Legally using an ‘Illeagal’ e-bike

Been looking at ebikes as I often do at the start of the dreary season and I’ve been thinking. If you deresteict an ebike it gets treated as a moped which is fine, but how would one go about doing the ins and outs of that?

I reckon I could talk the Mrs into letting me have one but who in their right mind would insure it, where would I fit my number plate and what other hoops would I need to jump through?

Really just thinking out loud at the moment, but would there be a market for this sort of thing? I saw an American advert for a 750w fat bike, would be awesome for getting to work but the law here would make it difficult.

Thoughts/experiences?

You’ll basically need to get type approval for a derestricted e-bike which is unlikely to happen.

Just get one of these and let someone else do the work: https://www.ekobikes.co.uk/%5B/url%5D

I’d get one for a 5 mile commute.

It looks pretty easy actually…

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/motorcycle-single-vehicle-approval

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/194159/MSVA_Guide.pdf

The test will cost 85 quid assuming it does more than 25km/h

I was looking at them but they’re all gash.

This is the thing I saw[/url] and I think with a bit of trimming down of the unnecessary stuff they’d make a great commuter. Would only need to be able to do 30mph, battery last for 50-60 miles. Job done.

30 mph on the flat and uphill would slash my commute time.

Edit – Cheers Ewan, interesting. Will have a read of those later.

I’d assume a de-restricted ebike would be a moped imported without type approval. If you built it from a kit then it’d be an amateur vehicle.

I bet you’d be the first to try and get the approval!

The issue you’d have would be using it off road which would be very limiting. SVA is the route for exactly this sort of thing.

Bike industry should be lobbying govt for a more useful speed restriction on ebikes, instead of spunking their wad on marketing the things.

20mph instead of 15mph would make them perfect for a lot of people’s commutes.

Would it need MOTs and that? Actually, scratch that, there’s no way it would last 3 years.

Then the only issue would be insurance, I assume pedalsure or similar woudln’t cover a de-restricted e-bike/

Bike industry should be lobbying govt for a more useful speed restriction on ebikes

I think the issue is that it’s an agreed EU limit, not solely a UK one.

Although post Brexit we’ll no doubt have 6000w e-bikes doing 60mph along all the cycle lanes with the bonfire of the restrictions we’ve been promised.

20mph instead of 15mph would make them perfect for a lot of people’s commutes.

15mph is fine (IMO), the whole point is it’s not supposed to be faster than a normal bike! If it was faster then the infrastructure becomes unsuitable for them (cycle paths with wobbling toddlers on balance bikes).

prawny – Member

Then the only issue would be insurance, I assume pedalsure or similar wouldn’t cover a de-restricted e-bike/

I’m sure someone would insure it if you rang around custom motorbike insurers.

TBH though, why would you not just get this? By the time you’ve jumped through all the hoops it’s probably cheaper (the 2017 version is discounted to be cheaper than a lot of e-bikes!)

I like that.. ^^

You would need ( IIRC) a number plate, approved tyres,insurance, approved lights, brake light and basically it will be almost impossible to do. Yo would need a motorcycle license ie pass CBT ( or an old car license that allows you to ride mopeds)

Get an electric moped instead

This sort of thing is possible if yo are totally mad – someone once got a minimoto made road legal

What is that? I like it.

The issue for me is that Mrs P has a pathological fear of both death and motorbikes.

To her the idea of me having even a 50cc moped fills her with dread and she would be wracked with panic every time I left the house on it.

Conversely she grew up around cycling and cyclists so the idea of me whistling down hills in traffic at 40mph in stretchy clothes is fine. I think she’d see an e-bike as a handy labour saving device but a motor bike, even an electrically powered one as death on wheels.

loads of chaps round here have chipped their ebikes. 29mph uphill. they certainly haven’t been made legal!

I think the issue is that it’s an agreed EU limit, not solely a UK one.

Same sentiment applies, you’d expect the EU might be more receptive in fact. And the cost of lobbying could be shared more widely.

But I get the impression the industry is too disorganised for anything like that.

At what point do you say ‘stuff it’ and buy a 50cc ped? They do a zillion mpg so the environmental impact isn’t that much greater and they’ll last a lot longer without having to work out how to fit lights and mirrors to an e-bike to make it a moped.

What is that? I like it.

KTM Freeride-E XC

Does about 30miles on a charge (2018 version does 50% more which is probably why the 2017 ones are so cheap) and has about the same torque and weight as a 250cc MX bike.

Yeah I found it, it’s nice. One of our clients at work is an official dealer it turns out.

3 issues with that though, I’ve not got any kind of bike licence at the moment, I’d have a 10 mile walk home from work every day with no charging in the basement and its six grand!!

