Surf City contemplates enforcement of e bike rules.

[Schwinn Sales West]

And that's fine for anyone that wants one, however, they should not be mandated or required. That's what my reply was in response to.

Like it or not you are already being sold new vehicles which are "speed limited". The new Hayabusa's that I sold, were speed limited to 186 MPH by agreement between the major motorcycle manufacturers'.

John

 

[phantom]

Like it or not you are already being sold new vehicles which are "speed limited". The new Hayabusa's that I sold, were speed limited to 186 MPH by agreement between the major motorcycle manufacturers'.

John

Again, my response was to the limiters or governors being set to not allow the vehicle to exceed the safe speed limit. When I buy a new car if it has a limiter to 120 mph I don't really care. I wouldn't want one limited to 70 mph.

 

[OC_Rolling_Art]

HB has officers out using radar guns on e-bicyclists, I saw one video where one was pulled over for doing 28MPH and given a warning during this new phase of enforcement. Digital "Your Speed" signs are up. Tickets are coming soon I'll bet. Manhattan Beach isn't playing either.

We are all tired of the recklessness, during a past ride a group of three riders were coming toward me on the narrow bike path, they were passing regular pedal bikes in the oncoming lane at full tilt and I whistled as loud as I could to get their attention and just pointed straight ahead - the direction I would not be deviating from. They planned on running several of us off the path and they ended up skidding and bailing off the path to their right, screaming as I went by.

I will likely own a store-bought e-bike or build an antique one in the future, don't have anything against them - but I am so glad that many cities are enforcing speeds.

 

[Schwinny]

Again, my response was to the limiters or governors being set to not allow the vehicle to exceed the safe speed limit. When I buy a new car if it has a limiter to 120 mph I don't really care. I wouldn't want one limited to 70 mph.

Well....
A lot of people will be upset, but it's still going to happen. I'll put money down that there will be government mandated speed limiters within 20 years.
Have you noticed how your navigation system knows the speed limit of the road you're on?
Under the tenets of public safety, all vehicles on public roads will be speed limited to the posted speed limit...
It's already being done on over the road semi's. Walmart has been limiting and monitoring their trucks for a few years now. Soon all new vehicles sold will have limiting capability. Many already do.
Sucks for the kids, but life was still life before motor driven vehicles.
I was deep into car culture for most of my life. I had a lot of fun. Glad I'm over all that now. I ride my bike more than my car or truck.

 

[rustystone2112]

just a matter of time

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Many years ago (mid 1970's) Mopeds were the new thing to have to ride around.

The Japanese Motorcycle Companies shut down the Moped industry by introducing "real motorcycles and scooters" that sold for less money.

Since it was a new vehicle to the United States the moped manufacturers spent a lot of money getting each state to adopt vehicle laws that allowed their sale and road use. The laws were by state, not federal so each state had different rider age limits and different maximum speeds for the mopeds sold in that state. For example, if you purchased a Peugeot Moped in Arizona, the moped had a governed top speed of 25 MPH. If you purchased the same Peugeot model in California (a different spec) it was governed to a top speed of 30 MPH to comply with the state limits where it was sold. The entire concept of purchasing a "top speed governed" vehicle is not a new idea.

IMO, it's not the speed that's the problem, it the way they are being carelessly ridden without any consideration to commonly accepted vehicle safety laws. They set a bad example for anyone riding a motor driven cycle of any kind. The government will be enacting new laws that restrict 70-year-old Whizzer's before you know it.

We have decades of motor driven cycle laws on the vehicle law books already. Just fully ENFORCE THE LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE!

John

 

[Xlobsterman]

Many years ago (mid 1970's) Mopeds were the new thing to have to ride around.

The Japanese Motorcycle Companies shut down the Moped industry by introducing "real motorcycles and scooters" that sold for less money.

Since it was a new vehicle to the United States the moped manufacturers spent a lot of money getting each state to adopt vehicle laws that allowed their sale and road use. The laws were by state, not federal so each state had different rider age limits and different maximum speeds for the mopeds sold in that state. For example, if you purchased a Peugeot Moped in Arizona, the moped had a governed top speed of 25 MPH. If you purchased the same Peugeot model in California (a different spec) it was governed to a top speed of 30 MPH to comply with the state limits where it was sold. The entire concept of purchasing a "top speed governed" vehicle is not a new idea.

