Throttle function on Volt Pulse.

[wireman]

HI All. I bought my first ebike.a second hand Volt Pulse, in late 2020. It came with all the paperwork including the original till receipts and a card indicating the frame number.
Although it's a heavy old thing with a badly sagging battery, I still use it occasionally for short trips. I have always been uneasy about the legality of the throttle function though, as it gives assistance at all speeds and not just to the 6kmph limit. In fact I would say it functions at any speed (up to the 25kmph cut out speed) even without pedaling!
My question is, does it have some sort of 'grandfather rights' being originally sold in July 2017 or has it perhaps been modded? I want to be legal so am feeling like removing the throttle,but is this ott? Any advice would be welcome.

 

[Nealh]

For full throttle the bike would have to be pre 2016 built for GF rights.

 

[wireman]

Thanks Nealh for your reply.
I ‘ll email Volt themselves, with the frame number, to see what they say.

 

[Benjahmin]

There should be no problem with a full acting throttle so long as it's used sensibly. I use mine only for hill starts, starts if I've stopped in the wrong gear and getting out of junctions quickly.
I never use it without pedaling.

 

[wireman]

Yes, that’s how I ever used it: when trying to restart on a steep hill.
I’ve just had a reply from the manufacturer. They agree it’s not legal and suggest the bike must have been tampered with by the previous owner or other third party. They suggest returning it to the retailer. Unfortunately I live nowhere near, so that’s out of the question. In any case that sounds like more £££ going out. If only I had bought a kit with a kt controller and lcd3 or similar. Then I could just set it myself. But with the Volt ‘C1’ lcd (whatever that is) I would be totally in the dark if I ventured to enter the setup menu. I feel the risk of inadvertently screwing up other important settings would be too great.
I think I’ll just live with it for now.

 

[Benjahmin]

This is the grey area of throttles.
Some manufacturers supply throttles for their buyers to retrofit. They are specifically not allowed to fit a throttle unless type approved. Howver, as far as I'm aware, there is no specific prohibition on throttles with kits. When does an installation become a kit?
I think, with sensible use, you will have no problem.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

Yes the 25KM/h assistance speed limit is surely the priority. A throttle gives much better control of speed than a cadence sensor typically so is much safer. Maybe the UK law will be reinstated as the EU law doesn't really do anything sensible at all that we started complying with in 2016. Of course you won't be able to take your ebike on the continent as illegal but in the UK the police have bigger fish to fry than whether a throttle only works when pedalling unless sold prior to 2016. Surely they have their hands full dealing with all the schoolkids stabbing each other to worry about that. A recent debate on here showed you can legally use a ebike today with a twist and go throttle if its been individually tested so not only have you got pre-2016 twist and go ebikes you will have a small amount of ebikes legally sold today that have been tested. It's all a load of bureaucratic nonsense really. Also loads of voilamart kits have been sold across Europe with people operating the bikes on throttles up to 15.5mph/25km/h because the restricted mode to 15.5mph only works in throttle mode without using a cadence sensor. If you enable the cadence sensor it gives unrestricted speed I think. This might vary by kit.

Wisper announce DVSA-approved full throttle models – Pedelecs – Electric Bike Community

www.pedelecs.co.uk