they haven't even been labelled or haven't had the required information on the label but it doesn't seem to have worried the police. A number of our UK police forces have actually used e-bikes for various duties or for trial periods, often using pedelecs that weren't fully legally labelled. I can't see a police officer attempting a prosecution on such a technicality, especially when your bikes do have all the required information. .
April 4, 20215 yr A number of our UK police forces have actually used e-bikes for various duties or for trial periods, often using pedelecs that weren't fully legally labelled. It's good that we pedelecers have a spy in their midst! Are they using 250W 36V? Can we make citizen's arrests of Police officers? Oh no - are you a double agent?!?! We may have to get you to pass on false information, to find out...
April 4, 20215 yr Author My own feeling is it's best to leave it as it is - that is, exactly as it came out of the factory. That you can't read it doesn't matter: You know it's there, it's compliant with the law, it's "original" as the bike was supplied to you and it hasn't been altered. To slap these ebay stickers over your bike might suggest to plod that you're trying to disguise or hide something, even though you're not. My own e-bike has four lines of incredibly small text at the very bottom of the seat-post, printed in white over a silver metallic frame colour. It's so difficult to even see never mind try and read, and it took me a good while to even realise it was there. But it is there, it's as the manufacturer printed it, and it shows the bike and labelling is compliant. All I need to do is point to it if I get stopped! That seems a better defence that trying to argue your non-original sticky label does in fact represent the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Thank you seems seem sensible to me we have been riding them for the past three years with no challenges.
April 5, 20215 yr It's good that we pedelecers have a spy in their midst! Are they using 250W 36V? Can we make citizen's arrests of Police officers? Oh no - are you a double agent?!?! We may have to get you to pass on false information, to find out... Yes, 36 volt 250 watts during many of the years when our British EAPC law limited pedelecs to 200 watts. That never worried the police riding them, so a label certainly wouldn't. Devon and Cornwall police ride Segways on their local streets at least once a year and the use of those on the roads is strictly forbidden in law. .
April 5, 20215 yr want to wait for me to turn my bike upside down in the middle of the road to show them the version sandblasted on my motor. The sandblasted lettering is often hidden by mud and hard to see in the dark, That's their job. Innocent until proven guilty. Tell them where it is, and if they want to inspect it, they can do so. It's absolutely not your job to prove innocence. Avoid eBay stickers, if anything suggests guilt, it's these.
April 5, 20215 yr Devon and Cornwall police ride Segways on their local streets at least once a year and the use of those on the roads is strictly forbidden in law. Oh good! It's much easier to rugby tackle and citizen's arrest a corrupt copper riding a Segway...
April 5, 20215 yr That's their job. Innocent until proven guilty. Tell them where it is, and if they want to inspect it, they can do so. It's absolutely not your job to prove innocence. Avoid eBay stickers, if anything suggests guilt, it's these. Yes, but I am guity - no Bafang BBSXXX motor kit is strictly UK legal, because speed can be easily modified, either through the display or by tweaking the firmware via a USB cable. My strategy is to bamboozle them with bullshit, facilitated in part by use of numerous labels, hoping that at the end of that process, their eventual sight of the manufacturer sandblasted "250W 36V" lettering under the motor will clinch a roadside not-guilty verdict, from cops who don't know pedelec law.
April 5, 20215 yr The police won't be randomly stopping rogue ebikes, they will have a targeted purge, a taskforce, along with PR for the press for future deterrent. They will be fully prepared will all the relevant regulations and information on how to check. Stickers won't fool them for a minute, they will know exactly what they are looking for. Most eBay kits stand out a mile anyway, the bodged on kit fitted to a standard bike.
April 5, 20215 yr ...from cops who don't know pedelec law. There's always this assumption that there's us, the e-bike user/rider/enthusiast... and plod who know absolutely nothing whatsoever about the topic. I'm guessing that under some of those uniforms, there'll be an increasing number of e-bike enthusiasts too. There may well be a number of them reading this... One of these days, there will be a day of reckoning... and anything BBS is such a visually distinctive and natural target for stopping!
