Just curious having tried a few different motors recently. I tried a bike with an Active Line motor, specification and price to die for but just couldn't get past the annoyance that above 15mph/25kph the bike switched instantaneously from feeling like I had bionic legs to feeling like I was cycling through treacle. I tried an Active Line Plus bike that didn't have such a noticeable effect, and the shop assistant said he had a Yamaha that he didn't think had such a sharp cutoff. I read somewhere on this forum someone complaining that their STEPS motor did something similar. I read conflicting accounts of the Bosch Performance Line motor, which is frustrating given I was considering very expensive bike purchase that had one.
So it got me thinking, what happens at 16mph/26pmh? Does the motor continue to draw the same power it was using 1mph slower, or does it cut all power from the battery? Why the sudden feeling of hitting treacle, and are there any motors that don't provide this sensation? Are hub motors any better?
Most of my flat asphalt cycling is around 16-17mph so I need a bike that isn't going to keep cutting out and hit treacle just as I get up to cruising speed. Incidentally I need to be road legal so tampering with the electronics to bypass the restriction isn't an option for me. Finding a more subtle motor is.
Legal electrical assistance can only take place up to 15MPH. Above that speed, the assistance is stopped, and also power is removed from the motor.
Having motor assistance that goes beyond 15MPH, which the police will check for, if you are ever involved in any form of an accident, to possibly your detriment.
If you wish for a higher speed e-bike, the bike has to be properly registered and insured, with number plates.
My thoughts only, but probably as either a motorbike or a moped.
It would possibly be best to actually buy such an e-bike, built to be registered, rather than "change" a bike that was only designed for up to 15MPH.....
Apparently, many bikes have been altered to exceed the legal limits, one of the owners of such bikes, has recently "paid" for this by apparently having to sell his house to pay the damages after hitting a pedestrian on a Zebra crossing. He also lacked proper representation in court, which was his undoing, plus he did not take the "safe" option of stopping completely, as he should have done!
Judge rules that bike riders “must be prepared at all times for people to behave in unexpected ways.”
road.cc
Do not forget, you can buy bike insurance, but whether the company pays out when you ride illegally in some proven way is not a given....which is a misunderstanding many seem to have!
Another person in the UK is waiting on his court case (spring 2020) after hitting and killing an old lady, while riding an e-bike, with apparently, a very high speed assistance.
He knew he was at fault as he left the injured woman lying in the road, dumped his bike some way away, and hoped he would not be found! But CCTV video along his route had taken good likenesses of him both before and after the accident, and the accident itself!
NO CHANCE.
I am guessing, but he is probably up for manslaughter. And really, who needs that?
A WOMAN has died two weeks after she was mowed down by a hit-and-run cyclist on an electric-powered bike. Sakine Cihan, 56, was fatally injured in the crash that saw the cyclist fleeing the scene, …
www.thesun.co.uk
Sakine Cihan (pictured), 56, was left fighting for her life following the crash in Dalston, on August 28 during rush hour. Met Police believe her e-bike collision death was the first of its kind in London.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Even non e-bikes can get you into prison if someone is injured, the law is quite clear on that point:-
Alliston jailed over death of Kim Briggs, who sustained ‘catastrophic’ head injuries in east London collision last year
www.theguardian.com
Its a personal choice what you do of course, just as long as you take responsibility for your own actions.
Have a good day and I hope this post helps you with your decision making.
Andy
