barneyd

That's what I thought - so I asked them. Here's the reply: Dear Barny, Yes, I have told them very clearly before the order is confirmed with specs and shipment we will just stick to the legal limits for 2 reasons 1) legal liability 2) the high speed is drawing very high amps and reduced battery life. Best regards Ching I have to agree that the new Torq is an excellent climber but that's not the point here. Surely anything stated on a website has the same status as being in writing or even verbal when it comes to promises made during a sale.

I'm no lawyer but the way I read it is this: If the bike complies with the EAPC regulations (max speed 25kph among others) then it is not a motor vehicle within the Road Traffic Act. Since the Road Traffic Act requires insurance, driving licence, tax, MOT etc for motor vehicles then I guess a derestricted bike would require all of the above. As such, the act of riding the bike probably isn't illegal but to do so without a licence, tax or insurance probably is. That might even mean that you could end up with points on your car licence for riding your bike!

I had two replies to my enquiries today: First from eZee: Dear Barny , Sorry we decided to keep the bikes to the legal speed limit of 25 kph. I hope 50cycle would have the decency to have told you that very clearly before you oaid for the bike. But anyway the new Torq has far more power (much more torque) than the old model. Best regards W W Ching The second from 50cycles Hi Barny, It would seem as if the spec has changed on the 2008 models. I have emailed our manufacturer and am currently awaiting his response. Regards Lloyd I note that they have removed the note about the derestricted speed from their website. Looks like the UK/EU version is already as quick as it can be.

Flecc, There are two wires in one pin of the first connector but it looks like this is only a joint. One goes to the controller, the other to the loose connector. The loose connector has only one pin, which mates with the other (single) wire in the first connector to give the restriction. Barny

Thanks flecc I'll try Ezee and post their reply. I suspect the basis of this may lie in the fact that the 2008 Torq has a "new more torquey motor". As I understand it, the restrictor was there because the motor was designed for a smaller wheel and so needed restriction. With a new motor, designed for this size of wheel the restriction is probably unneccessary and hence probably there will be nothing I can do. Barny

Torq 2008 I've had my 2008 model for a couple of weeks now and been happily riding it to work with a max speed of 15.5mph. This weekend I had the opportunity to take it off road so I set about derestricting it. I found the red shrink and cut it off - that's when I first started to wonder. Instead of having a connector to disconnect, there were two connectors already apart. Now disconnecting things is not usually risky so I was happy with the instructions but plugging in something that wasn't plugged in before requires a bit more courage - was I going to blow up the controller or do some other irreversible damage? Being a brave sole I plugged it in anyway and went off for a ride. I could immediately feel the difference - I thought the battery was flat but no - my new bike now had a top speed of 12.5mph! I returned home and unplugged again - normal service was resumed - except that I bought a bike which was advertised as being able, in suitable circumstances, to go 22mph and it can't. 50cycles are still advertising 2008 Torq's as being able to be derestricted 'cos I suspect they haven't realised that there has been a pretty fundamental change to the design. But I for one make my choice partly on that basis. Beware if you are thinking the same way.