met a chap yesterday who came out with this when we were chatting about his e motorbike, and i asked him where he rode it. capable of 45mph apparently, 6kw, and a range of 60 miles i think he said. it has a switch that limits it to 15mph which according to this guy, ‘makes it legal’. frankly i doubt that, and i don’t think he would be on very firm ground if stopped on the road or any publicly accessible land.

now, i think these are probably fine things to have and enjoy, but as someone who does voluntary maintenance on trails from time to time, i have to say my feelings are somewhat mixed.

MOT and insurance?

what, does he have either? no idea.

it’s not something i’ve really looked in to, but i understood that any vehicle capable of over what? 15 or 16mph without human assistance, was considered a motor vehicle of some type and therefore needed to comply with construction and use regs

Yep it would be a motorbike of some description, did he buy it from somebody reputable or is it a conversion?

Sounds like a Bultaco Brinco?

import from china i think.

that sort of thing col, yeah.

I doubt it’s legal to ride where he rides it but I can see Emotorcycles becoming more common on trails.

I know someone who rides motorcycle Endoro’s & in the past he would allegedly ride it where he shouldn’t,often at night.He’s now added a Emotorcycle to the stable and apparently he loves it because it allows him to get places he couldn’t get to on his KTM as on that bike the exhaust noise alerted people to what he was doing…

Legal or not, I can see the Emotorcycles taking over from crossers in the not to distant future.

it’s not something i’ve really looked in to, but i understood that any vehicle capable of over what? 15 or 16mph without human assistance, was considered a motor vehicle of some type and therefore needed to comply with construction and use regs

My (limited) understanding of this is, if it has pedals it’s a bicycle. If it doesn’t, it’s a motor vehicle (motorbike)

Not too sure about electric motorbikes on bridleways etc.. purely for their multi use access, but I guess if the leccy motorbike does indeed use the limiter then they’re going to cause as much damage as a 2.1 mtb tyre etc.

The bultaco thingy look kinda neat..

But a bicycle it really isn’t..

Legal or not, I can see the Emotorcycles taking over from crossers in the not to distant future.

Yup, and the crosser arseholes will ruin them for the green laners who want to pootle

The solution is to only allow purely human powered two wheeled vehicles on trails.

Welcome to trails that become trenches.

We saw this before when Japanese 2 stroke MX motorbikes became popular from the 1960s onwards. All the trails that had been ridden with due care by the previous generation on trials bikes now became roost paradises for macho wee pricks.

Result, trails all got closed off.

Want to see it happen again?

(I have no objection to eBikes, but eMotorbikes will soon be encroaching on mtb trails IMO.)

Where can you actually ride these things off road and legally?

Private land and tracks probably, lots of MX tracks about for people to ride

My (limited) understanding of this is, if it has pedals it’s a bicycle.

Nope. If it has a throttle, a motor of more than 250W or is powered above 15.5mph, it’s a motorbike. Pedals are irrelevant

Assuming you mean electric motorbikes that aren’t registered etc. (possibly the grey imported ones don’t comply with the regulations so it wouldn’t be possible to do that even if you tried).

I think that anywhere a motor vehicle/bike has a right of way, legal commpliance is needed or it is a criminal offence.

Anywhere there isn’t a right of way will infringe the landowners property rights and may be a criminal offence for other reasons eg common land.

So they are legal with the landowners permission if you stay off BOATs and roads.

What’s the story in Scotland?

Very much not legal apart from on land he owns or has permission to ride it on. If it’s where you were planning on walking the dogs he won’t get permission.

Limiter switch is irrelevant.

Iirc the bulcato is an e-bike as long as you keep it limited, just like any other e-bike. The difference is most e-bikes are built to work best at the limit. Whereas the bulcato has more in common with a 50cc Derbi Senda with pedals.

So yes the guy you met is correct as long as he doesn’t turn the limiter off.

The next step up is the KTM e-XC, which is a full on electric MX/Enduro/Trail bike, which would be covered by the same rules as a petrol powered one (landowners permission and/or tax, mot, insurance, number plate and brake llght etc.

Department of Transport disagrees with you on switches that enable you to exceed the restrictions in place under the EPAC regs.

Complying with A1 licence requirements across Europe also helps with the appeal for younger riders – want to be the coolest kid going to college each day? Freeride E-XC will help you with that.

KTM e-XC, so  this is classified as a moped ?

Or does A1 compliance mean it’s a motorbike but has the same restrictions as the “never ridden a motorbike before so has to do a test before you ride it, and under the 125cc limit rules” thingy.

I like this BTW, I watched a vid of it and it looked be a whole load of f.u.n…

What’s the distinction between an e-bike and a 15mph limited e-crosser? Surely it’s going to be difficult to stop people from riding limited e motorbikes at trail centres if the only difference is that one of them has pedals?

 and under the 125cc limit rules” thingy.

