BBC Breakfast item today on illegally modded ebikes

[Supersuperleeds]

Having only had an ebike for three months, when I'm looking at Strava segment leaderboards, the number of riders I'm spotting with blatently illegal motor assistance above the UK limit of 25kph (~15.5mph) is shocking.

I'm not talking about the motor vehicle speed times here, as many motorcyclists tag their rides as ebikes (which are somehow not being auto-flagged by the Strava system when exceeding 50mph on flat or uphill stretches of road), but derestricted ebikes doing ~20mph on draggy inclines or ~18mph up 4%+ sustained inclines.

Rules of Strava Leaderboards:

1) Any one higher than you has cheated
2) See rule 1.

 

[Drago]

Who the fook is he?

He's the engine whisperer!

Used to repair nuclear reactors for a living. Now in retirement makes the maddest motorbikes imaginable, such as a Viper V10 powered bike, an aero engined bike, and all sorts of unimaginably barking stuff. He designs it all in his head.

He also holds the world pillion speed record with Henry Cole on the V10 Viper bike.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

He's the engine whisperer!

Used to repair nuclear reactors for a living. Now in retirement makes the maddest motorbikes imaginable, such as a Viper V10 powered bike, an aero engined bike, and all sorts of unimaginably barking stuff. He designs it all in his head.

He also holds the world pillion speed record with Henry Cole on the V10 Viper bike.

Ah motorbikes, never interested me.

 

[presta]

Either my £1500 Wisper was especially weak, or these newer legal bikes put out a lot more torque for their 250W power

Were you aware that the 250W limit is for the average measured over 30 minutes? The short term peak power has no limit.

 

[raleighnut]

He's the nutcase highly qualified engineer who built a bike out of a 7 litre Dodge Viper V10 engine, he has also constructed many 4-5 and 6 cylinder Kawasaki 2 strokes and a few V12 4 stroke Kawasaki bikes from the 6 cylinder ones. He also built the 'Flying Millyard' a 5 litre V twin with cylinders from an aero engine after a conversation with Steve Parrish when he won a prize for his 100cc Honda V twin saying "well I won a prize for the smallest V-twin now I'm gonna build the biggest".

Tap his name into google and marvel at his creations, all look like 'factory bikes'.Oh he built a downhill MTB or 2 for his son with enclosed gearing and chaincase that acted as a swinging arm

I got his name slightly wrong, it's Allen Millyard,

The one to google is 'At Home With Allen Millyard | Genius Motorbike Engineer' he even talks about the Mini Engined Bantam done as a school project and his first bike a Malagutti that kept blowing up so he stuck a FS1E engine in it

Also the downhill MTB he built for his son

 

[Dadam]

To be honest, if they just made an effort to obey traffic regs and basically rode with some consideration, I wouldn't give a fig if they had 1000w and a throttle. And if they at least put a 10 quid set of lights on after dark!

Similarly with the scooters. Yes they're illegal but if they ride with consideration, I'm not too bothered. Unlike the guy who passed me in front of Elland Road Stadium the other day on the way to work. I was on the cycle path doing about 18-20 and this guy was on the pavement at the other side on a scooter and went past like I was standing still. Easily over 30mph.

 

[Dadam]

No idea if it's fashion or there's some practical reason but all the delivery riders I see round Leeds without exception seem to have more or less the same bikes, those fat tyred folding jobbies. And they all have stupidly long steerer tubes so the bars are at shoulder height. Looks really weird.

 

[ianrauk]

And they all have stupidly long steerer tubes so the bars are at shoulder height.

Along with very low saddle and pedaling very slowly whilst travelling at high speed.

 

[classic33]

Along with very low saddle and pedaling very slowly whilst travelling at high speed.

Never seen any of the riders in Leeds actually pedalling. Travelling at any speed.

 

[DRM]

A Mini 850 engine wouldn't fit into a Bantam frame. And why use an 850? The 1275 uses the same block put provides a lot more power.

this is very true, mine had all on fitting the single cyinder 125 engine in it

 

[raleighnut]

this is very true, mine had all on fitting the single cyinder 125 engine in it

If you look at the video clip where he talks about it he cut the frame in half then fastened it to the mini block as a school project

 

[DRM]

Never seen any of the riders in Leeds actually pedalling. Travelling at any speed.

I saw one on Friday afternoon rush hour tailgating a Volvo Estate along the A650 through East Ardsley & Tingley, the traffic was moving along at the 40 Mph limit, all without a turn of the pedals, not surprisingly it disappeared, ridden at a rate of knots towards Middleton

 

[HLaB]

In South East London on my commute, hooky e-bikes out number normal cycles. Only yesterday whilst cycling in London, one passed me on a segregated cycle path on the A200, I was doing 19mph (I checked) he shot past me as if I was standing still.

That reminds me. I had a drafter sitting on my wheel coming out of Cambridge on the guided busway when I was going a steady 19mph. A modified e bike shot by, the drafter jumped off my wheel in to the ebike's draft and lasted about 15secs before blowing up (in the energy sense) and grinding to a halt. He had no energy to try and get back on my wheel even if I'd been going 10mph

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Rules of Strava Leaderboards:

1) Any one higher than you has cheated
2) See rule 1.

The auto flagging of dodgy stuff does seem a bit rubbish

a while ago I realised that several of my ebike rides were flagged as walks
They had been there for ages and has an average walking speed of well over 10 mph!

 

[Cavalol]

Back in the 70's loads of us had 'field bikes', generally mopeds or small capacity motorbikes that we rode around farm lanes or the local quarry*.
These high powered e-bikes just seem a new version of this, no doubt 'older folks' were just as pished off by us back then.

* even Allan Millyard did it but being him he grafted a Mini 850 engine into a BSA Bantam frame..............by his own account it was lethal.

Must admit, we mostly stuck to fields on stripped Honda C90s, but we weren't averse to riding round roads (and pavements) late at night and early in the morning. Quite often with no exhaust.

Not for a minute saying I agree with illegal e-bikes being hammered about at crazy speeds, but you can see the advantages to the youth of today, because you can't hear them coming like a motorbike, or the now seemingly out-of-favour pit bikes.