juveniles riding Sur Ron-style electric motorbikes, which fall far outside the regulatory limits of electric bicycles.
Why would anybody call these machines "bicycles"?
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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Because then they can sell them online in a shady way with no licensing or registration required. There's a lot of incentive to call them bicycles, which they most definitely are not
they can sell them
They can? Do you mean, it is legal?
It would be called false advertising here, or maybe even fraud. Fraud as a business means 2 years jail, minimum.
When the police simply takes away the vehicles, they are punishing the parents, maybe the grandparents, who will then have to pay the replacement vehicle for the spoiled brat. This does not change anything. It even helps the sellers who make additional revenue :-(
https://electricdirtbikes.net/what-is-a-sur-ron/
Take a look at this. The bike doesn't have pedals. But the phrase "mountain bike" is on that page nine times.
Also this. "Some riders are increasing the speed of their Sur Rons to over 80MPH."
Not an ebike. An emotorcycle.
There's nothing illegal in selling or owning one, and you can use them on your own land or ride around dirtbike tracks as much as you want. But I can guarantee that nowhere will any of the sellers be found claiming using one on public roads would be legal, because it isn't.
This is BTW the exact same reason why you can buy electric scooters in the UK even though they are illegal to ride on public roads, as that is the only illegal part.
To legally avoid regulations about motorcycles.
It just didn't work.
My guesses are profound ignorance or dishonesty.
Good. These things are electric motorcycles, not bikes. See far too many kids on them not obeying any laws and putting themselves in incredibly risky positions, or injuring others being places they shouldn't. I'm all for cracking down on this, as they should require registration and motorcycle lisence to use.
Plenty of electric micro mobile options out there that dont put the kids/users and others at massive risk of injury.
Where are these kids getting the money? I just looked them up because it looks like a wicked fun trail bike, and they're $4400.
The MHBP also shared an image below of multiple electric motorbikes being towed away. Ironically, one of the police vehicles at the scene is a police-issue electric-assist patrol bicycle.
I really think Alanis Morrisette broke what little grip we had on the use of the word, irony.
Definitions change with time. Situational irony is a thing.
Sure, but situational irony has been around forever. If the article was about people on illegal gas motorcycles being pulled over by cops, who ironically were riding gas motorcycles themselves, the word use would be just as wrong.
Why would those kids stop. A cop ain't catching them in a suv on those things.
Because when you dont you are now resisting arrest which is so risky you might as well take your chances and just go to school instead.
They can't get far, because these batteries last only for 20-30km.
I'm sure a lot of them don't, but they don't all get away either (and then they get additional charges for fleeing).
These seem intresting. Do any of you guys have one? Is it any good?
I just have a shitty class 2 electric fatbike and my beloved steel frame MTB, but from what I've heard, Sur Rons are pretty good electric dirtbikes.