Legal ramifications
This is where things get interesting. Legally speaking a modified electric bike is no longer categorised as a bicycle, so once you’ve fitted a DIY speed kit designed to propel the bike faster than the legal limitations you are, in legislative terms, most likely now riding a homemade motorcycle. Just as when you modify a car, the insurer may wish to know about it in order to adjust the policy to account for the modification. A doctored electric bike can very quickly require all sorts of extra paperwork if you were planning on riding it legally. In the UK at least, the paperwork can be quite laborious, not to mention the look on your local car workshop mechanic’s face when you seek the now-legally-required annual MOT.
Specialist cycling insurer Bikmo explains further: “If an EAPC (Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle) sits outside of the bicycle classification it’s classed as a moped or motorbike which needs to be registered and taxed. If caught, you should expect what any motor vehicle user would expect if they don’t follow the Highway Code.”
To remind you what that law looks like, the bike must have a maximum continuous rated power output of 250 watts, power assistance is restricted to 15.5mph or 25kmh and the bike cannot be ridden by someone under the age of 14.
“We often come across cyclists who unknowingly purchase and use an e- bike that doesn’t meet the classification and therefore can’t be insured, nor make a successful claim. One Bikmo customer had a non- pedal-assisted bike- shaped vehicle, which was sold as an ‘e- bike’ by the retailer. Unfortunately, as this wasn’t pedal-assisted or type approved, it was again classed as a moped and couldn’t be insured by us. This only came to light at the point of claim, which had to be declined given the vehicle wasn’t insurable by Bikmo.”
The Technical Director at the UK cycle industry trade body, the Bicycle
Association, is Peter Eland. He is also familiar with this issue of vehicles being sold as e- bikes that which are, in fact, motor vehicles in law because of their higher speed or power, and adds: “We’ve been advised by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), who are responsible for enforcing the law in this area, that anyone who comes across such a vehicle being offered for sale without proper automotive type approval can report it here: gov.uk/guidance/ report- someone-making- or- sellingunsafe- or- illegal-vehicles- or- parts
Most commonly, though, Bikmo points to users going for a speed enhancement of an existing legal e- bike, often using a kit to trick sensors into releasing more power. As soon as you’ve done this you become fair game for prosecution for a long list of motoring offences.
“At the highest power output end, some electric bikes can output fourfold the legal limit for an EPACS, or 1,000W. These can assist the rider to in excess of 50mph which, aside the legal requirements, can add danger to both the rider and the public,” adds Bikmo.
Eland also points out that while the cycle industry does all it can to prevent tampering, it is very hard to
“If caught using a bike outside the bicycle classification, you should expect what any motor vehicle user would expect if they don’t follow the Highway Code”
prevent it entirely by technical means. Other vehicles, such as e- scooters and petrol mopeds, also suffer from a minority of users tampering with them to increase speed.
Eland says, “This tampering poses a real risk of reputational damage to the entire e- bike category – as well as to the manufacturer of the original, legal e-bike which has now been tampered with. And in a mixed environment, where legal e- bikes and unassisted cycles travel at broadly the same speed, de- restricted e- bikes stick out like a sore thumb, and the authorities are certainly watching the situation closely.
“If anyone tempted to tamper with an e- bike isn’t put off by risk of prosecution, or the regulatory damage it could do to an entire fast- growing category of green vehicles, then surely the issue of potential personal liability should give them serious reservations. If, unfortunately, they collide with another road user while riding a de- restricted e- bike – which is legally an unregistered, unapproved motor vehicle – they will almost certainly find that any third party insurance cover they may hold is invalidated, potentially leaving them with large liabilities to personally cover – for example, the long term medical costs of a person they may have injured.”
There may exist a feeling that you could fly under the radar. If you don’t cause an
incident or raise alarm then what’s the harm, you may ask? Admittedly police resource is stretched thin for matters such as a speeding bicycle, but insurance teams are nonetheless thorough, as Eland points out. If you end up making a claim the insurance company’s resources will allow them to conduct a painstaking investigation and if there’s any inkling of additional speed or modification the liability will fall with the rider.
If you happen to be reading this in the US, the equivalent legal problems will come from violation of CPSC and NHTSA regulations, which if the incident were to result in others getting hurt would very likely end with a swift lawsuit.