Earlier quoted context omitted.
Legal limit in USA is 750 watts, legal limit in UK is 250 watts. Competition on power output is illegal. I have a BBSHD which can be trivially programmed to 1500w output (likely the same as your Luna cycle without a custom controller) and it’s great. It is widely regarded that there is no enforcement of power limits, but manufacturers can’t really advertise illegal power limits for sale. Many high power ebike enthusi…
> Many high power ebike enthusiasts (for example “High Voltage DIY Electric Bikes” channel on YouTube) argue that these low legal power limits actually make e-bikes less safe, as you need a good 2-3kw to actually ride with the flow of traffic. At US or worse UK power limits, you don’t get enough of a boost for that and you’re more likely to get hit from behind. Those "High power ebike enthusiasts" are actually "small…
We can make a legal category for "electric motorcycles with pedals" or we can call them high powered electric bicycles. I don't care so much what we call them as long as we recognize that this type of vehicle is extremely valuable in fighting climate change and building more walkable cities with less need for automobile infrastructure. If everyone could legally ride a 2kw ebike around town with some nice panniers or a rack for cargo space, so many automobile trips could be eliminated.
> I'm fine with a separate class of regulations allowing higher power, but only if those vehicles are easily disallowed from bike trails. If the goal is to ride around with cars in traffic all day, it shouldn't be a problem to be banned from bike trails.
When you say trails, I could agree on dirt trails where erosion and environmental damage is an issue. But as we build out better bicycle infrastructure around the country, we have more and more dedicated paved bike paths. It would be absurd to me if bikes like my 1.5kw ebike were barred from paved bike paths. And note, it already is! Most of the paved bike paths around Oakland and Berkeley are legally restricted to class 2 ebikes. My bike is beyond class 3, and so illegal both generally and on these paths. But I don't think it should be! I have been bicycling for almost 40 years, so I am extremely respectful of other people and I don't want to blow past anyone. Maybe there need to be more fine grained laws around etiquitte, or maybe we need to expand our notion of bike paths to include 3kw ebikes. There must be some middle ground between surface streets with 4000lb vehicles and bike paths that are only for low powered or human powered bicycles.
But my broad point is, these vehicles are extremely important to a world with reduced carbon emissions. They are much more useful than a regular bike (which I also ride quite a lot) for transportation purposes, and so better as a car replacement. They take less resources and emissions to produce, they use less energy to move a person, they are safer for pedestrians than automobiles, appropriate infrastructure takes up less space, etc etc etc.
The attitude of "that's a motorcycle! you had better keep that as far away from me as possible" is a negative-focused view on what can be an extremely transformative technology.
I know there are assholes and irresponsible people, and actually a good friend of mine broke their leg in an ebike-on-ebike collision in the UK on a legal 250w ebike, so I understand that injuries can still happen. And I absolutely do not want assholes blowing past old ladies or parents walking their kids in strollers.
But we MUST consider the real value this new type of machine has to offer, and genuinely take time to consider how they should be used. The knee-jerk claim that it is just a motorcycle is missing that in reality they are a new class of vehicle. Similar to a bicycle and similar to a motorcycle, but lighter than one, easier to handle, and I would argue much more useful.
So sure, let us create regulations around them. But let us make sure we allow them on appropriate bike paths, and build the right infrastructure to take advantage of such a useful new type of machine.