Let's face it, kids can't be trusted any more on an Ebike than we were on a MiniBike.
Posted by Physical_Delivery853@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 111 comments
How is it i had my mini bike confiscated several times, had to walk it home a dozen times, all because I was 13, didn't have a licence & mini bikes were/are illegal.
So how is it that a kid can ride an electric mini bike & it be legal. The whole reason mini bikes were illegal for minors to ride is because minors can't understand & follow traffic laws. How does that change by using an electric motor?
We need to bite the bullet & make all powered vehicles illegal if ur under 16 & don't have a driver's licence. That's the only way we are going to end this insanity, it's pretty clear parents aren't going to regulate their children properly.
kashuntr188@reddit
this electric mini bikes/dirt bikes are not legal to ride on the street tho.
Blame this on parents not parenting. its ruining things for people who mind their own business.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Ding Ding Ding. This conservative idea that only parents can parent their kids on what to do, & then they do nothing, is getting out of hand.
Electrical_Tof@reddit
All people can educate one another. Parents can be educated. Very strange logic you have though.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
It's the educator in me after dealing with parents for 40 years, all claiming their child is an angel.
Electrical_Tof@reddit
It's almost like kids should have healthy community where acting like a fool results in others noticing instead of OH IDK from an early age getting people dependant on cars and the feeling of safety which having transportation offers but requiring it be massively inefficient
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Kids have human powered bikes.. Hello, I used to ride 40-60 miles a day on my bike, peddling the whole time, it's great exercise
Electrical_Tof@reddit
Some people have disabilities. Requiring a category of transportation be exercise is a leisure luxury of the upper classes.
gaspig70@reddit
Gas mini bikes and e-motos are not legal for streets regardless. There are certainly other sanctioned mobility options out there for those in need though.
Electrical_Tof@reddit
Unless you make a law prohibiting them??? And yeah big oil makes it difficult to either have the infrastructure or legislation to have good access to better transportation options
gaspig70@reddit
In some cases I'm inclined to agree with you though lately I find more fault with insurance companies and the NTSA.
While you can manufacture 2 and 3 wheeled vehicles that are fairly efficient albeit with low safety/crash standards damn you if make try something affordably similar with 4 wheels for in-town use.
Electrical_Tof@reddit
Wdym
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
I'm disabled AF... & your MAGA bullshit comment isn't appreciated. Go stick ginger up ur ass & get back to us...
Duke_SuperNova@reddit
Uphill both ways in the snow. Ok boomer
gaspig70@reddit
I still do ride those miles though as I a kid that would have been quite a stretch on my BMX.
gaspig70@reddit
Eh, what are you spouting on about? What I read into u/kashuntr188's comment is thus:
How the heck is this a "conservative idea" and not a common sense one? If you don't agree I'm not sure where you want to shift the accountability to.
iH8MotherTeresa@reddit
They are not street legal, this one is pretty straightforward. No indication of OP even has kids.
Parents get their little shit kid a surron an let them loose, not parenting. This gets bikes banned bc these kids (who are not being parented) hurt someone of worse, destroy property! gasp People who mind their own business can no longer also enjoy said surron bc it is banned b
Salt-Lingonberry-853@reddit
OP is calling out the dichotomy of conservatives getting upset when anyone teaches them anything they don't like but also failing to teach and parent them. That is a very conservative mindset and it plagues a lot of society.
"We shouldn't have sex education in schools. That's the parents job."
does not teach their child/adolescent anything about puberty, development, consent, safe sex, etc
I think applying that mindset to the eBike situation is a bit of a stretch, but I believe that's the phenomenon he's discussing.
gaspig70@reddit
Ah, I get what you're saying though I didn't read it that way myself. More of "we can't have nice things" if people keeping trying to get things banned because their little Johnny got hurt w/o parent supervision.
Salt-Lingonberry-853@reddit
It's that phrasing right there that I think you're misinterpreting.
gaspig70@reddit
But how does that derive from the prior comment of...
Not to drag this on but this is what I'm missing connecting the two.
Soltea@reddit
Blame the police for not enforcing. This sub is full of people with illegal ebikes telling people to buy illegal ebikes and how to "get away with it"
Indianapolisted@reddit
There should be zero liability or punishment for collisions or fatalities with an unlicensed or illegal vehicle or driver.
