I knew when Sally rolled into office for a second term with his anti-electric agenda, the war on e-bikes would begin. The industry was already collapsing on itself since most of them came about during Covid and once fat lazy Americans could go back to driving cars to work, their bikes are collecting dust or are sitting at a pawn shop. In fact you can buy non-used older models for about 1/3 of what they cost new. There have been tons of regs passed across the country that have really killed sales. Many states either limit throttling to a certain speed OR it is NOT allowed. A lot of the newer bikes have PAS only, that means you only get assistance while pedaling and have no throttle only pedal activated motor. This means slower starts and since an e-bike is really a motorcycle when you are NOT pedaling and only throttling is probably the reason states have limited throttling. Which I totally understand. I hardly use my throttle except to push off, while riding I can maintain speeds depending on my pedaling cadence and PAS level. I can max out at about 14 MPH in PAS 1 and 33+ MPH in PAS 5, all controlled by my pedaling and no throttle. Believe it or not, I like the exercise. If you bought an e-bike to ride like a motorcycle, go buy a motorcycle and get off the trails.
New Jersey went a step farther and put age restrictions on the bikes. You will also have to have a valid driver’s license or equivalent for an e-bike (you will be able to get an e-bike license if you CAN’T get a car license) and you will have to carry insurance.
The reasoning is that a lot of teens are getting killed in NJ on E-Bikes. OK. So how do any of these laws fix that? The age restrictions, sure, I don’t take issue with that. But the other crap? Really? This just sounds like a scam by the insurance companies to expand into another market. They look at these as motorcycles, and they are, IF they have a throttle, but if they don’t they are simply a bike with a battery. Personally I think the industry should stop putting throttles on them.
It angers me, not only the license and registration part, but the insurance grab. The original reason I bought an e-bike was to lose weight, and it worked! But in that process I realized that an e-bike is so functional and multi-purpose that I use it for everything. I also like that I don’t have to put any gas in it. I do spend a lot on maintenance. In fact 3x more than on my car a year, but I love the freedom. Now days when I leave the house, the only decision I have to make is ‘which bike do I ride today?’ depending on the weather.
I think it would be a f’ing travesty if they started requiring e-bikes to be registered with the state, I will revolt like a MOFO! There has been talk of this over the past couple of years and I have convinced moderate Republicans to hold the line on it, and so far they have held back the goons both on the left and the right, but I think the MAGA steam is a building, so we need to watch this.
It is also a kick in the nuts to the guy who is just trying to get back on his feet out of prison, and was able to pick up a decent ride at a pawn shop, and the next thing he knows he needs a DL to ride this thing* and he can’t get one because he just spent 3 years in the penn for 6 DUI’s. When we talk about re-offenders in Sioux Falls, this kind of crap contributes to it.
*I also find it funny to think they can police this. They already make throttle e-bikes now with hidden batteries and even motors. Some even have cruise control (mine does) so the throttle can be hidden in the app.
If any of these hair brain ideas pass in SD, it certainly won’t make our lives better. I would agree that throttles are BAD if you don’t know how to use them and maybe there should be age restrictions, but all that other crap, no way. Maybe another idea would be requiring all e-bike shops to offer a FREE one-hour class once a month on e-bike safety. Oh, and it would be nice if I could buy full coverage insurance for my e-bike, but right now, I can’t find it. So there you have that.