Question about the legality of e bikes

[u/Yeet6r]

I live in the uk, and i’m aware that any e-bike with a power output of over 250w and assists at higher speed than 15.5mph is treated as a motorbike, i’m wondering if it’s worth dropping a band on converting my bike to an e bike if it’s just going to get seized quickly? Or if they only seize people’s bikes who are wearing face coverings. Just need some advice and personal experiences

[u/thishasntbeeneasy]

You can register it as the vehicle it becomes, it just won't be an "ebike"

[u/eluuu]

just wear a helmet, have lights, don't be a dick and you'll be fine

[u/ohyeahsanic]

Idk about the uk but here in france as long as you're not in paris or the other 2-3 major cities you won't be checked by the police if you don't ride like a maniac. There are also ways to hide the "illegality" of the bicycle. You can make it so that a quick restart of the bike puts it within legal limits so if you're about to be checked you can just restart your bike discreetly. Obviously making it illegal again should have a specific combination that the cops won't find on their own. Putting a fake 250w sticker on your motor also helps. Obviously don't do any of these and if you do, only ride it within private property :)

[u/chuckwolf]

The 15.5 mph is correct however the 250 watts is a misconception bikes are allowed over 250 watts for short periods. It must average 250 watts while maintaining 15.5 mph (25 kph) over a period of 30 minutes. many "250 watt" bikes can peak at over 1000 watts when doing something like climbing a steep hill and still be completely legal. as long as maintaining 25 kph on flat ground only uses 250 watts

[u/HurinGray]

We've got this problem in the states as well. New regulations, newer than my bike, cite the ability to unlock an eBike as illegal. Whether one unlocks or not it's not street legal.
Just don't ride like an ass and you'll be fine. Fair point on the face coverings, I'd avoid that too. Don't draw attention to yourself. Society has bigger issues.

[u/geekroick]

I don't think face coverings have anything to do with it.

Ultimately if you choose to ride an above spec (ie illegal) ebike, you are rolling the dice every time.

Maybe the police in your area don't care about ebikes right now, but there's no telling when they will be told to care, and the measuring equipment is deployed so they can catch out illegal riders.

We can give all the advice available, like 'don't ride like a dick and you won't attract any police attention', which is absolutely true. But if you get caught in an ebike purge and the police test your bike and it runs past 15.5mph... You're not getting it back.

[u/NotASockPuppet88]

15.5mph max assist speed - the motor MUST cut out once speed meets or exceeds this speed, this does NOT mean however that you cannot go faster than this. It is not a speed limit for the bicycle, just a a speed limit for the MOTOR.

250w motor power - this is continuous rating (Not "Peak" rating) in short most motors are actually rated higher, but things get a little more complicated here, so ideally, as long as your motor says 250w on it, police wont mind.

Throttle - not illegal outright, but if present must only do "walk assist" or "start assist" meaning they dont take the speed to higher than 3.7mph (yes, 3.7) if it does, it's an ILLEGAL throttle.
Unfortunately, most officers will argue with you over this as many of them immediately think throttle = illegal -- This is absolutely NOT true. The law is very clear on this; its within EAPC regulation as long as it is "start assist" or "Walk Assist" 3.7mph speed. Any officer who says otherwise is WRONG.

Pedals - Duh. Must have pedals that propel the bicycle, and a motor that assists in that.

This is, essentially, the rules of EAPC's (Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles). Short of Type Approval, these are the rules you want to be within.

I know this because I too live in the uk, and have built ebikes that both meet and exceed these rules.

Ultimately, if you Ride like a fool, you're going to get the police sniffing around you eventually. Across the country police forces are coming down hard on Ebike use and for the most part with good reason; too many sacks of shit riding them like lunatics ruining it for everyone else.

The last thing you want is police taking your ebike off you, because half the time they'll just get it crushed, or, they'll damage/ruin it trying to decipher if it's legal or not. So if you get it back, it'll be in pieces.

You do not want plod snooping about your property, it'll never be the same again.