Not only will your kid be dead, you’ll get nothing from anyone over it because you were the moron who made it happen.
urlond@reddit
Most Ebikes dont break the speed limit unless tampered with or falsely advertised as an Ebike such as Surrons and other Emotos. My state for instance declares that if it can go over 30mph on its own power it's classified as a Moped and needs to be registered, licensed, and have plates. Mini bikes depending on their CC will fall into the same classification as my state does.
Ambitious_Permit_862@reddit
Man wtf are u talking about 😭😭 u can make a 212 hemi go 50 by just removing the governor that takes like 20 mins
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Nope, all mini bikes were/are illegal to drive on the street period. Plus most mini bikes in the 70's didn't go over 20 mph
gaspig70@reddit
My gosh they were a blast on private property though. One frozen day it took me forever to flatten my throttle hand back out after riding a friend's Honda 50cc for an hour straight without gloves.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Yes they were, we all had that one friend who lived on a few acres & we could build a bike track on. All was fun until in sixth grade when we lost two classmates to autocross racing. It's crazy how many kids used to die in the 70's from accidents, no seat belts or ridding in the back of a pickup killed far to many & everyone fails to remember this.
gaspig70@reddit
I'm sure that the lack of social media and a 100 news channels had something to do with keeping us in all in the dark.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
While this is true, the memes from people my age making fun of seatbelts & not riding in the back of trucks & they all survived.. Like hell they did, we have rules & regulations for a reason, not because someone pulled them out of their ass.. The facts are about 70-75% of society known how to be responsible, rules & regulations are for the 20-25% who can't be responsible.
Xandred_the_thicc@reddit
after republicans voted in trump we have a pretty solid source for that 30% number. Pretty safe to say anyone who voted for him doesn't know or care how their actions affect others.
Gold_Area5109@reddit
Minibikes tended to be illegal 'cause they lacked features required by the DoT like lights, turn signals, mirrors, or a vin.
Nothing was stopping someone from making a DoT legal minibike.
Just like Suron could and does make legal versions of it's bike for some countries.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Yes, they could & did make legal mini bikes. They were called Nifty Fiftys made by Honda & Yamaha. The key difference is you needed to be 15 1/2 with a learners permit to drive one .. Not an 8 year old that knows nothing about ridding or traffic laws. How do you justify this???
Gold_Area5109@reddit
I don't try to and the age limit and plating requirements were state laws.
I grew up on the WI/MI boarder and mopeds in MI (which the minibikes were considered mopeds) had no license or plating requirements when I was a kid... Instead they required a decal like a standard pedal bike. So it wasn't a rare thing for tweens to have a moped or minibike. Technically Michigan requires the rider to be 15, but that part wasn't enforced from the late 80s through early 2000s in my area.
Afaik MI hasn't updated the requirements too much, but I'm no longer in that area of the country.
toxicatedscientist@reddit
Minis are technically illegal IN the street, shoulders is a little gray
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Nope, still illegal
DickweedMcGee@reddit
Reminds me of Kelly Leak in the Bad News Bears.
The only difference, and it’s a big difference, is how quiet ebikes are today. Mopeds/Urban dirt sound awesome until you start ‘em up. Nothing makes you feel as uncool going down that road at 20mph making more noise than 5 chainsaws.
ocrohnahan@reddit
Parents should decide on if their kids ride.
Particular_Drama7110@reddit
This sub. smh. Every day it is anti-kid rage bait posts and everyone chimes in and says, "kids bad."
pssshhh, let kids be kids. It's summertime. Stop trying to be the nanny state and over-regulate everything.
AudaciousGee@reddit
And OP claims when he was 13 he was a terror and then goes on to blame parents today for doing nothing, without mentioning his own parents role in his own "crimes."
darforce@reddit
Lol. It’s not the kids. It’s the idiot parents buying them things they aren’t legally allowed to have and because of that cause in bans on affordable transportation while car and gas prices are absolutely soaring.
Of course people that invested in them would rage. What if it was cars? What if people gave their 13 yr old kids cars to drive around in with no license and they crashed into some old people and killed them then your town banned cars altogether. What would you do? You wouldn’t be pissed at these parents when you have to walk to work and get your groceries? Come on!
