Do tandem's need two sets of pedals or can they be bicycles built for two ?can I fit a seat pad to my rack and stunt pegs to my rear wheel and call my bike a tandem?I can have a 350w motor instead of the 250w a normal UK ebike is allowed then.
UK ebike law.
- Thread starter craiggor
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dogman dan
1 PW
I'm not in the UK, nor am I a lawyer. But IMO no. A tandem bike has two riders pedaling.
dogman dan
1 PW
If they are chasing them, then maybe you can sneak along with 1000w, un noticed. 
Arethosemyfeet
10 mW
Where did you get the idea it was 350W for a tandem? Everything I can find say 250W max regardless of type of EAPC.
Just looked at the gov.UK web site it was updated in august.Seems they have lumped bicycles,tandems and trikes together.The old law was 200w and 250 for tandems and trikes.No mention of the old weight limits.No mention of fitting a petrol engine that only charges the spare battery's and does not propel the machine either.Arethosemyfeet said:
jesusjesus
10 W
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2014
- Messages
- 97
E-bikes are regulated under the EU law, member states must implement the into i own laws.
It has to be 250w whether a tandem or not. 360w motors are not allowed as normal pedal assisted bicycles. The bike has to be limited to 25km/h (15.5 mph), though there's a10% tolerance on that so 27.5km/h or 17 mph absolute max. The 250w limit is on the motor@s rating, not it's maximum power. There's some very powerful 250w rated motors about now, so it shouldn't be a problem to get the power you need. There's a guy in Norway selling 25A BBS01s, which are stamped "250w". That's about 800w of output power. Wooshbikes in the UK sell Bikes and kits with the BPM hub-motor and crank-drives running at 20A, which is about 560w of output power. You have to be a very fat bar steward and/or have some very steep hills to complain that that's not enough. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about the speed limit. You could probably get away with maybe 20 mph, which nobody would check. You could always reset the LCD to 24" wheel, so reads slower than what you're actually doing, which would defeat any roadside check. Other people are blatantly riding round on bikes with massive 1000w motors in their bikes, and nobody bothers them, but, to me, that's risky.
monster
100 kW
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- 1,411
Sorry to drag up an old thread. But I've been thinking about this a lot lately as i have built some street legal ebikes for my family.
The lawyers who drew up the UK rules on this didn't know the difference between a motor and a controller. They are used to engines!
Therefore when i see:
"motor must be 250w max" i assume they mean the controller limits to 250w. Anything else is meaningless.
What i am less sure on is wheather throttles are allowed?
And can you put a child seat/trailer on an electric bike as the "rider" has to be over 14?
The lawyers who drew up the UK rules on this didn't know the difference between a motor and a controller. They are used to engines!
Therefore when i see:
"motor must be 250w max" i assume they mean the controller limits to 250w. Anything else is meaningless.
What i am less sure on is wheather throttles are allowed?
And can you put a child seat/trailer on an electric bike as the "rider" has to be over 14?
monster said:
Nope. Motor 250w nominal. Nothing else is defined. Common denominator is some EU countries specify peak can be 200-300% of nominal. Pedal assist bikes like specialized turbo levo are 600-700w peak for that reason.
Throttles are only allowed if it was bought/built before 2016. Otherwise no.
Law says "you may carry a passenger if the bike was made to do it for has been adapted to". That is pretty open but you should need at least a seat and foot pegs.
markz
100 TW
It is a disability mobility device :wink:
Besides that, no beat fuzz will no nothing other then a 250W halographic sticker on a 1500W Leaf
Besides that, no beat fuzz will no nothing other then a 250W halographic sticker on a 1500W Leaf
I commute on a frame I made that is fitted with a g510 1000w motor in Sheffield UK, round trip is 32 miles.
I fail to see how the current law could be enforced, the bike does not stand out, and it is not capable of silly speeds.
The large motor mainly helps a lot on big hills, but on the average 16 mile commute trip I only average 20mph, when I was fit and commuted on my normal road bike I could average 16mph which is faster than current ebike law!
I fail to see how the current law could be enforced, the bike does not stand out, and it is not capable of silly speeds.
The large motor mainly helps a lot on big hills, but on the average 16 mile commute trip I only average 20mph, when I was fit and commuted on my normal road bike I could average 16mph which is faster than current ebike law!
mike425 said:
What always worries me, what if one day you are in a crash, possibly your fault? Dilema... Do you be a selfish arse and leave the scene, or possibly be unable to due to bike or yourself being injured. What so you tell the fuzz when they question you?
markz
100 TW
You have no need to worry about anything, unless someone does wheelies and whizzes past people.
Sane, rational normal people will ride with care.
I bet you never even get a head turn when your riding, unless you ride up hills without pedaling, but even then you'd need both feet off the pedals and in the air for someone to notice.
The laws are antiquated because they should impose the same laws upon the automobile industry limiting horsepower to 100hp. Putting it that way, makes them look stupid because we got people who weigh well over 200lbs carrying groceries weighing a ton, next to a crackhead weighing 98lbs soaking in moist wet crack, carrying an 8 ball weighing 3 or 4 grams.
Sane, rational normal people will ride with care.
I bet you never even get a head turn when your riding, unless you ride up hills without pedaling, but even then you'd need both feet off the pedals and in the air for someone to notice.
The laws are antiquated because they should impose the same laws upon the automobile industry limiting horsepower to 100hp. Putting it that way, makes them look stupid because we got people who weigh well over 200lbs carrying groceries weighing a ton, next to a crackhead weighing 98lbs soaking in moist wet crack, carrying an 8 ball weighing 3 or 4 grams.
mike425 said:
brumbrum said:
It's a fair question, and I more than accept having an accident is a risk but I really don't use the bike much differently to my normal road bike. But, averaging 20mph over a commute on 80% roads that are at least 40mph, I am always the slowest traffic. If I'm in a built up area or a slow road you just apply common sense.
I also don't use the throttle, pedal assist only. Interestingly I have seen other people on full throttle ebikes locally riding them like absolute tools, tbh the police probably do need to crack down on that stuff. Some of these bikes must weigh 30kg+ and are basically a motorbike so far as I can see.
If there was a logical way to register my bike properly for the road, I quite happily would.....the legislation just hasn't caught up.
