> Under federal law, an electric bike with a maximum assisted speed under 20 miles per hour can be sold as a bicycle, not a motor vehicle. Under New York state law, riders would need to register these as they would a motorcycle, moped, or car. But there’s no clear way to register them. Because of this regulatory patchwork, e-bikes are legal to sell as bikes anywhere in the U.S. but effectively illegal to ride in New York, since they can’t be registered as motor vehicles.
I actually worry about the "something must be done" crowd cajoling lawmakers into lazily shoehorning electric bikes into the "motorcycle" category and erasing much of their advantages to own as a bicycle.
This happened with boats here as my little plastic kayak with a tiny electric assist has to be registered and taxed as if it was a full sized bass fishing boat with a v8.
You're lucky to merely have to pay some money for your "power kayak".
In my state, to actively discourage the construction of home built boats, if I want to build a 15 foot sailboat, I need to work with the coast guard and state DMV (spoiler, they don't actually work together, the finger pointing is hilarious) to get a hull number assigned, then fight the DOT to get it titled (boats are titled where I live, and its agonizing although it only costs $5) and its quite a fight involving official inspection because most "homemade" boats are people trying to register are Crestliners with the serial numbers filed off, then I can fight the DNR to register myself obtaining a DNR customer number, and then fight the DNR to register the boat, essentially linking my CG hull ID number to my DNR customer ID number for a mere $17/yr, ironically the total cost of all of this for the first year would only be roughly $30 but it takes like 100+ hours of phone calling and meeting people and filling out forms. I pay $35 for a quart of good topside marine paint so the point is not the expense but the bureaucracy agony. All that for basically an inland lake dingy with a sail on it.
That sounds like insanity. My country by comparison is too far at the other end of the scale. Anyone can buy (or make) a boat, with a 200 horse motor, grab a six pack and a tank full of fuel and hit the water and go anywhere, into any harbour, with no training whatsoever.
Many e-bikes are perilously close to motorcycles, with similar power and top speed to a 50cc motor scooter. Brushless motors and lithium batteries can put out a phenomenal amount of power and torque. There's a line between "bicycle with electric assist" and "electric motorcycle with vestigial pedals" - I see an awful lot of the latter these days.
I would hope that they're equipped with disc brakes at a minimum. Wheel rim brakes on a conventional bicycle will slowly wear down the rim, but even when riding regularly, should last for quite a few years. On an e-bike with the faster speeds and greater braking needs, it may shorten the life of the wheels significantly.
This isn't enforced in New York. Every delivery guy in the city is now riding an e-bike. They're a menace. Their bikes weigh a ton and they occasionally utilize the sidewalks. I had a friend who was knocked to the ground by one.
I was going to build a ebike with my teenage son last summer, however it would be illegal for him to ride it in our state regardless of power output until he gets his drivers license. Also during the electric skateboard/scooter fad about a decade ago my home town banned them from city sidewalks, city property (aka parks and trails) and city roads, and the anti-e-skateboard code would cover e-bikes. So I'd only be able to ride it out of town, and my son could only ride it out of state.
The BBSHD is available from many places and seems to be a good kit with a good rep. Kits are modular and most battery packs are quick swap so if you're willing to fill backpacks and bike baskets with spare batteries you could go thousands of miles between charges if you're willing to pay for that kind of ridiculous privilege. Before I found out state law prohibits it, I was hoping to cruise some of our rural completely empty state bicycle trails purely for fun, requiring more range, so I'd likely need a slightly larger battery, but its all modular and very easy to install as large of a battery as you're willing to pay for. Being modular it doesn't matter that OP didn't like his electronic controller, luckily there are plenty to substitute, including all manner of software patches, and OP did not list the exact controller and firmware OP has and is dissatisfied with, unfortunately. The ebike battle seems to start with discovering what is even possible, first, and of course that changes from month to month...
I find it interesting that OP wanted higher efficiency tires, whereas I was interested in the idea of lower efficiency larger tires to make potholes more survivable. I don't really care if my drive to the food store takes 16 minutes of battery charging or 17 minutes of battery charging, but I would like to avoid flat tires and wiping out on the way.
Of course law enforcement is spotty, much like every other law, especially driving. I didn't see any point in putting my son (or myself) in some cops crosshairs so I gave up on that project. Oh well.
I'm all for e-bikes. I've been DIYing e-bikes for myself for over a decade. But I also see the argument for needing a license. With additional speed and distance, kids can outpace their understanding of traffic flow, shooting themselves through intersections without understanding how drivers will/will not see them. Here in Utah, where parents tend to let kids ride dirt bikes on roads, or ATVs on roads, there are a few fatalities EVERY summer, from kids who didn't understand what actions put them in danger and which did not.
Now, I think waiting for kids to be 16 and get a license is overkill. But I would support a drivers ed program for kids to teach them how to be safe on e-vehicles, and requiring that course to be completed before kids can ride at 25-30mph in traffic.
I don't understand. If there is no clear way to register the vehicle, then how do moped and motorcycle owners figure out how to register their vehicles?
The second paragraph gives you the flavor of it:
> Under federal law, an electric bike with a maximum assisted speed under 20 miles per hour can be sold as a bicycle, not a motor vehicle. Under New York state law, riders would need to register these as they would a motorcycle, moped, or car. But there’s no clear way to register them. Because of this regulatory patchwork, e-bikes are legal to sell as bikes anywhere in the U.S. but effectively illegal to ride in New York, since they can’t be registered as motor vehicles.