Particular_Drama7110@reddit
But even in your example you are talking about the irresponsibility of 13 year olds killing people. This extreme example sounds hysterical, and I don’t mean funny. Tone down the rhetoric.
Also in your example, why don’t you get mad at your little, small town city council, which isn’t much more than a glorified HOA? They overreacted in a NIMBY-Karen sort of way and infringed on YOUR freedoms when they were really just trying to shout ‘get off my lawn’ at teenagers.
Shoehorse13@reddit
Whenever I find myself getting pissed at these kids I stop and remember that I was a complete jackass on minibikes and my moped growing up and they aren't doing anything I wouldn't have done... and most are considerably better mannered than I was at that age. It's a right a passage that not every kid is going to survive, but that has been the case since horses were domesticated.
AudaciousGee@reddit
"all because I was 13" - or, hear me out, may it wasn't the 13 year olds fault, but instead your parents were not paying attention and not "regulating their children properly."
indolente@reddit
This is why we are going to eventually over regulate e bikes, and it will ruffle some feathers.
A e bike should be street and bike path legal, a e moto should not be street legal without registration and insurance and a drivers license.
Orowam@reddit
Add “on public roadways with X speed limit or higher” and I’m on board. If kids wanna zip around the neighborhood on a bike I couldn’t care less as long as they’re wearing safety gear. But not on public roads with mainly car traffic
DuckAxe0@reddit
We did have motor-powered bicycles, which we called mopeds. They were available as manufactured and as conversion kits. One of the more popular models in my area was the Solex.
TheArchivis@reddit
The town I live in just passed a law requiring e-bikes to be registered with the police department. I was at city hall arguing against that on the grounds that 1) existing state law already requires a license and registration for e-motos/mopeds that minors can’t handle safely, 2) it is the responsibility of parents to say no to buying their kid something that acts like a motorcycle, and 3) requiring registration in effect is treating parents and responsible adult riders like children that need special privileges to get around the town they live in. I had a productive conversation with the police chief about the law, though. Hopefully I can build on that to shape what enforcement/communicating the new rules to the public looks like.
Deeznutseus2012@reddit
This is why all this helicopter parenting BS is so ridiculous. When you're young, you can't really be trusted to not do all kinds of stupid, crazy shit.
Didn't have a BMX-style bike? No problem, we just jumped the 10-speed off the homemade ramps we built out of scraps because we were bored.
One can never render children completely safe. If you do succeed in that, then you render them incapable and fragile, defeating the purpose.
Xandred_the_thicc@reddit
I'm not gonna pretend i know what the older generations were like but gen alpha can be safely generalized as not capable of looking out for themselves in this regard. The world has changed and the environment these kids are growing up in is not conducive to learning anything about the real world, including developing a sense of mortality or civic duty to follow the basic traffic laws that prevent cars from hitting you. They don't even care to learn how to use the devices they spend most of their time in front of. Their parents aren't going to teach them how to safely ride around and they aren't going to learn through osmosis because their friends who got ebikes first are terrible influences whose dopamine pathways are just completely and utterly fried by instant short-term rewards. This isn't a generational thing it's a matter of not being able to trust children with completely fucked dopamine reward pathway development to care about the health and safety of anyone. themseleves, others, it matters not to the gen alpha ipad kid that just wants an ebike to go vroom zoom as fast as they can with zero effort.
gaspig70@reddit
I mostly agree with you but there's still room for common sense when it comes to playing in traffic vs. hitting jumps. I was a latchkey kid of the 70's that free roamed the suburban streets and pipelines on my BMX. Perhaps I can't tell you why I just knew not to mess around with certain roads more than others but I did and somehow I passed that onto our kids.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
On the other hand this conservative idea that only they can parent their kids & then chose to not parent is total BS as well.
zekerigg41@reddit
Can we crack down on illegal ebikes and build better bike infrastructure instead?
An ebike started as a bicycle with a little boost. Thus is regulated as such. I think mi law limiting kids to class 1 and maybe 2 is reasonable. let kids out side and exist with their friends if they are riding legal class 1 ebikes. We have gaggles that ride around here getting ice cream and hanging out. Some are idiots as kids can be but the top speed of cars being around 25 mph makes them not dead idiots.