Yup. A1 means up to 125cc (with some power weight restrictions) so its a step up from a moped.

What’s the distinction between an e-bike and a 15mph limited e-crosser?

An e-bike is restricted to <15mph, motor is restricted in power and, most importantly, its pedal assisted.

At least it’s (slightly) better than the group of MXers I met coming the other way on a bridleway last week.

They’d properly churned it up, and when I pointed this out to the lead guy his comment was a laughable “well, live and let live mate.” I think my response of “no, **** off to where you’re allowed to ride and stop ruining our local trails.” didn’t go down too well.

My understanding is that if his ebike / e motorbike was more than 250w and / or capable of more than 25kph something akin to the bulltaco then it’s an e moped with pedals , and so illegal on bike only trails and bridleways etc with or without restrictor switch and illegal on roads without correct insurance & mot etc. Just to muddy some pretty murky waters still further there are now a whole  heap of 250w motorbike / moped looking bikes with pedals that are technically ebikes and so allowed any where pedal bikes go.

As for the ktm it’s equivalent ( in the eyes of the law) to a 125cc so can be ridden on L plates and CBT.

“The solution is to only allow purely human powered two wheeled vehicles on trails.”

That’s how the Land Reform Act works in Scotland.

Unmotorised access only unless you have the landowner’s permission.

(not that ebikers bother)

i hadn’t spotted the example referenced above had pedals – his didn’t, just pegs. i’d be surprised a switch which limits the top speed ( cruise control ) would be accepted as limiting the power – it doesn’t. so while i guess complying with the letter of the law WRT top speed, the vehicle is still capable of much more if the operator chooses.

First they came for the eBikers but I did nothing as I’m not an eBiker.

Then they came for the MTBers and I did nothing as I’m not an MTBer.

Then they came for the gravel biking canal towpath riding **** and everybody laughed because Rydflat is a GBCTPW

I don’t think anyone will see a slippery slope from banning/stopping e-MX type bikes or pure motor driven bikes.

£10k that KTM ^^

Maybe they’re pricing them out of the e-bike (cycle) market on porpoises..

You can get a 2013 EXC for £2500..

“no, **** off to where you’re allowed to ride and stop ruining our local trails.” ”

Excellent answer. I do hope that the same applies when thinking about riding the push bike on a footpath.

These things whilst great fun are motorbikes with a different engine. Sadly all those who derestrict their ebike are creating the same thing. There will be a back lash. These or derestricted ebikes are, for example, not allowed on FC land yet that where they end up. When there is an accident, such as so nearly caused today that I spotted, something will fly.

There are a few in Weymouth being ridden in town claiming they are just electric bicycles. There will be tears before bedtime.

It needs to comply with all the conditions. If it doesn’t it won’t be classed as a EAPC / pedelec and will be a moped / motorbike and with it all the usual motor vehicle requirements (and punishments – driving uninsured etc).

1) Bike needs to be propelled by pedalling

2) Motor can only assist whilst pedalling

3) Motor must stop assisting at 15.5mph.

4) Maximum rated power of motor is 250w.

And like most things it’ll be ruined by a bunch of halfwits thinking they are being clever…..the other c word is a more accurate description.

6 points and a big fine would wake a few up there!!

“no, **** off to where you’re allowed to ride and stop ruining our local trails.”

Excellent answer. I do hope that the same applies when thinking about riding the push bike on a footpath

I do try to avoid footpaths where possible, or around me if I do ride on them (occasionally unavoidable when linking other trails) I’m often the only MTBer who ever does – I know this from Strava and the lack of any other tyre prints.

There are at least 2 or 3 ‘sensitive’ footpaths near me that I wheel or carry my bike along to minimise erosion.

I would also argue that one (or even a few) MTBer is very different in impact to a group of 10 MXers spinning their wheels in wet bridleways.

You can get a 2013 EXC for £2500..

Slightly unfair taking the cheapest MX bike you can find on ebay/autotrader as an example, you could probably find a 2013 bike in any condition from better than new through to “serviced last year and only 2h use since (Weston beach race)”.

Similalry there’s what looks like a delivery milage electric one on autotrader for <£6k (and there’s been a slew of them as this year’s model had a bigger battery).

I don’t think anyone will see a slippery slope from banning/stopping e-MX type bikes or pure motor driven bikes.

For once Mike speaks some sense.

Not exactly someone bimbling round Degla on ebike is it.

I’m not that shocked that people are trying to get stealthy on EMX bikes.

Everyone wants to get away with a little something…

tom in it’s ok for me to break the rules but not other people shocker.😉

tom in it’s ok for me to break the rules but not other people shocker

Dunno, but 30 miles today, and afaik only 1 actual (i.e. signed as such) footpath. In 10+ years riding this particular trail I could count on one hand the number of other users I’ve encountered.

I’d not tell you to **** off on your ebike Stu, but I would a group of MXers.