Over powered bikes that are resticted.

[classic33]

I can't see the police pulling you over to question if that things legal.

It's not illegal to sell them.

 

[classic33]

Why the UK can't align their legislation and fees to something like that. There would be an huge uptake of speed pedelecs

EU regulations, which the last change in UK regulations in 2016 cover, were done to standardise the regulations within the EU. Meaning you could be certain your cycle if it your cycle is legal in one EU country, it'd be legal in all of them.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It's not illegal to sell them.

I am told that the shop has to make it clear that it is not for road use

my LBS does it by muttering "you won;t use it on the road will you"
quietly

I recently complained to my Mp, the ASA, Trading Standrds, Uncle, Tom, Cobly and all about an online ad for an e-scooter which didn;t say this

and got nowhere

so - it is not really enforced

 

[classic33]

I am told that the shop has to make it clear that it is not for road use

my LBS does it by muttering "you won;t use it on the road will you"
quietly

I recently complained to my Mp, the ASA, Trading Standrds, Uncle, Tom, Cobly and all about an online ad for an e-scooter which didn;t say this

and got nowhere

so - it is not really enforced

They make it as clear as the age limit for e-assist bikes.

 

[Vantage]

It's not illegal to sell them.

No I mean I can't see them pulling someone over to see if it complies with the ebike laws.
I imagine them going after the blatantly obvious illegal ones.
I've passed police officers, cars, the police station and been passed by the police many times and none of them batted an eyelid at my 750w ebike. Probably coz it has full length mudguards, a carradice saddle bag and a middle aged bald man (me) riding it at a max of 15.5mph.
I can't see it being an issue unless as stated by Phil, I'm in an accident.

 

[classic33]

No I mean I can't see them pulling someone over to see if it complies with the ebike laws.
I imagine them going after the blatantly obvious illegal ones.
I've passed police officers, cars, the police station and been passed by the police many times and none of them batted an eyelid at my 750w ebike. Probably coz it has full length mudguards, a carradice saddle bag and a middle aged bald man (me) riding it at a max of 15.5mph.
I can't see it being an issue unless as stated by Phil, I'm in an accident.

Or you get a police officer curious about what you're actually riding, so they take a closer look.

But as one police sergeant in Leeds answered when asked what they, West Yorkshire Police, were going to do about them, (Them being a group of delivery riders in Leeds city centre on clearly illegal bikes.) answered with "When the government gives us clear guidelines on what we're allowed to do."
Indicates, to me at least, they've been told to leave them alone, for now.

 

[Mike_P]

If it was a case the assist cut out at 15.5 and they had to be peddled with no throttle then quite what the motor rating is would be pretty insignificant.

 

[DRHysted]

As you get older, you get slower and injuries take much longer to heal.

If you're worried that you might not be able to get out of the way of someone approaching you silently at running speed, don't you think it's reasonable to find that frightening?

I can tell you as a lifelong cyclist that I have often felt worried by cars doing 30mph, or 15mph over the speed I was doing.

Maybe as a lifelong cyclist I’ve become accustomed to car’s passing me at, or above the speed limit.

 

[CXRAndy]

No point in making new regulations when the current ones are not enforced???

Because it's too onerous. Make it simple and fairly priced, people would then happily sign up

 

[phil-b]

If it was a case the assist cut out at 15.5 and they had to be peddled with no throttle then quite what the motor rating is would be pretty insignificant.

exactly this but the bike would still be illegal. That is why so many people question the law as it stands

 

[classic33]

exactly this but the bike would still be illegal. That is why so many people question the law as it stands

It'd be illegal here and in every EU country. Imagine having your bike taken off you as soon as you got off the ferry, at the start of your planned holiday.

 

[classic33]

Because it's too onerous. Make it simple and fairly priced, people would then happily sign up

The regulations are simple enough understand. However they don't cover the price someone wants you to pay for their products.

 

[chris667]

Maybe as a lifelong cyclist I’ve become accustomed to car’s passing me at, or above the speed limit.

Congratulations?

 

[chris667]

That is why so many people question the law as it stands

It's fine to argue that the cutoff seems a little arbitrary, but the fact is that a bike which is completely legal for you to own and use without MOT, insurance and tax like a motorbike is completely accessible to you and furthermore the bike would be perfectly capable for the daily commute you've described. It would cost you very little per mile. Certainly cheaper than walking if you bought a couple of pairs of trainers a year. The whole thing would easily cost less than running even a very cheap car for a few months.

It feels to me that what you're looking for in this thread is confirmation that you can own a bike that isn't road legal but can still be used like a normal bike. And no-one knowledgeable about the situation would give you that reassurance because it's wrong. You might get away with it, but then all it takes is a crackdown. With the recent media attention illegal ebikes have had I wouldn't bet against a crackdown on their ownership. Not at all. If I was a police chief under pressure to show crimes being solved I could well imagine police stop checking commuter bikes and crushing them.

As someone with money I have third party insurance for my bikes (I took a calculated risk and decided that it wasn't worth insuring the bike for theft). They will pay out for my home converted MTB (I checked), but do you really think they (or any other insurer) would pay out if I killed someone riding a bike that broke the very clear legal definition of a pedelec? No, I'd get sued and maybe lose my house.

I spent many years working in the legal trade (specifically Wills) and I can tell you that a lot of Internet "experts" read stuff on the Internet then make very stupid decisions thinking they can get around the law. The fact is with all pedelecs the law is there in black and white and while I wouldn't call anyone here a fool I would argue deliberately breaking the law when you don't have to is not a wise decision.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Which leads me to question how a vehicle doing 15.5mph can be terrifyingly fast?

I've seen pro cyclists zooming effortlessly up hills at those kind of speeds and it's terrified me.

Ok maybe mind boggling would be better than terrifying in that case.