BBC Breakfast item today on illegally modded ebikes

[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.