eBikes are illegal

[mjr]

I've been reading threads about e-bikes (and e-scooters) in local forums and this one, and have come to the conclusion that one effective way to stop the overpowered ones is to legislate to make selling them illegal if there is any way they could possibly be converted to be used above the legal power-assist limits. In other words: cut off this problem at the point of sale.

That sounds like it won't stop them because there's loads of them already here and there'll be a steady stream of "grey imports" across the border. It might reduce it a bit, but "if there is any way they could possibly be converted to be used above the legal power-assist limits" sounds like a recipe for making almost all e-bikes illegal (there's usually a way to fool the assistance sensor, and often a way to tell it you've fitted smaller wheels which will result in exceeding the cut-off speed if you haven't) or it might help manufacturers lock the bikes down to the point that they can't be repaired except by the manufacturer or their anointed priests. Neither of those is an effect I'd like to see.

Otherwise, we'll continue seeing traders selling them and using the usual BS disclaimers about them only being legal in off-road environments, etc., and then having people buy them and use them at unreasonable speeds on public roads and paths.

Many of the sellers don't bother with disclaimers, as far as I've seen. So as a next step, I would support requiring large hard-to-ignore notices of the illegality on all shop display models and all packaging, and also require registration of the owners of any non-type-approved motorcycle. This should be possible because we have laws about packaging other harmful things like cigarettes and already require registration of other motor vehicles.

Other than that, the real solution remains tackling the companies who like to pretend that they thought they had a pool of casual delivery riders that could beat Mark Cavendish hollow day after day, rather than knowing they're on illegal motorbikes.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

That sounds like it won't stop them because there's loads of them already here and there'll be a steady stream of "grey imports" across the border. It might reduce it a bit, but "if there is any way they could possibly be converted to be used above the legal power-assist limits" sounds like a recipe for making almost all e-bikes illegal (there's usually a way to fool the assistance sensor, and often a way to tell it you've fitted smaller wheels which will result in exceeding the cut-off speed if you haven't) or it might help manufacturers lock the bikes down to the point that they can't be repaired except by the manufacturer or their anointed priests. Neither of those is an effect I'd like to see.


Many of the sellers don't bother with disclaimers, as far as I've seen. So as a next step, I would support requiring large hard-to-ignore notices of the illegality on all shop display models and all packaging, and also require registration of the owners of any non-type-approved motorcycle. This should be possible because we have laws about packaging other harmful things like cigarettes and already require registration of other motor vehicles.

Other than that, the real solution remains tackling the companies who like to pretend that they thought they had a pool of casual delivery riders that could beat Mark Cavendish hollow day after day, rather than knowing they're on illegal motorbikes.

Bosch lock their system down a lot

which is a right pain if something goes wrong

but it would still be quite simply to fool the speed sensor - just move the magnet to the pedal and nail the detector to the frame near it
The speed would register much slower and the system would happily carry on delivering power past 15.5 mph

I don't - but anyone with half a brain and a smidgen of knowledge can see it

 

[rydabent]

That got your attention didn't it! Well that's what Bedfordshire Police seem to think, I've filed a complaint. I'll hold back on sharing this nonsense with the press (I'm thinking RoadCC, CyclingUK, GCN) until I get a response...or maybe if enough of you tell me to go the press I'll just do it anyway Here's the offending post. It's pretty easy to find on their facebook page if you want to take a look yourself

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That kind of nonsense is insane. The B'crats or the police that come up with that nonsense should be jobless.

 

[Boopop]

Update on this since @rydabent 's comment reminded me of this post.

I attended a town council meeting involving the police and crime comissioner at the start of the week, he described the original post as a "horrendous error". I've got his card in a drawer behind me, planning on writing an email to him later today as I'm hoping we/I can establish friendly relations with either him (I know the PCC role is going the way of the dodo soon) or someone else at the police to actually do some schemes that help cyclists ride safe, such as driver education, close pass mat and so on. Fingers crossed.