I am teaching my 7 year old to ride safely to school on his regular bike. I picked a bikable place to live that makes this safe. I am sure when he wants an ebike I will get him a class 1 with a good torque sensor.
nurdturgalor@reddit
Why does a kid need an ebike? Doesn't make any sense, they are kids and can use their legs???
kleingrunmann@reddit
Hear me out: maybe we need consistent simple laws? If I want to commute anywhere, I'm passing thru 3 local jurisdictions, while also in 3 others (county/state/federal). All 6 can have different laws, many of which are confusing or heard for adults to understand and follow, let alone kids.
I agree that kids can't be trusted on an emoto or a mini bike, but that's most of their appeal and fun. We had go carts as kids and those weren't street legal, but neither were the atv's the adult neighbors ran on the roadways. Parents made sure kids had rollover protection and told them to stay away from cars. The carts topped out somewhere between whoa and haha this is fun (probably around 25mph). Faster speeds (30+) just shouldn't be available in the market for small emotos of (kids) frame size. I absolutely think pedal assist should be available for teenagers, but maybe where it cuts out lower.
I would've killed for an ebike as a kid, and i looked many times into making a Whizzer bike, but the numbers never worked out. My friends lived too far away (outside of my rural neighborhood) to make bicycling or walking practical. This meant I always needed someone to drive me anywhere until I could get my auto license.
evil_snow_man@reddit
Simply put, police have much higher priorities today than back in the day. I remember getting pulled over for not wearing a helmet riding a bike as a teen.
Now, homeless people can ride down the street with another one by his side (stolen) with no helmet and police won’t even look in his direction.
WumboTactical@reddit
Good luck closing Pandora’s box. IMO focusing on safety, helmets, following the rules of the road, riding at an appropriate speed, and being courteous are about a thousand times more important than trying to cap wattage or top speed on bikes. You can ride a “legal” class 3 e-bike like a total ass hat on a bike path, and you can also ride a “technically illegal” ebike on that same bike path in a way that’s less anti social than a road bike at the same spot. I’d rather have a bike that can cruise at 30 so I can ride in the street instead of the bike path and keep dumbasses from passing me going 15 over in the neighborhood, I think that’s far safer.
robotzor@reddit
I've even seen cars on bike paths, using "if I fits I sits" rules!
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Yep, I just had two kids on EBike almost force me to crash because they were riding on the wrong side of the street recklessly. We need an age limit as that's the only thing that's going to stop this madness
Floresian-Rimor@reddit
Which is why in the UK you have to be 14 for an e-bike (pedelec).
darforce@reddit
Most states in the US are 16 but people ignore that
howrunowgoodnyou@reddit
Cops are too lazy to enforce it
rshetts1@reddit
Sadly I agree with you. Children under the age of 16, in general, lack the sense of responsibility to own or operate powered vehicles in the public. And sadly as well far too many parents lack the sense of responsibility to properly parent their children. Instead they get them a Surron and shove them out the door just to get them get out of their hair. This is what legislators need to focus on. Blanket bans are not going to work and they punished more people doing things the right way than anyone else. Its lazy on their part and makes it easier on the police because they do not have to actual do police work to enforce a blanket ban. They just ticket everyone.
SirHustlerEsq@reddit
It appears that wheelies are now a crime. Sad times.
darforce@reddit
I personally ran a mini bike into a barbed wire fence and my arms are pretty scarred from it.
Big difference is a most mini bikes don’t meet the height requirement of 26” (federal reg) to be on the road. I mean a Ford F150 can’t see me in my Miata. How is it going to see a child on a mini bike?
Every child who rides on the road IMO should complete a road safety course. We had them when I was a kid but of course we were doing some crazy shit on our bikes with no helmet.
RadFarzanna@reddit
Just a few days ago I was harassed by a couple of kids on e-bikes… they were doing it to impress their other friends who were watching while also on e-bikes. The ebike was their perfect get away vehicle- fast, untraceable, etc. It’s clear to me kids can’t be trusted with e-bikes unfortunately… they’re still kids after all.
thirtynation@reddit
Blah blah blah blah
Significant-Pen-6049@reddit
Love my e-bikes but thought the same
MugsyMD@reddit
Been saying this for a long time plus I don’t mind harvesting these kids organs when they most themselves and use their hearts, lungs, corneas, kidneys, livers etc for more deserving people!
