These things are like locusts now - they're everywhere

[Scream And Fly]

Has anybody been seeing a huge increase in people riding these electric motorcycles? They're everywhere here. Most are not street legal, but the riders seem to have no concerns about getting into trouble for blatantly riding them in the streets. Heck, I think those electric bikes look like fun, but I am astonished at the major increase in the numbers of these all over the place. I suppose the fact that they're very cheap is a major reason. You can buy these at Amazon!

[Dain]

A couple of years ago, I looked into getting a couple of Surron bikes for the wife and I to do some light offroad riding and the price of one shook me a bit. I know those are pretty much top tier and there are likely some cheaper options these days. I haven't seen too many of them but the ones I do see like that are street legal and they ride them in kind of a hybrid manner. They are in the streets obeying the traffic laws but then when they want to they just do... whatever they want. They hate waiting on stop signs/red lights/people turning/etc.

[John S]

Definitely a major change in the industry. 5-6 years ago, I wouldn't have believed if you told me E bikes would outsell "manual" bikes, but here we are. The Surron's and it's competitors are bonkers. I rode one, it is like nothing I've ever experienced on two wheels, and I've had everything from 125 two strokes, all the way to 1000cc four strokes. The power delivery on those things is amazing. I'd steer away from the cheaper ones, as they have cheaper electrics/ not as good BMS, if any. $5G+++ is pretty wild for a kid, but hey, I'm all aboot getting kids out and being hooligans over sitting on a screen and becoming an antisocial vegetable. As with all technologies, the regulation will catch up eventually. I don't think non pedal assist belongs in the bike lanes without some kind of disability permit, but that's me. IMO, non pedal assist should be regulated like 50cc mopeds. Plated, registered, and permit for under 16.

The pedal assist is a game changer. Lots of my MTB group has changed over, and none will ever go back. It seems counterintuitive, but you actually get a better workout on the E-MTB. Buddy I ride with wears a heart rate monitor, and he consistently shows a higher heartrate than on his "manual". Not to mention, he always gets more miles in. I think it's a great thing that more people are getting out on bikes. More people, more demand for trails and bike lanes.

[sharpeye Mike]

It's a go to for people losing their drivers license. Campers love them too

[Dain]

Definitely a major change in the industry. 5-6 years ago, I wouldn't have believed if you told me E bikes would outsell "manual" bikes, but here we are. The Surron's and it's competitors are bonkers. I rode one, it is like nothing I've ever experienced on two wheels, and I've had everything from 125 two strokes, all the way to 1000cc four strokes. The power delivery on those things is amazing. I'd steer away from the cheaper ones, as they have cheaper electrics/ not as good BMS, if any. $5G+++ is pretty wild for a kid, but hey, I'm all aboot getting kids out and being hooligans over sitting on a screen and becoming an antisocial vegetable. As with all technologies, the regulation will catch up eventually. I don't think non pedal assist belongs in the bike lanes without some kind of disability permit, but that's me. IMO, non pedal assist should be regulated like 50cc mopeds. Plated, registered, and permit for under 16.

The pedal assist is a game changer. Lots of my MTB group has changed over, and none will ever go back. It seems counterintuitive, but you actually get a better workout on the E-MTB. Buddy I ride with wears a heart rate monitor, and he consistently shows a higher heartrate than on his "manual". Not to mention, he always gets more miles in. I think it's a great thing that more people are getting out on bikes. More people, more demand for trails and bike lanes.

Sounds like I just need to find one of these things to try out! Did a bunch of mountain biking years ago, like usual, its just collecting dust in the garage now. My problem is, I can't leave anything alone. If I had one of these electric bikes I'd have to mod it for more power/torque and reduce its practicality lol.

[LakeFever]

There’s all kinds of electro wheeled weirdness out there. Those single wheel units seem to attract the most aggressive nutters. I lol’d at the comment above about guys losing their license. I have a colleague who got a dui and now rides a scooter. Emo or something. It’s not cool at all imo but it’s better than overhead eights and laces.

I too rode a bunch of bmx and mountain bikes. I rode until recently. Getting too old to muster any real quality riding. It just hurts now

[Dain]

There’s all kinds of electro wheeled weirdness out there. Those single wheel units seem to attract the most aggressive nutters. I lol’d at the comment above about guys losing their license. I have a colleague who got a dui and now rides a scooter. Emo or something. It’s not cool at all imo but it’s better than overhead eights and laces.

I too rode a bunch of bmx and mountain bikes. I rode until recently. Getting too old to muster any real quality riding. It just hurts now

Somehow I never thought about the connection with losing a license but now that its out there, I see a guy a lot at the gym who rides one....with an ankle monitor lol.

I could still get some good quality rides in, I just have too many hobbies and not enough time to properly enjoy them all. The mountain bike is ok to sit for awhile without bothering me though. If I get a few rides a year in, that's all good with me. Too damn hot in FL to ride in the summer anyway.

The one wheeled things... I saw a guy leave a stop light with one the other day. He had a full leather suit, motorcycle full face helmet, and was leaning super far forward to get moving and he was hauling ass!

[John S]

The Surron's are even making their way to motocross tracks. I really hope that before I'm too old for it, they start to make more supermoto tracks specifically for E-motos. You can plop them right in the middle of any residential/ warehouse area. Noise wouldn't be an issue. Would be kind of an ironic deal for my area, being that they ripped out Carlsbad raceway due to residential creep.

Those one wheeled things look fun as hell, but I've seen why people gear up the way they do. The cost of failure is too high for me. I don't heal like I used to, lol. Hell, I changed my workout routine last Thursday, and my legs are still sore.

[Shaun K]