E-Bikes Should Not Require Pedaling, Proposes U.K. Government, Diverging From E.U.
E-Bikes Should Not Require Pedaling, Proposes U.K. Government, Diverging From E.U.
E-bikes could get faster, more powerful and not require pedaling, in a move announced today by UKGOV. Cycling organizations are opposed to the plans.
E-bikes could get faster, more powerful and not require pedaling, in a move announced today by UKGOV. Cycling organizations are opposed to the plans.
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Just so you know, ebikes sold in Europe don't have a hand throttle, because laws.
But also, most ebike manufacturers use generic motor controllers.
Is there a small panel somewhere on your ebike? Take it off and see if there's a small aluminium box in there with dozens of wires coming out of it.
Chances are, one of those sets of wires ends in an unused black plug, with a red, a black, and a green wire going to it.
That's the throttle plug.
Any old generic throttle from Crapazon will fit it. You might have to swap the wire colours.
Enjoy :)
It's trivial to make most adjustments to these bikes. Disabling speed limiters etc.
It's still illegal however
I'm not suggesting someone should actually, like, go ahead and do it because it's so easy, Mr GoodyTwoShoes
Idk how it is over there but here police have a very clear understand of what you can and can't do with an ebike and you will probably be stopped.
Bear in mind, Europeans don't live in a fascist police state and the police are pretty unlikely to shoot you for having a throttle on your bike 🙄
Most of our cops don't know the laws, so if they shoot you it's just for fun.
wait but which wire do I cut to disarm the bomb
If I remember correctly, they are allowed to have a thumb throttle if it's capped at 6km/hr (which is still very handy for starting, especially on a cargo bike). On a generic Bafang/similar motor controller, that's a purely software limit that anyone with a programming cable can change.
People who do this kind of stuff are the reason the rest of us can't have nice things. Same as with Surrons fucking up bike trails and then getting all ebikes banned from there.
Personally I'm of the mind that people should be free to tinker with their things, and regulations should be specific enough to appropriately respond the performance to whatever the thing has
It is not wrong to modify the bike that is your property to change or customize its appearance or functionality. It's wrong to be inconsiderate, or a dick. I think the distinction is important
They should be free to do that up to a point. A moped needs a licence to drive and it needs to be registered and insured and you need to wear a motorbike helmet while riding one and you're not allowed to ride it on the sidewalks or on forest trails. If your ebike is effectively a moped then the same rules should apply.
Where I live a pedal-assist ebike with 250 watt motor that's limited to 25kph is considered a bicycle and you're allowed to ride it where ever you're allowed to ride a bicycle aswell. However if it goes faster than that or is a more powerful then I think it's only reasonable that there's a different set of regulations for a bike like that. I'm not allowed to drive a car on the sidewalk either even if I go slow so I don't see how electric motorbike is that much different.