Can't believe I've just seen this on Ebay

[Linford]

I was just having a look through Ebay to get a feel for the prices of a replacement roadie, and one of the associated adverts was this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/80cc-ENGINE-KIT-YOUR-ELECTRIC-BIKE-MOPED-BICYCLE-/160728520004?_trksid=p4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo=PI.WATCH&its=C%2BS&itu=UCC&otn=5&ps=63&clkid=6679882253244232810#ht_12535wt_1185

From the advert -

"I wanted to personally thank all of you for your help installing my bicycle engine kit because it literally helped save my job after my license got suspended! I needed reliable transportation fast and I had the kit fully installed the same day it arrived! I used e-mail support and your emails literally came in faster than I could read them—including pictures, and step-by-step illustrations! Then, you blew my mind and evened phoned me direct to walk me through the last bits personally! Your service is phenomenal and you guys are even helping me learn how to properly maintain my motorized bike. You guys literally saved my job and the service after the sale is world class!"​

Mark Appleby , Bristol. UK​

And then further down in the advert it says this

ROAD LEGALITY WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM​

UK Customers: will now have to register their completed vehicle as a moped (under 50cc) or a motorcycle (over 50cc) if to be used on british roads, this involves reg, tax and insurance and a vehicle saftey check by VOSA. We make no claims as to wether these kits will pass such tests, it depends on the quality of the work of the installer and upon satisfying all the criteria set out by VOSA before one can register the finalized vehicle. This has allready been done in the U.K by some of our customers.​

That permanently connected drive chain to the back wheel looks more than bit scary also as it doesn't have any sort of guard to protect the riders ankle....

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Caveat emptor...

 

[growingvegetables]

Google maps is your friend

 

[Bluenite]

This would not be legal in the UK......thank goodness. But i can imagine if the yobs round here could get it, they would.

 

[TheDoctor]

I've flagged this up to Ebay before.
There isn't a cat in hells chance of getting this road legal, and I don't believe any of their testimonials either. Brits don't say 'my license got suspended', and there's another one from someone who

would get home from classes so tired after having to pedal up hill after hill—I didn't have an ounce of energy left for my studies!​

Yeah, right. They're claimed to live in Cambridge. Cambridge doesn't have hills...

 

[Norm]

I love all the typos in the "feedback" - they're grate!

Hmm... maybe they are Cambridge undergrads after all.

 

[Camrider]

They're claimed to live in Cambridge. Cambridge doesn't have hills...

I'll have you know that its hard work getting up Castle Hill, and the railway bridges on Mill Rd and Hills Rd need a bit of a run up

 

[Speedywheelsjeans]

I will give each bicycle a few weeks before you have to start replacing spokes, shear frames, warp brake discs, destroy brake pads, wreck forks and basically destroy your bike. Very daft idea if I must say so myself... very poor marketing claims too..

Quote 'save over £1,000 a year' ...... £1000 a year on what? stop being a lazy sod and use the pedals like a normal person! Or better still stop being a public nuisance and losing your driving license in the first place, these things smell like trouble!

 

[CamPhil]

There isn't a snowflake in hells chance of being able to register that for road use - it would need to be a motorcycle, as it's over 50cc, and the prospect of getting any bicycle through the construction and use regulatory requirements are the square root of negligible (to put it mildly).
Just for a kick-off, can any upright bicycle meet the cornering clearance requirements with the pedals in any position?
I don't think moving pedals are compatible with the requirements for footrest mounting (one reason that "mopeds" became "nopeds").
How effective is the brake light? Or the horn?
And where the heck to you mount the number plate?
Let's not even start on what you need to do to make it legal to use at night.
There's a strong chance that even if you hadn't lost your licence before riding one of those things, taking one on the road would do the job (would anyone be prepared to insure it?)

 

[Rancid]

the square root of negligible

Sweet
That's me new ultra annoying phrase for the weekly IT meeting.

 

[mr_hippo]

There isn't a snowflake in hells chance of being able to register that for road use?

I remember cyclomotors and autocycles in my childhood. Check out the gallery on this site - http://www.thebuzzingclub.co.uk/archive/galindex.html
They are still out there!

 

[sidevalve]

There were many autocycles and "clip ons" just after the war and a good job they did too, for their time. Such names as BSA, velo solex, mini motor and even vincent come to mind. As for mounting the no plate I don't really see as that would be a problem, and if you make a habit of going round corners with the wrong pedal down on any bike, well I suspect you'll soon learn not to.
The fact that nowadays people don't seem to be able to use any powered device without killing themseves or someone else or breaking the law isn't really the fault of the bike. Sadly however I must agree that these a re a bad idea, mainly for the reasons above but also because if you really can't cope then electric bikes have more or less filled the gap the old "go to work plodders" left.

 

[Linford]

There were many autocycles and "clip ons" just after the war and a good job they did too, for their time. Such names as BSA, velo solex, mini motor and even vincent come to mind. As for mounting the no plate I don't really see as that would be a problem, and if you make a habit of going round corners with the wrong pedal down on any bike, well I suspect you'll soon learn not to.
The fact that nowadays people don't seem to be able to use any powered device without killing themseves or someone else or breaking the law isn't really the fault of the bike. Sadly however I must agree that these a re a bad idea, mainly for the reasons above but also because if you really can't cope then electric bikes have more or less filled the gap the old "go to work plodders" left.

I think by and large that driving and riding standards have improved, and part of this is because the tolerance for dangerous practices of vehicles has decreased. an 80cc motor on a cycle frame could easily propel the rider to 60mph+ with the right gearing, but the brakes would not be up to it, nor would the bearings, and the construction standard is variable as it is a kit to attach to any manner or quality of frame.

If anyone wanted to go and ride a motorised bike, they should go and buy a real one which has been designed and built as 'fit for purpose'

 

[Banjo]

ebay wont give a toss provided they get their fees.
I sent them a message about obviously counterfeit Pinarello frames being sold as genuine. All I got was an automated response and the add stayed live for months.

 

[slowmotion]

Will it get me up Ditchling...?