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The polarization of E-bikes


Chief

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31 minutes ago, 62clyde said:

I have a kayak ....   If I put a electric motor on it is becomes a power boat which different rules are applied.  I must pay tax and registrar it as such..  

What if it were a pedal-operated Hobie Kayak, only with electric assist installed for the pedals? 

Would this need registration if there is no throttle and no movement of the boat without a human pushing the pedals?

Isn't this the defining difference between an electric motorcycle (scooter, etc.) that requires registration, and an E-bike?

Not taking a side here, just looking at existing application of the statutes.

 

Edited by Ridenfool
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51 minutes ago, Ridenfool said:

What if it were a pedal-operated Hobie Kayak, only with electric assist installed for the pedals? 

 

Impressive technology transfer.  I'd propose that you jump all over getting a patent on this and watch as Hobie offers you six figures to create a new class of water craft.

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On 3/3/2019 at 9:50 AM, Chief said:

Although I still loathe and look down upon anyone that uses an E-bike just because they think it's so much fun or they think it's the next cool gadget like hoverbaords.

 

Or put another way, "You're not having fun right!!!"

I'm guessing you're not the "Whatever makes you happy." kind of guy.  😉

Your electric shopping cart comment reminded me of a funny story.  So I'm out grocery shopping with the wife, following her around in the electric cart.  I had two broken legs, so I'm assuming you wouldn't have looked down on me for using the cart.  We head out to the car to load the groceries and as I'm heading back across the parking lot to take the cart back into the store the stupid thing starts running out of juice and I end up stuck on a speed hump.  As I'm rocking the cart back and forth trying to get over the hump, the wife is back across the parking lot laughing her ass off.  The people that are witnessing all this don't realize that the women howling at me is my wife and they all are giving her really mean looks for laughing at the poor crippled guy stuck on a hump.  lol   Well, I guess you had to be there.  lol

Edited by zrx24
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Back on the electric bike topic, my brother was heavy into road bike racing not long ago and was telling me how cheaters on the circuit would use small concealed electric motors.  Now THAT would be something to loathe and look down upon.  I'm not a fan of cheaters when it comes to competition.  👎

Edited by zrx24
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On 3/3/2019 at 11:29 AM, Morris said:

Unless They are damaging trails I really don’t care what anybody else rides apart from me and what makes me happy.

I retract my previous statement,  I saw a guy come into work with ebike that looked like a motocross bike with  pedals and  he tells me he can do almost 45mph on it. It looked very cool but I wouldn’t want that motorcycle on a bike trail.  Then I remembered that phat “bicycles “ around down town on the lake trails and I started hating them all. I can’t figure a way to limit the access to some specific bikes so let them ride a motocross trails or something like that

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16 minutes ago, zrx24 said:

Back on the electric bike topic, my brother was heavy into road bike racing not long ago and was telling me how cheaters on the circuit would use small concealed electric motors.  Now THAT would be something to loathe and look down upon.  I'm not a fan of cheaters when it comes to competition.  👎

Which leads back to my initial thought about the article about the e-bike race. How in the world would they regulate that? It would be like the classes of race cars. They are always catching cheaters that get their engine just a little bit bigger than the regulated size.

So, yeah, that would be dumb I think.

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49 minutes ago, Morris said:

I saw a guy come into work with ebike that looked like a motocross bike with  pedals and  he tells me he can do almost 45mph on it. It looked very cool but I wouldn’t want that motorcycle on a bike trail.

Is this the e-bike you're referring to?

 

maxresdefault_1024x1024_8455c9d4-09fd-4af3-bee4-c18251d8722a.jpg

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42 minutes ago, The Tip said:

Which leads back to my initial thought about the article about the e-bike race. How in the world would they regulate that? It would be like the classes of race cars. They are always catching cheaters that get their engine just a little bit bigger than the regulated size.

So, yeah, that would be dumb I think.

As long as there is racing of any kind and more than one person doing it, there will be cheating.  It would probably be enforced like it is in RC car racing.  You look at number of turns in the motor as a limit.  Of course it will start with no rules, until someone puts a 9-turn motor in there or an on-off switch or whatever.  I had a picture of some old (1970s) SCCA GCRs that were 3/8" thick and about 5X6" stacked on top of a 2005 GCR which was 9X7" or so and 3" thick.  In between you had guys doing all kinds of cheats and more rules were added to prevent those.  That's the story of racing.  If you guys are into it, I highly recommend Mark Donohue's "The Unfair Advantage".

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5 hours ago, 62clyde said:

I have a kayak ....   If I put a electric motor on it is becomes a power boat which different rules are applied.  I must pay tax and registrar it as such..  

There's the rub. Bikes are supposed to follow all the same rules as cars. But we don't. Always. The minute bikers start asking for ebikes to have rules enforced like cars, it is a slippery slope and I'm gonna end up with a tick for running a stop sign at an empty intersection.