Important-Leather847@reddit
Bros just bitter lmao. get over it
robotcoke@reddit
I saw a YouTube video the other day where an ebike rider was showing kids on single speed BMX (human powered) bikes blowing past him on his ebike. He was going around 30 MPH, and they were going significantly faster than him.
All these clowns complaining about the speed are likely just bots. They've never actually ridden a bike, so they have no idea that 35 MPH on a human powered bike is not that big of a deal. Going that fast uphill is a big deal, and maintaining that speed over a long ride is a big deal. Hitting that speed for a short time while going downhill or even on flat ground, that's not a big deal at all and happens all the time.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
For me speed isn't the issue. I used to race bikes as a kid & I am used to going fast, too fast for my own good at times. The issue is we are allowing children of any age to drive, while most adults can't even drive properly. A kid on a bike is usually going under 12 mph on a bike that weighs under 20 pounds. Now they are driving a 60-80 pound bike while violating every rule of the road we have. This is only going to get worse, especially with conservative lazy ass parents who refuse to parent their kids anymore.
robotcoke@reddit
There are a couple of ways to respond to this.
1: Ebikes are also "usually" going 12 MPH. They can hit 40 MPH or whatever, but the average speed of the trip will be around 12 MPH when they're finished.
2: Kids on human powered bike regularly hit 35 MPH (or more) for short bursts. Maintaining that speed is the hard part. Hitting it for 5 seconds or whatever while going down a big hill happens all the time.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Speed isn't the issue, it's all the illegal driving, ignoring traffic laws & such. I'm not sure why Ebikes illicit this type of behavior, but they do. An all out ban of e anything to children under 16 is the only way we are going to get a handle on this
robotcoke@reddit
If riding them recklessly is the actual issue, then make it illegal to ride them recklessly. If it's already illegal to ride them recklessly but it's still an issue then enforce the law. Adding more laws for people to ignore isn't going to fix anything.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
It's an age & maturity thing... How do you not see that???
robotcoke@reddit
No it isn't. You just said the way they are riding them is the problem. Age and maturity might be WHY they're riding them in that manner, but we don't care about anyone's age and majority. We care about they're actions. In this case, we care about how they're riding their ebikes.
Make it illegal to ride them recklessly. They can be as immature as they want as long as they aren't infringing in anyone's rights. And if they are infringing on somebody's rights, then make that illegal. If it's already illegal, then enforce it. Passing more laws that won't be enforced isn't going to solve anything.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
You MAGA pedo lovers comments are epic.. It's clearly a maturity issue or you would see all age groups doing it. The easiest way to police it is to make it obvious who's violating the law. Back when I had my illegal mini bike, I could count on one finger how many other illegal mini bikes there were in my neighborhood. Why, because they were illegal, hello
robotcoke@reddit
Are you an actual bot? Maga pedo lovers? What the heck are you talking about? Time to reset yourself.
Again, I don't care why you think they ride recklessly. Just make it illegal to ride recklessly if that's what you don't like.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Come on now... MAGA was created by a Pedo for perverts & pedos. It's why Paxton won in Texas, the demented perverts voted for one of their own.
robotcoke@reddit
So you're just going full bot on me now? Who said I was MAGA?? You're trying to turn this into something it isn't, and you're breaking the rules of the sub.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
It's obvious by your post ur MAGA...
robotcoke@reddit
It's obvious by your continuing attempt to turn this into a political argument, that you have no actual point to make. If you want to argue politics there are plenty of subs for that. If you have nothing further to discuss related to ebikes, then go find a sub to post comments that are actually related to that sub.
foghillgal@reddit
Cmon buddy, you are the one who sounds like you haven’t ridden an actual bike except maybe downhill
On flat ground it’s def is a big deal, 99% of cyclist have never hit even 30 mph on flat land. I’ve biked on a road bike since h th e early 1980s in city traffic in Montreal abd people that can follow me even going at 27 for a few miles are rare .
Of course doing it going downhill is much easier but Thats usually very brief in cities and if you lucky not hitting lights
AVERAGE speed though for even a short distance will be much much lower. Because unless living in the Rockies most routes are up and down or flat and because of traffic and lights you will rarely be able to keep your speed up.
