jakers

Caph, Please be aware that ISPs have to adhere to the Data Protection Act. Your name and address is sensitive personal data. For the law enforcement authorities to go to the masive efforts it would require to circumvent this, they would have to suspect a very serious crime. I think they have been able to do it in the past when they have suspected child abuse or terrorism, that sort of thing, but not somebody using a slightly souped up cycle motor. There are websites out there where disgruntled motorists boast about burning and chopping down speed cameras, if it was easy for the police to get names and addresses out of ISPs they would start with these kind of sites long before they get round to the pedelec forum!

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm afraid I only saw them all now (was more used to forums that default to reply email notification automatically) Taking your comments in no particular order: I do not agree with the commute speeds quoted of 12 and 13 mph. When I was a young cyclist, about 15 years old, I remember one of the big benchmarks in my cycling club was to complete 100 miles in 6 hours. That's a 16.6mph average. The route that this was done on involved setting off from the Wirral and circuiting the various hills of north wales including the Horseshoe Pass above llangollen, so a hilly route. I don't recall ever achieving it as a 15 year old but many other slightly older club level cyclists did. bear in mind that this was an average speed so involved a couple of stops to carbo load on energy bars etc. At the same age, I used to do a 7 mile commute into school in heavy traffic most of the way which was predominantly slightly uphill with a rucksack full of school books which when I was cycling well took me just under 18 minutes (which If i recall is 23mph ish average) though there were often double decker busses going the same way at circa 25-30 mph that I was able to slipstream. This was when I was a child, by the legal definition. Despite this, I agree with the poster who suggested lite regulations for a faster class of e-bike, such as over 18s only and compulsory insurance and helmet. I don't want a moped. I have a CBR 600 (a motorbike) if I want to go quickly. The problem is my commute to work is cut in half if I do it by cycle thanks to a handy offroad cycle route for a large part of it. Even on my motorbike there are large bits of it where I can't get through the traffic so I have to sit there fuming stationary with all the cars. I also want to start to do my bit for the environment so an e-bike is highly appealing in this respect. I agree with the statement that a few people responsibly and quietly pushing the boundaries of the law shouldn't arouse too much interest and mean those that do can get away with it for longer, and take note of the lack of legal clarity on the situation of motor labelling in the uk versus EU laws. I think it would irresponsible and maybe illegal for me as a journalist to publish any kind of exposee on how to circumvent the UK laws and soup up an e-bike to be more useful, though the matter that the UK laws are hamstringing the uptake of these environmentally crucial vehicles is a story that I think needs to be told. Can anybody confirm whether the Bionx motors have their power output marked on them and whether there is a UK importer for these motors?

I'm a keen former cyclist interested in an add on kit to increase the performance and range of an already efficient bicycle. I can ride at well over 15mph all day up and down anything but the steepest hills, so an electric bike kit limited to 15mph is no use to me. I understand the UK laws on electric bikes limiting motor wattage and top speed, but also guess that the average traffic cop won't know or care about the difference between a 200 and a 900 watt hub motor. I also think it would be very difficult for them to prove at any time that a fit person was just cycling fast and what component of their speed was provided by motor or pedalling. especially if the cyclist in question was capable of sustaining over 30mph for short bursts anyway with the motor swiched off. Add on kits such as the Canadian made Bionx range are quite appealing. has anybody had experience of importing and using a UK non legal kit? It seems to me that the marketing of electric bicycles is missing a trick in this country. I think there would be a lot of people like me out there that don't want some heavy outdated cruiser type bike limited to 15mph. Rather something that could be bolted to an efficient carbon bike that would allow them to average 25 -30 mph on their daily commute into work rather than the low 20s, but allow them to keep to their bike friendly shortcuts and cycle routes. I see that these powerful kits can be bought and imported into the UK, and I also see that they are not illegal to own and use on private land. I also see from web searching that many motor ranges have a weedy uk spec motor and a series of more powerful foriegn spec motors, but the pictures look like the hub bodies are generally the same so once identification stickers were removed it would be very difficult for authorities to see at the roadside what power output a motor had. So come on, where are all the people that have bought them and are using them (not on the road of course!) In most cities, an electrically assisted slick tyred mountainbike bike with disc brakes that can with a fitish rider blast through all the traffic at over 25 mph everywhere, would have to be the fastest mode of transport available and could really start to look like an appealing solution to societies' transport problems. Electric transport needs to shed its geeky Sinclair C5 image in this country if its going to take off, and bikes legally limited to a speed lower than that which any fit person can pedal anyway are not the way to do it. I am so convinced that this could be the way ahead I'm willing to do it anyway and face the consequences, and I expect there are may more people like me if the kits were made more widely available and marketed in the right way to the right people. I'm also a freelance journalist and thinking about publishing my experiences with living with such a mode of transport to publicise the concept of high performance 'speed increasing motors' to the rest of the cycling public. I think that recent developments in battery technology have made this a concept that has now reached its time. Anybody doing this already and prepared to use the anonymous medium of a web forum to share knowlege and lessons learnt with the rest of us? My initial questions are as follows: Is it legal to import into the UK a higher power bike motor for offroad private land use? Is it legal to use a bike so equipped on the public road in the UK if the rider does not hit the button to employ motor power? Has anybody heard of any police prosecutions in the UK for using bicycles equipped with motors over the power limit. Is anybody yet aggressively marketing such motors to current keen cylists in the UK wishing to go faster or gain more of a 'buzz' out of their cycling? Has anybody played with legal or illegal motors in the UK to make them higher speed assisting motors, not necessarilly capable of pulling the bike from standstill? For example, by building a 15mph spec hub motor into a larger wheel than it is specified for, hence upping the gearing? Many thanks