Motor Limiting Legalities

ollybb

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 27, 2020
5
1
Hi there folks, long time lurker, initially bought myself a BBS02, great fun, sold it over legal concerns. I originally thought if I bought something like the Eggrider V2 and limited to 250W 15.5mph I would be street legal. A lot of people here seem to agree that that isn't legal.

However, today I noticed the Super73-S2 has a "Super73 48V EPAC 250W limited motor" which can be de-restricted to travel at 30mph, I'm not quite sure how this is legal? Is this one of those situations where Super73 can state "No this is 100% a 250W motor, look! We even wrote it on the frame" but in reality it can happily runat 1200W...?

If there was a way for me to DIY myself such a bike, that serves as a 250W for the road (more than happy to obey the law in busy cities) but when I'm off road on private land/ abroad I'd love to unleash some more power... I'd buy it in a heart beat.

If the only legal way to do this is to be a manufacturer (Super73) who can just merrily stamp a motor as they see fit then I suppose my only option is forking out £2K+

Cheers all ;)
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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motors are limited to 250w@ 15mph they can use all of the power going up hills like 800w from a Bosch motor otherwise you would not climb anything.

you can fit a dongle in seconds to remove the speed limit on most mid motor bikes just with diy bikes you can just change the speed limit in the controller settings so classed as a off road switch.


i have had a dongle on my bike since 2014 plod is not interested so id just get what you want and keep it under 50mph on the pavement :p
 

ollybb

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 27, 2020
5
1
motors are limited to 250w@ 15mph they can use all of the power going up hills like 800w from a Bosch motor otherwise you would not climb anything.

you can fit a dongle in seconds to remove the speed limit on most mid motor bikes just with diy bikes you can just change the speed limit in the controller settings so classed as a off road switch.


i have had a dongle on my bike since 2014 plod is not interested so id just get what you want and keep it under 50mph on the pavement :p
Cheers soundwave, I'll probably hold off for a little bit, then buy a nice eMTB and shove a dongle in it, personally that feels less risky having a 250W stamped bike, compared to buying say a BBSHD/BBS02 stamped 750W+
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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If the motor says 250w then that is what the manufacturer of the drive rates it as.
Like Woosh they have 48v kits marked 250w from the manufacturer,
 

ollybb

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 27, 2020
5
1
If the motor says 250w then that is what the manufacturer of the drive rates it as.
Like Woosh they have 48v kits marked 250w from the manufacturer,
Ah yes... Along that same vein, what would you personally recommend as the kit available from woosh/brighton etc, with the most effective power but legally stamped..?

I've heard of the BBS01B-ETM from Brighton, and thanks to your advice the 48V SWX02 48V 250W from Woosh, I'm not 100% sure what is possible with the ETM kit, if it can push ~25mph it would be perfect for me :)

Cheers Nealh.
 
D

Deleted member 33385

Guest
If the motor says 250w then that is what the manufacturer of the drive rates it as.
Like Woosh they have 48v kits marked 250w from the manufacturer,

What?!?!?!?!? Really? Mr.Woosh! I have greatly underestimated your usefulness! I should have ordered from you in the first place!
 
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D

Deleted member 33385

Guest
motors are limited to 250w@ 15mph they can use all of the power going up hills like 800w from a Bosch motor otherwise you would not climb anything.

you can fit a dongle in seconds to remove the speed limit on most mid motor bikes just with diy bikes you can just change the speed limit in the controller settings so classed as a off road switch.


i have had a dongle on my bike since 2014 plod is not interested so id just get what you want and keep it under 50mph on the pavement :p

Do you tend to stick to pavements? I plan on doing that during rush hour and if the plod harass me, I'll tell them that I haven't cycled since 1989 and I'm terrified of the road! Then escape as fast as my motor will let me!
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292


:cool:
 
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ollybb

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 27, 2020
5
1
Quick question, not sure if you know, when it comes to say a dongled Performance CX with 85 Nm at 36V, will I be able to expect say a BBS01B ETM 36V with 100Nm of torque to out perform it?

At the same voltage, is torque an effective comparison?

To be honest, if I can get a similar performance to your bike in these awesome clips with an ETM I'll probably go for that option :)
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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The ETM has a 25a controller with up rated internals, it's makes no sense buying the 750w 02 or BBSHD unless you want 48v and more wh. The basic BBS can push 20 so the ETM should be able to sustain that better and likely a bit more. The ETM should output approx 900w at full beans my BBS01 at 18a could out put 630w.
Have a chat with Darren at BEB's and he will give you more definitive answers.
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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my motor is gen 2 performance so 63nm i have a m8 with a very light bafang 750w motor fitted to it and nukes me on acceleration as uses a throttle but i can keep up with it just but gaps me easy from a standing start.

for max speed i need to spin the cranks at 120rpm so need to use the gears to get to top speed going down the gears.

but if he went to the forest on that thing it would fall to bits if you know what i mean ;)
 
D

Deleted member 33385

Guest
Quick question, not sure if you know, when it comes to say a dongled Performance CX with 85 Nm at 36V, will I be able to expect say a BBS01B ETM 36V with 100Nm of torque to out perform it?

At the same voltage, is torque an effective comparison?

To be honest, if I can get a similar performance to your bike in these awesome clips with an ETM I'll probably go for that option :)

Soundwave's vids need a MPH readout overlay!
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
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It's virtually impossible to determine whether a motor is legal by measuring its power. In the case i was involved in recently, the bike had a manufacturers plate on it that said that the bike was rated at 250w. He also got a letter from the manufacturer that said it was rated at 250w. With those two things, he was home and dry. It was also possible to change the max speed of the bike by changing the settings in the LCD, but it was set to 15.5 mph. That's what it cut off when the police tested it, so he was also home and dry on that point.
 

ollybb

Finding my (electric) wheels
Sep 27, 2020
5
1
Hi folks, follow up, I'm now torn between a few options. I heard there are TSDZ 48V 250W kits around, at least in 2019, are any of you aware of any suppliers?
 
D

Deleted member 33385

Guest
It's virtually impossible to determine whether a motor is legal by measuring its power. In the case i was involved in recently, the bike had a manufacturers plate on it that said that the bike was rated at 250w. He also got a letter from the manufacturer that said it was rated at 250w. With those two things, he was home and dry. It was also possible to change the max speed of the bike by changing the settings in the LCD, but it was set to 15.5 mph. That's what it cut off when the police tested it, so he was also home and dry on that point.


He wasn't jailed!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-51707616
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
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Woosh bikes for 250w 48v tsdz.