The only place I’ve routinely seen people going at 33-35 mph for any amount of the time is when in a peleton on flat non curvy roads like the F1 circuit in Montreal where really fast cyclists train .
Some modified E-bikes though can easily reach this speed cause they fon’t have to worry about wind resistance bring cubed with speed or energy needed to get to a speed being squared . So small slowdown will not be much of a bother.
robotcoke@reddit
Oh, so downhill speeds don't count then? We're saying ebikes are so dangerous because they can go those speeds in flat ground, but regular bikes thing downhill at those speeds are just fine? Let's be consistent here.
Man I don't care about your internet bragging. I grew up in the mountains in Salt Lake, I'll race you UP the hill and embarrass you before I do 35+ on the way back down. And again, who cares how long you maintain that speed? You hit a speed that nobody had complained about since at least the 80s, according to you. And now it's suddenly a big deal that Pele ate hitting that speed? Get out of here with that nonsense.
Maybe in Montreal. When you live in the mountains it's half the ride. There are likely people hitting 35 MPH all the time on the hills of San Francisco (and every other city with a lot of hills).
Millions of people live in the Rockies. And the Sierra Nevada. And the Appalachians. And news flash, those 40 MPH ebikes hit those same red lights and stop signs and end up averaging around 12 MPH for the ride. They only ride at the high speeds in short bursts. They just do it in flat ground.
Man you need to shut up about Montreal already. You seem to think the entire world is exactly like Montreal. Maybe they do only hit 35 MPH if they're on an F1 track in Montreal, I don't know, I've never been there. But in the western US where it's full of hills and mountains, people hit 35 MPH all the time.
You need to go outside. You're acting like a bot who doesn't actually understand what he's saying. "Regular bikes can only hit that speed in short bursts because they have to go go downhill and hit red lights and city traffic...." Then "Ebikes can easily hit that speed so they're a problem...." (no mention of the red lights or traffic that also slow them down, or the batteries that only have power to travel at that speed for 20 minutes, but you did mention that you could maintain your own super high speed on the streets of Montreal for over an hour on your regular bike)
foghillgal@reddit
Talking physics 27 is not 35 , you are deliberate in being obtuse and its fun being called boy by soneone likely younger …
it takes 375 watts to sustain 27 mph and 875 watts to sustain 35 in the drops if you have the gearing for it 54x10 and up, and can sustain the very high cadence . Thats with no head wind at all.
I’ll let you guess which one is a lot easier and plausible for the average non pro cyclist
Most of the extra wattage is wind resistance , 125 watt is the extra kinetic energy . It is that wind resistance that makes it not possible to sustain speeds on a normal bike . The hour record on a track in full aero gear and a 50k bike by top time trialist is 33mph
We were talking what can be seen regularly seen on a bike and not what some pros or semi-pros (me, but no longer) which are infrequent can do for any amount of time.
What some beater going down a 20 % grade can do once in a blue moon is immaterial to what people can expect from the everage bikers on a trip. The big crowds you see on bike lanes all day going 15mph (90 watts of power) is what’s expected .
robotcoke@reddit
Gee, thanks professor.
Let me just stop you right there, professor. Someone who weighs 450 pounds will need more watts than someone who weighs 90 pounds. And going up a 45 degree hill will require more watts than going down that same hill.
They're all plausible under the right circumstances. You just need to step outside and realize that your little bubble isn't representative of the entire world, and not everyone thinks and feels the exact same as you.
You're off on some nonsense here. Nobody cares about what some guy got once on a track. People hit 33 MPH (and significantly faster) coming down the highways on the sides of these mountains every single day. Whether they keto that speed up for 2 hours is a non issue. Again, the battery on those ebikes will not sustain that speed forever, either. As the battery drains, the max speed goes down. And the battery can only maintain the max speed for an hour or 2, and that's even with the max speed getting reduced as the battery level decreases.
Yes. And what IS seen energy single day are human powered bikes going downhill on highways at speeds well over 35 MPH. Your argument that "they can only do that downhill" doesn't mean anything. They can only do that downhill? So what?! Downhill is half the ride in a lot of places.
