chopper_elec said:
I do personally believe that even 30km an hour for everyone would be substantially better than 25km. I would find any more than 35km an hour on a bike track/path would seem almost too much.
I think more like 40km/hr would be needed to convince the masses to use it as a useful commuting alternative.
It's funny how you get used to the speed. I've had an assortment of noobs get on my bikes with 2-5kw and they come back white knuckled after a 30 second test ride at under half throttle, too scared to open it right up. I'm used to it so just jump straight on and zoom off at full throttle quickly hitting 60km/hr and think nothing of it. Last year though after being really crook and not riding for a good 6 months when I finally did get back on the bike it felt so fast and unsafe that I wouldn't go near full throttle. I was using it as a rehab tool so only riding around slowly anyway, and it was an extreme case as not long prior to that I couldn't even walk to my letter box, but even under those circumstances I was quickly used to the top speed and power again. I think riding fast you tend to forget or become blase about just how badly you could get hurt if you come off.
I had a discussion with a bloke at work recently who rides a road bike. Standing with a group of other people he says "tell these guys how fast your electric bike goes". "tops out around 60" I tell them, to which he replies I'm mad etc. I asked him what speeds he gets up to on his carbon fibre road bike and he says around 50 but I can hit 60 if pedalling hard.
"So you're happy doing those speeds wearing little lycra shorts and singlet on a bike that I can lift with 2 fingers and has rubber bands for tyres, but I'm mad for doing only a few km/hr more on my steel framed mountain bike with big tyres and strong hydraulic brakes ? I wear kevlar jeans and an armoured jacket - who do you think is going to come off second best when a car pulls straight in in front of us ?
*crickets*
On the road near other vehicles would be another thing and I can see how 25km an hour could be seen as being more dangerous as there is such a difference between the road traffic and the rider.
Absolutely, I couldn't ride a normal bike or street legal ebike on the road as I just feel so unsafe knowing I haven't got the power to get out of the way if I need to. Strong brakes are essential for road riding (I reckon this is where alot of lycras on road bikes come unstuck) as cars will routinely cut you off and disregard you but the next safety concern IMO is speed and power. Would you jog along the middle of a lane on a main road ? Of course not, and you'd have cars swerving around and abusing you let right and centre. But with the speed difference between you and passing traffic you're essentially doing the same thing on a push bike limited to 25km/hr.
When I commute I sit on around 40km/hr, still pedalling quite meaningfully but with the motor taking off alot of the load. As has been said before this gives cars more time to recognise you on approach from behind and they're also not tearing past you with a much higher speed differential.
There's more speed on tap if I need it but for the most part I just trundle along, and it's really not far shy of the 200w limit once inefficiencies and losses are taken into account!
It's no hassle for me to slow down for peds, kids etc as I can easily speed back up but for roadies its the end of the world so they plow on through. As you say even 35 can be too fast sometimes. Like everything, some paths allow higher speeds, some necessitate slower speeds. You could belt along some of those big ones along your freeways in Melbourne. 
NSW was well over subscribed gangster, was over there to doing the free 1.5kW and $.60C gross.
