1y ago

Something I wish Australia would change is laws prohibiting any vehicles between a 200W ebike and a full motorcycle. I'd get a lot of value from a 60kmph limited 1kW ebike. But currently to

@fuckcars Something I wish Australia would change is laws prohibiting any vehicles between a 200W ebike and a full motorcycle. I'd get a lot of value from a 60kmph limited 1kW ebike. But currently to sell such a thing it would have to comply with all motorcycle requirements, and things like ABS on both wheels is really not required for such a device.a
AusPol #eBikes

16 comments

You don't have mopeds? Mopeds are usually good for at least 45 kmph?
- @TDCN mopeds are classed the same as motor bikes, so their aren't cheap options.
  
  @TDCN sorry, I was slightly wrong, but right enough for the state I live in, mopeds here still need a motor bike licence
@LovesTha @fuckcars at what point do you need better-than-minimal brakes and lights? What training and what PPE should be required? If Are you a motorcycle rider and so know what 60 on 2 wheels means?
- @orcrist @rusted yes, there should be some regulation, but flat illegal is pushing things in awkward directions.
  The answers are probably pretty minimal, these are speeds that we are happy for cyclists to be doing with nothing more than a polysytrene hat, the sanity of the PPE that road cyclists use is a valid question.
  Something like requiring better brakes, maybe dual independent front brakes, would probably be enough. Requiring head/tail/indicator lights would also be reasonable.
@LovesTha @fuckcars Do you want to be allowed to ride this thing on footpaths and bike paths like an e-bike? I hope not. Do you want to ride on the road at 50kmh? Great, get a 50cc/electric moped and pay insurance and registration and have a licence. Want to go faster? Get a motorbike. Each of these categories already exist. You can’t have a free-to-register uninsured 60kmh powered bike on the bike path for good reason.
Sounds like it depends on your state. Most states let you drive a moped (petrol or electric) on a car license.
https://zootscooters.com.au/do-i-need-a-licence-for-a-scooter-or-moped-in-australia/
Generally they're limited to 50km/h and 50CC/4kW to be a moped, rather than a motorcycle.
If you're doing 60km/h you need proper brake lights and ABS.
- @SomeoneSomewhere push bikes don't have a speed limit
  
  Push bikes have a power limit because humans are pretty power limited, which results in speeds of not much more that 30-40km/h unless you find a really big hill.
  E-bikes are supposed to be both power and speed limited to about 400W and 30km/h IIRC.
@LovesTha @fuckcars I didn't realise those were illegal. No one has told outer rural australia we don't do mopeds here.
Why not get a 1kW motorcycle?
Pretty sure Australia doesn't care about power on ebikes anymore, just that the power turns off at 25km/h, which is a whole other can of worms...
- Ooh for the love of usability please let us have 32km/h like our Kiwi cousins

16 comments