And I'm calling BS on you here. That beater going down a 20% grade will beat average ebike trip every single time they try to beat it. If you're claiming the ebike averages 35 MPH for the whole trip then you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
90 watts of power, lol. Yeah, sure professor. That 300 pound guy with a 50 pound backpack is only using 90 watts of power. Right.
And no. 15 MPH is absolutely not what's expected. Maybe it is in Montreal, but definitely not on the many highways that come down the side of mountains in the western US.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
One of my worst crashes was at BYU in Provo, I was coming off campus which is on a hill & headed down town, I merged into traffic going about 40 & the car I was in front of made a sudden right turn & it's front bumper caught my back tire. Lots of road rash, but what pissed me off the most was they knew what they did. I looked them in the eye & they kept going...
robotcoke@reddit
Utah drivers are the worst. You'll get no argument from me on that. Having experienced it my entire life, maybe that's why I'm such a proponent of an alternative. I never connected those dots but there might actually be something to it, lol.
j_eremy@reddit
These were the kids raised on tablets and the google play store was the most risk they ever saw.
kashuntr188@reddit
maybe I just always sucked at pedaling. But how is 35MPH not a big deal on a bike? Thats the speed of traffic in the city. And people going at those speeds in a bike are most likely not wearing body armor. At least in a car you have protection in the event of a crash.
Speed is definitely a killer.
robotcoke@reddit
Yep, you always sucked at pedaling if you couldn't ever hit 35 MPH under any circumstances. And no, 35 MPH is NOT the speed of traffic in a city. Speed limits on the status here are 40-45 on moderately busy streets, 50-60 on the really busy streets.
You're correct though - they're not wearing "body armor" on bikes. And yet, somehow, it's never been a big deal.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Not a big deal? Almost 200 cyclist are killed on Calif roads each year. That's just California, id call that a big deal, I bet it was a big deal to those families that lost loved ones...
robotcoke@reddit
And way more people than that are killed in car crashes. In California alone it's 4061 people per year killed in car crashes. So about 11 post day, 78 per week, or 338 per month.
Yeah, the 200 cyclists per year are no big deal in the big picture.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
That's a very shallow way of thinking about it...
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
Yep, I ride my bike at 30 for only a short period of time, but I'm 69, when I was 19 I raced bikes & going downhill at 50-60mph was fun AF because I was young & full of cum, thinking if I did fall I'd have great scars to show the girls. Now I think about the 6 months it would take to recover. 😂😅🤣
Jump_and_Drop@reddit
That's a really stupid take. Require helmets under a certain age, but if it doesn't go faster than riding speeds, it shouldn't be an issue. The real issue is the e motorcycles that people are buying thinking they're ebikes.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
You're take is far more dumber than mine.
SexiestPanda@reddit
*your
Instantlemonsmix@reddit
Minibikes are illegal because they can’t be registered at a DMV (I hate it too)
E bikes are legal because… they found one hell of a legal loop hole and got lucky enough for it to actually become legal later
The solution is just to get the idiots if the road and leave the rest of us alone just like a regular car you can do what ever you want until you get pulled over same thing should apply to e bikes If someone is going 50 mph down a 30 mph road.. or is traveling at 30 mph on a high way then they need to be dealt with
Banning things and setting age limits only limits everyone that isn’t even doing anything wrong while the ones who do.. well nothing will change they already know their doing something illegal and obviously don’t care yet that’s the difference we need to make it to leave the regular man that wants to get to point A-B or just to have fun and not harass the town at speeds of 60 mph
Why should jimmy not be able to ride to school on an e bike anymore just because that little shit with crack head parents got an e moto and decided to make the neighborhood the new moto cross track?
Punishing innocent people over guilty peoples behavior only makes the justice system look worse than it already is (more like shows us a dead beaten horse at this point)
gaspig70@reddit
The only quasi loophole that existed is if you purchased a Surron with a useless pedal kit. Without pedals it was never an e-bike.
p.s. In some states including here in WA you can get the State Patrol to inspect your dirt bike and get a plate if you add lights, etc. Granted at 50cc they may question your choices. There's even been a few folks that have received plates for the Surron but it's fairly rare still.