April 5, 20215 yr So called bodged on kits can look very good, my Arkose is a strict 25km/h cut off no display or any type of switch, comfortably can tootle along at 30+ km/h. A lot of diy kits look less obvious then todays monster BB welded on mid drives. Edited April 5, 20215 yr by Nealh
April 5, 20215 yr One of these days, there will be a day of reckoning... and anything BBS is such a visually distinctive and natural target for stopping! With all the new ebikes/conversions on the roads, that day may be sooner than might have been pre-pandemic. Plan B is to outrun or outmaneuver them, and I have been preparing - but I suspect, not yet enough...
April 5, 20215 yr Most eBay kits stand out a mile anyway, the bodged on kit fitted to a standard bike. Does this look bodged on to you? Oh. I see what you mean
April 5, 20215 yr The police won't be randomly stopping rogue ebikes, they will have a targeted purge, a taskforce, along with PR for the press for future deterrent. They will be fully prepared will all the relevant regulations and information on how to check. Stickers won't fool them for a minute, they will know exactly what they are looking for. Wake me up when this happens. YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE COPPER!!!!!
April 5, 20215 yr Does this look bodged on to you? Oh. I see what you mean [ATTACH type=full" alt="41719]41719[/ATTACH] Yes, if I was plod, it would be an easy spot. Wires cable ties to the frame, check, random brackets check... It's probably got Bafang on the motor casing...
April 5, 20215 yr Yes, if I was plod, it would be an easy spot. Wires cable ties to the frame, check, random brackets check... It's probably got Bafang on the motor casing... Any blanket crackdown on Chinese slightly illegal self-converted ebikes, and cheap Chinese manufactured ebikes with throttles which propel beyond 6km/h, would be far too large to manage. I don't know the stats (there must be some somewhere), but I assume because they're usually cheaper, they outnumber the more expensive totally legal brands. There's not as much glory in (or revenue) stopping a cyclist, compared to stopping a car driver, and a lot of cops seem to be glory hounds.
April 5, 20215 yr Indeed, nothing will happen until something bad happens, someone on a petrol powered bycycle seriously injures someone on a pavement and the press run with illegal pushbike insured pedestrian. Already seeing this happening in my area, an influx of cheap Chinese e-scooters with no max limit, fat tyres and more like sit on motorcycles, being used on pavements all over the place. The police then have a massive clamp down..
April 5, 20215 yr Indeed, nothing will happen until something bad happens, someone on a petrol powered bycycle seriously injures someone on a pavement and the press run with illegal pushbike insured pedestrian. Already seeing this happening in my area, an influx of cheap Chinese e-scooters with no max limit, fat tyres and more like sit on motorcycles, being used on pavements all over the place. The police then have a massive clamp down.. Yep, I was overtaken walking on the pavement by one of those guys the other night -he was dressed like a ninja, looked furtive and on the down low lol. In constast, I'm dressed head to toe in dayglow reflective - including my BMX helmet. Like the man who has just jumped off a tall building "So far, so good..."
April 5, 20215 yr Does this look bodged on to you? Oh. I see what you mean [ATTACH type=full" alt="41719]41719[/ATTACH] Surely you can't ride it with that seat angle. If so, you should be busted for crimes against gonads
April 5, 20215 yr Yes, if I was plod, it would be an easy spot. Wires cable ties to the frame, check, random brackets check... It's probably got Bafang on the motor casing... None of the above makes it illegal.
April 5, 20215 yr Surely you can't ride it with that seat angle. If so, you should be busted for crimes against gonads My gonads have sued me on many occasions for many abuses, but oddly... that really is the most comfortable angle. I don't understand it either - it's extremely comfortable at that angle, no matter how many hours I ride my bike, and there's no chance that my long suffering gonads are ever abused by the bike seat - when I'm wearing undercrackers...
May 5, 20214 yr None of the above makes it illegal Never said it did. I said it's a giveaway for a homebuild that is almost certainly illegal.
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