MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Went for a quick blast round QE today, came across a young guy riding a sur-ron type electric motorbike round the mtb trail. We stopped and chatted briefly as my ebike had an issue and I asked if he should be riding it round here, he just said, ‘It is restricted’. I just said I’d never seen one up there before. So, is there a legal issue here? He certainly wasn’t tearing around, (he was actually a pretty crap rider and I was close to catching him on techie stuff with my bike switched off!)… nearly everyone else there was on ebikes (except Rob, hi Rob!) and the main difference I suppose is the weight of the thing, though the tyres look like they could rip up a trail pretty nicely. Where are these motorbikes allowed? I guess its up to the forestry rangers to do something about it if he shouldn’t be there.
If it has a throttle, it’s not allowed. Regardless of the power output/any restrictors.
Also need to be pedal assist and 250w constant output and 25kph limit (like regular e-bikes)
They are allowed on private land, with the landowners permission, or on public roads if they’ve been taxed, registered and insured, like a regular moto.
Reality is most places dont have the resources to police it, and the riders know it.
Funny you mention this as I saw two guys turn up in the QECP car park on them in the summer. They were wearing black hoodies and the like to hide their identity, but frankly looked like inexperienced kids.
Locally, in Oz, the police are starting to get more aggressive- turning up at schools etc and confiscating illegal e-motos. There’s been a few deaths, including an 8 year old crashed into by a 15 year old. Still see a lot around though.
Same problem with people setting their ebikes to say New Zealand mode. At which point they become an illegal motor bike that is really hard to spot
This thing was easy to spot, rider in full moto gear (wannabe!) and full face on the XC trails. I think I saw it being taken out of a van in the car park as I was arriving. I might email the park, see if they have a policy, if so they should put some signs up
They've started riding over at Tunnel Hill (Deepcut) recently. A week or so ago there were 4 of them with masks ripping up some of the trails especially in the wet conditions. Even on the fire roads you could see the tyre marks. Later, on the newly resurfaced tow path along the Basingstoke Canal between Tunnel Hill and Porridgepot. The new surface was showing their presence. I only actually saw them from a distance but they were belting along.
I might email the park, see if they have a policy, if so they should put some signs up
Which someone who has knowingly (and they definitely know!) bought an illegal vehicle will really care about 😆
Confiscation and destruction is the only language they'd understand, but that takes manpower and will on the part of the police.
If you do see one being wheeled out of a van take a pic with number plate in view and send it to the police, I've done that before. No idea if anything happened though.
Do these things come with black hoodies and masks when you buy them?
There are a few tearing around my local town, very recently a young teen was knocked off and I think, on life support. The thing I don't get is the number of parents allowing their kids to buy/modify and empower this. Just nuts.
I spotted evidence of sur-rons/motorbikes at my local trail last month. Posted about it on the cycle club page for the forest, just giving a heads up for folks riding with families and received so much abuse it was insane. The joys of an open group facebook page.
They're not cheap too.
I wonder what percentage are stealthy drug runners / product movers.
Pretty standard post Christmas behaviour. I've seen it all on social media over since Boxing Day.
Crossers tearing up the red trails at Dalby. Bike Parks having to 'remind' people that throttle controlled electric scooters and motos aren not welcome. All the grass torn up at public parks in Leeds by quad bikes. Multiple angry council Dads and Teens claiming 'its only a bit of fun' and that 'they have evry ryte dunni to ride ther'.
A stroll round the local park on Christmas Day revealed several famillies with kids who were riding their new christmas? emotorcross bikes as iin fast and not toys. We also saw an adult on a petrol crosser leading a young child on a baby petrol crosser.
The gennie is out of the bottles and it's not going to be easy to put it back in.
I wonder what percentage are stealthy drug runners / product movers.
Somewhere between 100% and 100%.
Which someone who has knowingly (and they definitely know!) bought an illegal vehicle will really care about
Well, it's more to give backup to someone like me who instead of asking "Should you be riding that thing round here?" could say "You shouldn't be riding that thing round here". Cos I'd know what their policy was then. Guy wasn't a tear it up hooligan in a hoody at all, so I was quite pleasant to him. Makes a change for me 😛
been up there solo at night and a couple of lads came in on Surons... decided to ride a little more cautiously and off piste so i dint encounter them in case they were total wrong uns
Also, seen one on the skills are pump track thing.. while there were other users on normal bikes, including kids...
flipside, in all my years i've never seen a petrol crosser up there....when we were kids, it was all old mopeds and crossers.. we weren't robbing people or delivering goods however......
in all my years i've never seen a petrol crosser up there....when we were kids, it was all old mopeds and crossers.. we weren't robbing people or delivering goods however......
That’s because the accessibility of a Sur-Ron is considerably lower than a Moto.
Most importantly, you don’t need to know how to ride a motorbike to ride one. They are basically like riding a pedal bike with a twist throttle - so almost anyone can get on one, and not have to worry about clutches & gears, etc.