SexiestPanda@reddit
But they like never are. The amount of people that speed past me on my way to work is absurd. Every day. Never see anyone pulled over.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
The facts are the reason mini bikes are illegal for kids to drive is the same reason e bikes should be illegal for them to drive. They are too immature to realize the consquences of their actions.
tofu889@reddit
In this climate of the kids being criticized for doing nothing but being on tablets, playing video games, etc (which may have truth to it), I think any time we see an "overabundance" of "problematic" outdoor behavior (e-bikes, etc), we need to see if it can be accommodated in a safe way rather than be banned outright.
I would rather see a world where people below drivers-license age have to take a course and get a certificate (almost like a pre-driver's license) than have them just be banned.
If the devices are a problem, have a registration-like system that's a little lighter than with cars (where you have to provide VIN, lots of paperwork/fees etc), and maybe more like boats (attach your own numbers instead of a license plate etc), where you have to provide a bill of sale and evidence from the bike's manual/documentation that it is designed not to go over a certain speed. For self-built bikes, you could provide documentation of the motor specifications (wattage, etc).
If the cops caught a kid going 25 when the rules say e-bikes can only go 21mph, then that would be prima facie evidence that fraud in obtaining the "registration" occurred and it could be impounded/investigated.
I think with some elbow grease, we could let the kids have fun while bringing some order to the situation.
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
All sensible ideas. But what's wrong with them peddling until they are 16, gives them something to look forward too. We are way to wimpy with kids today, kids #1 goal is to make life as easy as possible for them. Do you think if we made school voluntary tomorrow that even 50% of kids would show up? Highly unlikely. We used to have parents that knew when to say no, now they give them what ever they want. I couldn't spend all day inside because my house was locked up from 8am to 5pm every day except weekends. Since parents won't do the right thing it's up to society to set rules & regulations to force them too.
mmeiser@reddit
I was thinking about this the other day. The need to do wheelies at the age of 10-15 is absolutely universal. My SO and i were the same way when we were that age and that was a wee bit ago. We BOTH have the scars to prove it! The only thing that has changed is the roads that we both grew up on are now paved. Kids today won't know the joy of picking gravel out of their skin! My SO do ng a wheelie on her Batavia. Myself standing up and riding no handed! It's like a right of passage! You should see my scars from My first trip tonBentonville AR three weeks ago. Nearly all healed up! I kept the rubber side down but someone put the rocks vertical! I'm not saying how old I am but coearly I never grew up. Lets just say I don't bounce like I used to! LOL.
Oh and also I never had anything with a motor until I went off to college and got a motorcycle. I had it for three-ish years before I tood my mom, lol. My parents knew I wasn't responsible enough for an ebike. My dad was the same way. Hisnparents made him finish college before they let him get a car because his older borthers got into drag racing and bever went to college, lol! No lie. They made him return his first car after he bought it tor $150. Vietnam interupted his studies as it did for his buddies.
FYI, I got rid of the motorcycle years ago but I still ride my bikes more then ever! No joke. 7000+ miles a year! 5000 on the ebike commuter.
I still haven't mastered riding wheelies! But I won't ever stop trying! I can track stand through a red light though! Twelve years of bicycle commuting in Chicago in a past life!
Kids today are doing OK. Doesn't mKe riding Talaria and Surron on the road OK. But who here remembers the Honda Spree! The times change but being 14 does not!
Zentransit@reddit
Kids are more concerned about doing wheelies, going fast, doing tricks, and looking "cool", than anybody's safety, including their own!
Smart_Classroom2668@reddit
I’m 40 and I ride mine fast but only when permitted on bike trails and bike lanes
Dustin4vn@reddit
eh. when I was in high school years before e-bike was thing, having an e-bike back then would save a lot of time and energy. Laws are in place already, it’s just not enforced or known by the public and the punishment is abysmal.
mps_1969@reddit
Yea I have several of them chainsaw on wheels buzzed by my house early mornings at least ebikes are quiet .
Giggsroo@reddit
They're not legal though, or does it just depend on the state you're in? I see tons of posts and videos of kids complaining about their emotos getting impounded by police and now they're even talking about holding the parents responsible. Its a step in the right direction but its taking time!
Physical_Delivery853@reddit (OP)
That's only for the high powered ones that can go 40-50mph. My take is they should all be illegal under the age of 16. It would make it a lot easier on everyone if we had set rules by age like we always have had. Being powered by electricity shouldn't all of the sudden give them a pass.