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Whatever, ride your sissy motorbike if you want. Other than people with physical limitations who are determined to ride trails, I don't understand the drive to whimpify every sport. Next we'll see skateparks with aerial rigging so you can jump everything without fear of actually falling and people riding Bird scooters in marathons. Let's put bouncy nets around the hazards on golf  courses and go hunt animals that someone has already located and stapled to a tree. Lets go climb a cliff by installing a winch at the top that pulls you up while you flail your limbs and pretend to make an effort. Modern people are absolutely dead set on not sweating.

Edited by mack_turtle
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I'm pretty sure that they'll catch on and soon be everywhere. Why do I say that? Because of reviews like this one:

He's just a kid, but like everyone that has ever gotten on one, he starts laughing with joy as soon as he takes off on it. A big selling point for him is being able to get to the top of the mountain with ease. No need for a lift, just power up the hill, then enjoy "real" mountain biking down.

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15 hours ago, zrx24 said:

 

Or put another way, "You're not having fun right!!!"

I'm guessing you're not the "Whatever makes you happy." kind of guy.  😉

 

 

I'm ok with people having fun. The point of me posting this was to explain how the article changed my view of E-bikes for helping people with limited physical abilities. I still think that if you can ride a non power assisted bike you should.

Do whatever makes you happy, that's fine I have no problem with that. But when I run into a perfectly capable rider riding an E-bike on the trail and he's like "hey look at me" I might consider that person an ass hat and quickly lose interest.

I think the E-bikes would be an excellent solution to some of the traffic issues we see as a rapidly growing city. I'm sure there are many European cities where E-bikes are used all the time as an efficient mode of transportation.

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15 hours ago, zrx24 said:

 

  I had two broken legs, so I'm assuming you wouldn't have looked down on me for using the cart.  

If you need an electric shopping cart due to an injury or a real physically limiting disability that's perfectly fine, that was what those carts were intended for. And no I would not have looked down on you I probably wouldn't have even noticed you. I think many people have been out shopping and seen people using those carts just because they thought it would be "FUN". I loathe these type of people because they think just because something like that is available they're entitled to use it possibly leaving someone who really needs it without.

As far as your experience running out of juice on one of those scooters it brings this to mind.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csuZHyW-iGI

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1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

Whatever, ride your sissy motorbike if you want. Other than people with physical limitations who are determined to ride trails, I don't understand the drive to whimpify every sport. Next we'll see skateparks with aerial rigging so you can jump everything without fear of actually falling and people riding Bird scooters in marathons. Let's put bouncy nets around the hazards on golf  courses and go hunt animals that someone has already located and stapled to a tree. Lets go climb a cliff by installing a winch at the top that pulls you up while you flail your limbs and pretend to make an effort. Modern people are absolutely dead set on not sweating.

As long as it looks good on Instagram, it will be a 'thing'.  

I saw this lady at the Rio Vista white water park in San Marcos pull her kids out of a car, spend 20 minutes getting all dolled up, set them into an inner tube, and float in the water up to her neck for about 30 seconds so she could film herself for social media.  They then hauled out of the water and took off.  It was surreal.

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2 hours ago, The Tip said:

A big selling point for him is being able to get to the top of the mountain with ease. No need for a lift, just power up the hill, then enjoy "real" mountain biking down.

I'm pretty sure you just confirmed what MackTurtle is saying.

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8 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

I'm pretty sure you just confirmed what MackTurtle is saying.

REAL snow skiing people HIKE to the top of the mountain, like the old days, before lifts. How can those lift riding pussies enjoy a real skiing experience by using that modern technology? 

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4 minutes ago, The Tip said:

REAL snow skiing people HIKE to the top of the mountain, like the old days, before lifts. How can those lift riding pussies enjoy a real skiing experience by using that modern technology? 

Some still do. Better snow. Less traffic. "Unmarked" trails. Yep - some skiers still earn their turns.

 

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Looking at the Aussie video it seemed like he was going a bit faster on the trail and therefore a bit longer/bigger on the jumps than he would on his regular bike. Makes me think that accidents are waiting to happen for folks who use the e-bike to push the boundaries of what they're use to. Which is normal when innovations come, but can be far worse when more speed is involved. Other than that, looks like he's just out having fun on a mountain bike.

Edited by RidingAgain
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38 minutes ago, The Tip said:

REAL snow skiing people HIKE to the top of the mountain, like the old days, before lifts. How can those lift riding pussies enjoy a real skiing experience by using that modern technology? 

Downhill biking is lift accessed. No issue there. Cross country, back country, "traditional mountain biking" is not lift accessed.

Downhill skiing is lift accessed. No issue there. Cross country, back country, "old school traditional skiing" is not lift accessed.

 

*okay...a lot of backcountry skiing is heli-skiing. But those guys are way cooler than I'll ever be. 😄

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