They also don’t need a rebuild every five minutes - you just hop on and ride. Sadly they do have a certain social stigma attached to them, mostly that of a tea leaf/specialist Deliveroo all ‘ballyed up’ around the city streets.
They are bloody good fun though. If you were also a slightly more considerate human, they are way more stealthy than riding a 2 stroke crosser in your local woods (rather than using it to deliver drugs).
Confiscation and destruction is the only language they'd understand, but that takes manpower and will on the part of the police.
Seen Surrons on police auction sites which seems somewhat counter productive / unjoined up thinking.
If you do see one being wheeled out of a van take a pic with number plate in view and send it to the police, I've done that before. No idea if anything happened though.
Speaking from experience be REALLY careful if you do this. Last time I did similar, my wife and I were both threatened with physical violence and subjected to an extraordinary level of verbal abuse by the rider and his mates who were illegally riding (road legal) motorbikes on local open spaces.
Hampshire Police were hopeless. I won't put the details up here but I wouldn't count on them achieving a lot.
It is a concern as I ride there with my sons and the last thing I want is to be sharing the trails with a silent, unlicensed motorbike(s) whose riders' motivations are uncertain.
Aha -found the forestry page : "Not allowed".
I would report it to the park management. I've always found them pretty responsive via email on more general queries.
If you haven't done already then please post this on the QECP Facebook mountain bike page and the QECP Facebook Trail collective page
You can also report anything like this directly to QECP by emailing them at qecp.enquiries@hants.gov.uk
If your in the park and see them you can call 02392 595040 and ask the visitor centre to tell the rangers and they should come looking for them
Do these things come with black hoodies and masks when you buy them?
No, I think you need to prove you own the gear first to be able to buy them 😉
As far as I can tell parents are buying them to make their own lives easier. Kids don’t ask to be ferried around if they’ve got a motor.
Today I saw a dad riding an illegal electric moto with a kid up front and his partner behind him.
The ones owned for the most nefarious reasons are bought for them as part of your county lines starter pack. Putting them in the hands of kids already predisposed to make poor choices - what could possibly go wrong.
My memory of QECP was that it was built with some over optimistically tight switchbacks both uphill and downhill. Sur-rons have got a long wheelbase so it could be a challenge to muscle one around some MTB tracks.
it was built with some over optimistically tight switchbacks both uphill and downhill
The downhill ones are closed off for rebuilding, so Sur-ron boy couldn't attempt them. The diversion is badly signed and he shouted to me that he was a bit lost - just at that moment a family on normal bikes was riding past. I was kind of embarrassed that they might think I knew him.
They've started riding over at Tunnel Hill (Deepcut) recently. A week or so ago there were 4 of them with masks ripping up some of the trails especially in the wet conditions. Even on the fire roads you could see the tyre marks. Later, on the newly resurfaced tow path along the Basingstoke Canal between Tunnel Hill and Porridgepot. The new surface was showing their presence. I only actually saw them from a distance but they were belting along.
I've not seen them in person, but someone has been seriously chewing up some of the trails on Tunnel Hill recently.
I have seen MX'ers over there before & nartowly avoided collisions with them as they fly up trails in the wrong direction.
They’re great fun, my brother bought a cheap secondhand one for ragging around my parents’ farm. It doesn’t get used anywhere else, just by us mid-40s old men.
No matter what the owners or anti-e-bike crowd say the are nothing like an e-bike, they’re just a silent moto, which works for us as some of the neighbours hate noisy MX bikes and my mum doesn’t notice that we’re doing silly reckless things in the too fields. I would describe it as ‘Rapid AF’
Kendal police at least seem to be going down the crusher route...
https://cumbriacrack.com/2025/12/31/13-year-old-caught-doing-up-to-60mph-on-ebike/
I live on the edge of Delamere & the police have been pretty good - they’ve used drones to track Surron riders back to their vans and confiscated/destroyed bikes - it seems to be working as I’m not seeing them around anymore……
^ I wondered why they had largely disappeared over the year. Delamere does get very busy so people belting round on motorcycles (battery or petrol) are going to quickly tangle with the public resulting in an adverse high profile.
They've started riding over at Tunnel Hill (Deepcut) recently. A week or so ago there were 4 of them with masks ripping up some of the trails especially in the wet conditions. Even on the fire roads you could see the tyre marks. Later, on the newly resurfaced tow path along the Basingstoke Canal between Tunnel Hill and Porridgepot. The new surface was showing their presence. I only actually saw them from a distance but they were belting along.
I've not seen them in person, but someone has been seriously chewing up some of the trails on Tunnel Hill recently.
I have seen MX'ers over there before & nartowly avoided collisions with them as they fly up trails in the wrong direction.
They park up in one of the lay-bys at the top of the hill near the table top, big white van. First time I saw them they parked up badly as I was washing my bike, I was initially worried that they were going to try to pinch my bike and drive off before they unloaded the van. I wouldn’t want to confront them, look like a right bunch of wrong-uns. Also came across a couple of chaps on motos recently who stopped to chat and help me clear some litter, were pretty decent older blokes.