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EBike Bicycle do you have one?

The problem with calling pedal-less ebikes as motorcycles, is it suggests they need to be far more heavily regulated and that when people ride them, they need to hang out with the cars, which everyone here knows is obvious quite unsafe. Also I don't like the potential implication that they need to be registered with the state and trackable with license plates, f that.

As long as they are traveling a reasonable speed (I dunno, less than 30 mph?) and staying off sidewalks, They should be allowed to use bike trails, bike lanes, and local open spaces.
 
Yeah, that's where I disagree. They are no more bicycles than this thing is:

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Anything on the sidewalk faster than walking pace, lets go with the biggest issue, new moms with baby carriages.
Sidewalks are too narrow, for some double wide twinsies carriages, to pass abreast already.
A human powered kick scooter, is too fast, already, with any foot traffic to cause weaving thru the bodies, an issue.
Need more traffic lanes for different speeds of travel, better separation for safety, way more costly, for a simple E-machine added.
Taxed, and registered, to pay for all the new traffic lanes, simple, , ,
 
We deserve ways to autonomously get around that don't require permission from the state or include artifacts, like license plates, that are easily trackable by the spy cameras everywhere.

Bicycles are already not allowed on sidewalks, so there isn't a need for more laws here.
 
Interlude:

We're enjoying the hell out of our ebikes - The dog rides in the basket in the rear rack.
1793075048337.png


They fit nicely on the back of the rig
1793075102341.png


We keep them in the hotel room...

1793075120543.png
 
mercurial said:
than 30 mph
Click to expand...
30 mph is literally not bicycle speed, lol, unless you’re an experienced sportsman, have a helmet , and know the limits of your cornering and brakes .

… which is why all the crashes have happened so far . Everyone probably didn’t know their brakes and cornering chances at their speed. Also some were twoup, unlike and experienced bicyclist

To add, the two old geezers I ride with on their Amazon e-bikes , rarely exceed 18 mph and are afraid of downhills .
 
mercurial said:
Bicycles are already not allowed on sidewalks,
Click to expand...
I absolutely saw four e-motor-bicycles on one of the (larger) sidewalks on San Francisco today, two rental and two others, passed me by in the few minutes I was walking around…

… with a green bicycle lane at the curb :facepalm

What I’m saying is, motoring, encourages such behavior
 
I must confess that SWMBO and I do ride on the Embarcadero sidewalks when the bike lines are nuts with traffic. Have a nice day.
 
mercurial said:
The problem with calling pedal-less ebikes as motorcycles, is it suggests they need to be far more heavily regulated and that when people ride them, they need to hang out with the cars, which everyone here knows is obvious quite unsafe. Also I don't like the potential implication that they need to be registered with the state and trackable with license plates, f that.

As long as they are traveling a reasonable speed (I dunno, less than 30 mph?) and staying off sidewalks, They should be allowed to use bike trails, bike lanes, and local open spaces.
Click to expand...

At 30 mph it's going too fast for the bike lane, though.

IMG_3539.jpg


One could make the argument that in much of SF, at least, even 20 is slightly too fast since many bike friendly streets have lights timed to hit a leisurely 10-15 mph.

I'd be more than fine with a lower-powered ebike in the bike lane, since 20 is mildly faster than the system was designed for, but 25+ are crashes waiting to happen IMO
 
I wasn't aware that SF now has lights timed to 10-15 mph, but that's an interesting mechanism for creating safe speed bike-oriented traffic control. And that can work to keep speeds down, regardless of what an e-bike is ultimately capable of.

Fit road bikers routinely cruise around 25 mph, so you wouldn't want to make an electric bike that, in certain context of usage, is actually less capable than an analog one. I have experienced that before riding a flow-trail on an e-mtb that cut power once you exceeded a set mph, and it was incredibly annoying. Maybe the real answer is some kind of power assist taper where the motor slowly reduces assistance, the faster you go.
 
It's my understanding that lights that are timed for 15mph.....are also timed for 30mph. :later
 
900ss said:
I must confess that SWMBO and I do ride on the Embarcadero sidewalks when the bike lines are nuts with traffic. Have a nice day.
Click to expand...
There ya go.

I whipped a manual ride on the bike lane of the Embarcadero for ya yesterday.

Did I see you? I saw two older people man and woman, riding an ebike on the sidewalk.


justanotherg20 said:
One could make the argument that in much of SF, at least, even 20 is slightly too fast
Click to expand...
SF actually has more than a handful of blocks that are 20 mph speed limit... So limiting e-motorbicycles to 20 mph seems sensible or logical


justanotherg20 said:
I'd be more than fine with a lower-powered ebike in the bike lane
Click to expand...
I figured out what's the problem; I think many e-bikes' riders mess up the bicycle lane , and disrupt the flow of traffic ..

...not the least, passing a bicyclist with the throttle , then going in front of them and hitting the brake. Last time that happened, I even saw the brake light on that lady's emotorbike
 
AbsolutEnduser said:
There ya go.

I whipped a manual ride on the bike lane of the Embarcadero for ya yesterday.

Did I see you? I saw two older people man and woman, riding an ebike on the sidewalk.



SF actually has more than a handful of blocks that are 20 mph speed limit... So limiting e-motorbicycles to 20 mph seems sensible or logical



I figured out what's the problem; I think many e-bikes' riders mess up the bicycle lane , and disrupt the flow of traffic ..

...not the least, passing a bicyclist with the throttle , then going in front of them and hitting the brake. Last time that happened, I even saw the brake light on that lady's emotorbike
Click to expand...
Nope, they were not us.
 
mercurial said:
Are you suggesting that e-bikes ought to be designed to match the specific characteristics of SF's streets?
Click to expand...
haha.

no, they should be just called moto-bikes.

Dmitriy said:
It was all fun and games and save the planet with eBikes, until eMoto's came along...
Click to expand...

lol , the problems of "e-bikes":
(technically, pictured: e-moto)

SHORT VERSION
https://www.reddit.com/r/BicyclingCirclejerk/comments/1xsjhgj/least_aggressive_ebiker



THE LONG VERSION here

:facepalm

(p.s. don't forget to notice the riding of an e-motobike on the sidewalk, in the middle of the long Version video)
Basically, some bikers are squids, and get upset at everything, like the one pictured in the video—he got upset that the rolling manual biker said “stop sign”
 
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