What to do with a E-bike nobber

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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I order a fair amount of stuff from the net. Yodel are the most incompetent courier service i've experienced. If their drivers are anywhere near as hopeless at driving, i definitely dont want to meet them on the road.
You never had Initial City Link then?
 

mustang1

Legendary Member
Location
London, UK
Unlikely to be able to keep up 20-30mph (see OP) on a normal bike!
You and the other person are right and I agree but my point is you can still ride at inappropriate speeds on a road bike. I'm not sure this is an e-bike problem but a nobber problem.

It's a bit like if some one has a 200mph car and someone else has a 100mph car but both drive at 95mph.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
You and the other person are right and I agree but my point is you can still ride at inappropriate speeds on a road bike. I'm not sure this is an e-bike problem but a nobber problem.

It's a bit like if some one has a 200mph car and someone else has a 100mph car but both drive at 95mph.

It's a nobber problem but the unassisted nobber presents a danger for a limited time, even if quite fit, whereas the assisted nobber is a danger for far longer.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
I'm pretty sure the police are well aware of illegal ebikes being used on the road and cycle paths But with government cutbacks on policing, resulting in less manpower to deal with it, then it just cant and wont be enforced.
When a pedestrian is hit and killed by an ebike, then the police then have no choice but to investigate whether an ebike is road legal or not.
Which is a pretty shoot way of doing things. Money should be spent on preventing death, not just on investigating when it does.
To be honest, when it comes to the in’s & out’s of what vehicle is legally allowed to use what type of path the police are pretty clueless, I once rang to complain about 2x motocross bikes being driven stupidly fast up a footpath at the side of next doors house, the plod that was on the phone didn’t have a clue that a mechanically propelled vehicle isn’t allowed on a footpath, he went very quiet when he checked the reg numbers, they were the police’s finest chasers of pit bikes on fully liveried police motorbikes, who had to walk them backwards down the path due to crush bars at the top to stop just this type of behaviour
 

Landsurfer

Veteran
My local bike shop .. J E James ..sells a wide range of "off road" e bikes .... maximum power MTB's ..... they are sold with out legislation as they are off road only use .... maybe it's time for the relevant authorities to take the NI type approach and stick plates on these Motorbikes ?
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
My local bike shop .. J E James ..sells a wide range of "off road" e bikes .... maximum power MTB's ..... they are sold with out legislation as they are off road only use .... maybe it's time for the relevant authorities to take the NI type approach and stick plates on these Motorbikes ?

'Off road' is often said but doesn't really work for using an illegal ebike.

It has to be private land to which the public has no access - that means fenced off, and with a gate which is preferably locked.

Realistically, that is limited to the back garden - for those of us who have an enclosed one.

Worth remembering it's not illegal to possess such a bike, or to buy and sell one.

It's only illegal to use it.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
'Off road' is often said but doesn't really work for using an illegal ebike.

It has to be private land to which the public has no access - that means fenced off, and with a gate which is preferably locked.

Realistically, that is limited to the back garden - for those of us who have an enclosed one.

Worth remembering it's not illegal to possess such a bike, or to buy and sell one.

It's only illegal to use it.
My understanding is it’s only legal if used on public roads with a registration plate, valid insurance, taxed and whilst wearing a crash helmet, as they are classed as a motorcycle, however the people who buy such things are never going to do that, also thinking about it, they should also be type approved as a motorcycle, which I bet they aren’t either.
 

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
I would imagine at some point sooner or later they will land onto the radar of the authorities especially if going at warp speed on paths.
 

dodgy

Guest
Last time I was at Llandegla there were two lads on these (fortunately I only saw them at the jet wash). It's not a pedal bike, more an electric MX bike.

They have an e-bike policy which excludes bikes with more than 250w power http://oneplanetadventure.com/use-of-e-bikes/
Always worth telling 'Badger' (ask at the counter for him) if you have concerns about inappropriate e-bike usage, they're trying to strike the right balance up there.
 

Electric_Andy

Heavy Metal Fan
Location
Plymouth
It's still just a matter of poor policing and over-stretched police forces. Many people, police included, wouldn't know at a glance the difference between a legal e-assist MTB and a 4000w e-MTB. I'd have thought it would be an obvious stop if someone was seen doing 30mph up a hill, but you never hear of anyone getting done for it unless they've killed a pedestrian.

Same reason why there are loads of 2 stroke motocross bikes with L plates knocking about; the police assume that becasue they are 125s then they are learner legal. I saw a KTM 125 SX with L plates the other day, which makes 38bhp (the limit is 14bhp for learners). In fact I have seen this bike on my commute for quite a few weeks so they presumably haven't been pulled yet.
 
OP
OP
Levo-Lon

Levo-Lon

Guru
Looks to be six reflectors short of legal for night. Hope you only use it daytimes!

Glass houses and so on

It was supplied like that, not that I would have reflectors on a cycle way.
Plus if someone cant see my retina burner light it wouldn't matter about what's in my spokes
 
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