IMO, it's not the speed that's the problem, it the way they are being carelessly ridden without any consideration to commonly accepted vehicle safety laws. They set a bad example for anyone riding a motor driven cycle of any kind. The government will be enacting new laws that restrict 70-year-old Whizzer's before you know it.

We have decades of motor driven cycle laws on the vehicle law books already. Just fully ENFORCE THE LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE!

John

Back in my day working at the shop, we sold and serviced Peugeot mopeds. I had one as a gift from my parents when I first got my learners permit to drive at 15-1/2. That is also when I started working at the shop. It wasn't long before I modified the bike by pulling the baffle out of the muffler, putting a smaller sprocket on the rear to increase my top end, replaced the stock handlebars with drop bars, putting a longer seat on it with rear foot pegs so I could slide back and get lower with the drop bars. It was pretty much made to look like a "Cafe Racer", and I modeled it after a Yamaha RD400 that my older brothers friend had. Legally, mopeds were restricted to 35mph by law, my moped pegged the spedo at 50mph and kept going over that..............LOL Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the moped I rode back in the day, (no cell phones with camera or digital cameras back then) but it was the model in this pic below.

 

[SKPC]

Our current "I can do what I want" culture is accelerating beyond what I ever imagined years ago. These motorized bicycles do NOT mix with pedestrians or regular bicycles. Speeding on motorized bikes is inevitable. When these "bikes" are allowed to proliferate on human powered pedestrian/bike paths, you simply are asking for trouble. The mostly younger motorized bike riders are not thinking and are generally terrifying. I was recently in Cal. riding the SA riverbed bike trail as I always do out to the water when a 4-pack of young punks on high powered E-bikes thought it a good idea to play chicken with me (with zero traffic on the trail at the time). One of these poorly-raised Hodad idiots came straight at me in my lane with a giant smile on his face at 25+mph. At the last possible moment he pulled back into his lane, laughing the entire time. Wow, that was close.
He missed me by inches. It was certainly an eye-opener. Next time, my straight-leg jousting technique will be employed in order to instantly dismount the offending pilot, allowing me time to subsequently rip out any exposed electric wiring from the machine before ceremoniously throwing it into the jagged granite rocks lining the channel. I have had a few other events on the SA river trail with these young punks. They pass you really quickly, then time perfectly their donuts in the dirt on the side of the paved portion so you have to ride through and eat their dust clouds.

 

[cyclingday]

Yep!
I remember the Moped phase well.
Mid to late 70’s.
I never had one, but my best friends dad bought a Puch for the family to use.
There were 4 brothers and 1sister in that family, plus all their friends, so that Puch got rode hard and put away wet. Lol!
At that time, my opinion of Mopeds, was about the same as Volkswagens.
Cheaply made, and woefully underpowered.
Modification was the only way to go. Lol!

 

[cyclingday]

Our current "I can do what I want" culture is accelerating beyond what I ever imagined years ago. These motorized bicycles do NOT mix with pedestrians or regular bicycles. Speeding on motorized bikes is inevitable. When these "bikes" are allowed to proliferate on human powered pedestrian/bike paths, you simply are asking for trouble. The mostly younger motorized bike riders are not thinking and are generally terrifying. I was recently in Cal. riding the SA riverbed bike trail as I always do out to the water when a 4-pack of young punks on high powered E-bikes thought it a good idea to play chicken with me (with zero traffic on the trail at the time). One of these poorly-raised Hodad idiots came straight at me in my lane with a giant smile on his face at 25+mph. At the last possible moment he pulled back into his lane, laughing the entire time. Wow, that was close.
He missed me by inches. It was certainly an eye-opener. Next time, my straight-leg jousting technique will be employed in order to instantly dismount the offending pilot, allowing me time to subsequently rip out any exposed electric wiring from the machine before ceremoniously throwing it into the jagged granite rocks lining the channel. I have had a few other events on the SA river trail with these young punks. They pass you really quickly, then do donuts in the dirt on the side of the paved portion so you have to eat their dust. They are really good at making sure you are riding in a dirt cloud, timing their spinning donuts perfectly.

I was driving down Harbor Blvd. the other day, and a pack of 4 kids on better than average electric bikes, we’re doing wheelies down the middle of the street.
Picture the busiest street in your town, and that was the scene.
Total Hooligans!
I wonder if it was the same pack of 4?
Guys like that will all but assure, heavy legislation, and pretty much ruin it for the overweight old man and his wife, who just want to cruise the beach at sunset on their electric bikes.