Surely there’s nothing to stop the UK having an additional type of electric bike in addition to the EU definition?

anyway it’s probably cheaper and easier to pick up a 50cc moped.

It’s all about keeping it simple..

Get one of these.

…and its six grand!!

You could buy a mountain bike for that!

You could buy a mountain bike for that!

Nearly.

How about one of these?

£1240 for 30mph and 70km range with removable battery for charging at work

https://www.electricbikescootercar.co.uk/electric-scooters/electric-moped/crytsal

To her the idea of me having even a 50cc moped fills her with dread and she would be wracked with panic every time I left the house on it.

We’ve had a 50cc scooter for ten years. It’s brilliant! Feels much safer then being on a bike in town (I do both, more on the scooter recently because my legs have been struggling with commuting, gymming and MTBing). Absolutely nothing like a proper motorbike – even down a steep hill it’ll barely exceed the 30mph limiter.

I also discovered you can fit a Brompton in the footwell (is that what it’s called?) which makes the annual trip to the garage for service and MOT much less hassle.

Sometimes I wonder if using the scooter costs less than the MTB because it uses so little petrol and I’m not wearing out the bike’s drivetrain or expensive sticky tyres…

Just maybe the EU rules are a changing[/url]

trout – Member
Just maybe the EU rules are a changing

Just wait till Brexit and good old fashioned British engineering comes to the fore and we’ll be riding with UNLIMITED powah

That leccy scooter looks pretty good, I’d get range anxiety during the winter too, not sure how happy Work would be with me charging a big ole battery though, plus the prospect of carrying a 12kg battery from the nearest motorcycle parking to the office would be a pain.

I think I’m going to work on the idea of a 50cc moped, I didn’t realise how stupidly cheap they could be, I’ll need to find a new route though, one with less 50 and 60mph stretches

I’m loving the 50cc enduros on offer at the mo’

Proper race bikes, not those stupid kids silly wheel size plastic jobbies..

I’ve seen this thing advertised which looks a pretty good start at converting a bike to an ebike. Starts at $299 apparently…

https://comingsoon-tech.com/swytch-electric-bike-wheel/

No idea if it’s any good mind you …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdqCQkUnFZY

kinda at a similiar point myself, standard 250w ‘legal’ bikes with their 15.5mph cut off are pointless to me – i can ride way faster most of the time on my normal commuting bike. I looked at Honda Ruckus/Zoomer ‘peds as the most ‘cool’ like scooter that my Ducati/S1000RR/R1 owning mates wouldn’t instantly disown me but I would still prefer a bicycle based 30 mph option even if that meant licencing & insurance.

If you have an accident on an illegal ebike you are going to be liable for all sorts. Not a problem if it is £1.25 out your benefits for the next 50 years.

Motorcycles are dangerous and your wife is right to be worried. What makes you think a cheap Chinese electric bicycle will be safer?

some european countries already have another category between ebikes as we know them and motorcycles

Interesting stuff Trout. Fingers crossed that’s what will happen then.

Bloody EU, making sensible decisions based on real life evidence, eh?

yes but even if it did happen how long would it be before our glorious leaders let it happen here .

Just derestrict a normal one and don’t ride it like a total bell. If I could derestrict mine I would do it a flash. 15 mph is just too slow, 20 would be more realistic.

I’ve not got any kind of bike licence at the moment,

Wouldn’t that still be a problem anyway?

tomaso – Member
…Motorcycles are dangerous and your wife is right to be worried….

Motorbikes aren’t dangerous.

Unskilled idiots are dangerous, and God invented motorbikes to cull idiots before they could afford an Audi.

🙂

Wouldn’t that still be a problem anyway

Nah, I’m old enough to ride a moped (up to 30mph 50cc) without L plates and would only need a cbt to ride a 125. That KTM would need a full licence, and that doesn’t fit with the cheap commute ethic.

I also agree with motorbikes not being dangerous, as long as you don’t ride them like a bellend on my commute they’re probably safer than cycling. Plus if you do fall off you’re better protected than on a pushbike.

It’s that that makes me chuckle about my wife’s worries, I often push it on the downhills to save energy so would easily hit a higher speed on my road bike than I would on a moped.

It’s that that makes me chuckle about my wife’s worries, I often push it on the downhills to save energy so would easily hit a higher speed on my road bike than I would on a moped.

I’m quicker down all the hills on my MTBs (even the old XC one with a toddler on board). But the scooter is quicker on the flat or uphill. My Brompton is the quickest down the urban hills but far and away the scariest!

I think our scooter is a whole four brake horsepower!