Arraignment was easy!
- Thread starter James912
- Start date
Well there you go then, good for you. But if you find folks a bit edgy with your haranguing then it's probably because they feel you're just rubbing it in or have an agenda to get gas bikes regulated out of existence. I mean this isn't exactly endless/sphere here, lol, or even the ebike pages on this forum. Or are you afraid if gas bikes are outlawed your ebike will be jeopardized? Fear is a heck of a motivator. I don't think gas bikes are gonna go away, they'll just get stealthier if need be and too many miles of roads to cover.
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I've said before...
If people make too much of a stink about gas bikes, they may get so PO'd that they make electric bikes regulated even more... Tis always a possibility..
Here's the thing.... Let's take the Paula Paxton case for instance...
Her bike is gas powered and she gets to ride in her area with that engine (of whatever size) and pulls out the documents about her winning the case..
But since there's no "gas bicycle" statute, nothing stops her from changing her motor to an 80cc or higher with the ability to go up to 45mph or whatever the speed limits are in her "ride area"...
HOWEVER, my electric bike is regulated to only allow for speeds up to 20.. So then what happens... All the electric bike guys in Florida say... Hey, if the gas bikes can go 45, we want our bikes to be able to do the same. (Which is the antithesis of what the "gas guys" say about electrics... (e.g. Hey, if an electric bike is allowed to go 20, we should be able to do the same, just because it's gas, we shouldn't be penalized for it)).. So then what happens.. There's (another) conflict, another set of lobbying for electric bikes to go faster... Then the Floridian lawmakers say,"well we can't have that"! And come out with a statute that states ANY bicycle with ANY kind of motor needs to be registered and license required.
The only real way to be fair is this...
Make any bicycle with a top speed of 20mph, regardless of whether it's gas or electric powered, remain a bicycle.. You can VERY easily govenor an electric to 20, and the same with gas..
If a bicycle has a top speed of 30, then it should be considered a moped and require registration and DL.. (Currently there is supposedly no speed or cc limitation on a gas powered bike)
The problem is, and you know, that even if there was a top speed limitation on gas bikes, people would just disregard it..
I see that already with electric bikes in my area... I would say that maybe 20% of the electric bike riders in my area have "limited speed" (re:top end of 20mph) on their bikes.. The rest have the "ability" to go 25-30mph, which is against the current law.. (they think it's funny that they can "blow by me" on THEIR bikes, even though they know it's illegal)... It only takes a couple of idiots to ruin something for the masses..
Honestly they should make top speed of gas and electric to 25mph, since most people on their carbon fiber bikes can get to that speed..
Anything faster than 25mph, just creates issues because most people in cars don't expect a bicycle to be traveling that fast..
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In some places the electric bikers feel the need to be stealth.
Florida has some of the most free electric bicycle laws in the country.
Florida may well have the most electric cars in the country and getting around with electric power is big here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrpq5A-KAoA
It is not uncommon to see groups of electric bicycle riders, women and men on the road.
Electric motor bicycles are way more common on the street than gas bicycles.
The local Schwinn shop has one right in the front of the store !
http://www.schwinnbikes.com/bikes/electric/searcher-e8-9582
Trek claims their most popular bike is an electric bicycle.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/fx_plus/#
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/22/daimler-gets-in-on-the-electric-bicycle-game-with-smart-e-bike/
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100521/green/100529923
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