2010 Pro Connect S on E-Bay

[Teejay]

Spotted this today:

KALKHOFF PRO CONNECT S 2010 E- BIKE on eBay (end time 13-Mar-10 03:33:58 GMT)

Only a day to go and still no bids - so someone could get a bargain, way below list and no dire warnings or funny bits of paper to sign to say you'll only use it on private land.

On the other hand, no guarantees - and I've already asked him, no receipt as 'it was a gift'. You do get the charger though

Furthermore, zero items against the name. Caveat Emptor I'd say.

 

[Bigbee]

I quite often buy people gifts of over £1000 hoping they may use them

 

[NRG]

There's so much wrong with that listing I wouldn't know where to start!

 

[Alex728]

isn't this the 25mph Pro Connect?

even assuming good faith on behalf of the seller (I have my suspicions as do others but we still need to operate on "innocent until proven guilty") it still paints a very bleak picture.

Even the best case scenario is that whoever rode it has been spotted by the Met and "given suitable advice" that their £2500 machine will end up being taken from them and languishing in the Metpol property stores if they try to ride it again on UK roads without reg plate/helmet/license/VOSA approval/whatever other paperwork is required.. so they want rid of it as quickly as possible but are hiding the bad news about it being wholly illegal to ride in this country... (a bit like those petrol motors for bicycles that seem to appear on fleabay now and then)...

but even then you'd think they would be more forthcoming about paperwork etc - after all its surely not illegal to own one, only to ride it on public roads....

 

[rustic]

I'm always a bit suspect of buying high priced goods from sellers with zero feedback rating. I know all sellers have to start somewhere, but I personally would think twice before bidding.

Also why would you choose to have an end of auction time at 3.30am for such a high price item? Maybe I'm just getting old??

 

[theskip1]

all this talk about british law being so strict on overpowerd ebilkes i have been riding one for 12years and never been stopped once. my present bike is a 36v 750w which i have had for 4months. i go passed our local cop shop at leased once a week (somtimes on the path ) as far as i can see they are not interested in any sort of bike electric or otherwise unless you are obviously holding up trafic or drunk. i not even sure if they would recognise an electric bike if it ran over their size thirteens!. still having said all that i'd still ask to pay for this bike when i pick it up and not have it posted.

 

[Alex728]

its clearly harder for cops / nosey citizens to judge if a home built e-bike is "legal" or not if ridden responsibly but the authorities definitely are becoming increasingly aware that some manufactured e-bikes are outside legal limits - quite possibly due to competing dealers pointing this out!

monitoring/enforcement of laws relating to any cyclist (powered or otherwise) varies from region to region and tends to be worse in urban areas/cities... people here in some parts of London are mentioning incidents of cyclists being stopped if they are going across red lights/on pavements.. they do random checks on cyclists in Ipswich but thats mostly against riding on the pavement / not having lights...

TBH a 18-20 mph ebike would probably still go unnoticed as many unpowered cyclists can go over that speed (I regularly used to do so) - but 22-25mph on anything not looking like a "lycras" bike and eyebrows will be raised.. even in countries where the Pro Connect S is legal I think you need to wear a helmet and have it registered/with 3rd party insurance... some cops definitely do recognise e-bikes as they ride them! I believe a bunch of Wispers are in Police service in Wales, as well as other models.

I can remember when loads of my (younger) mates were getting into those mini motos etc (nearly 10 years ago now ) - they got away with them for a bit (and not all of them rode irresponsibly) but the cops eventually caught up with them and clamped down. Ditto with mopeds being ridden with illegal mods/on expired CBT etc... all it takes is for enough "concerned citizens" to whinge or for someone to have an unfortunate collision..

I'm still dubious about this whole e-bay auction anyway, its not really the sort of thing someone would buy as a gift on a whim especially as its not even a normal stock item for this country's dealers unlike the other legal Pro connects!