A lot of the confusion over throttles stems from the fact they are illegal in both the UK and in Europe (EU). An ebike with a throttle is classed as a moped ie a motorbike and needs a licence and vehicle insurance and tax etc etc. That's a market of over 500 million people so international bike manufacturers probably don't use throttles because of the hassle.
That's not say there are no throttle bikes in Europe or UK. There are loads! A lot of the Chinese brands and other brands you see on here. Certainly in the UK given how the police seem to care little if your bike is stolen, they don't (so far) seem to pay any attention to either throttles or the legal speed cut offs, max power etc. At least in my experience. Nor does there seem to be anything stopping companies from selling throttle equipped bikes, which is a bit odd, legally. I mean who is at fault if you buy a bike from a company legally, but riding it unlicensed is illegal? Law not thought out very well. I guess apart from breaking the law the other consideration is if you are involved in a bad vehicle or pedestrian collision and you have a throttle, they'll throw the book at you for riding a vehicle not fit for road use.
So the constant discussion of throttle bikes on here, by US Brands that don't sell or sell very few in Europe sounds odd to my ears, because I have zero experience with them.
Lastly this is off topic but talking about throttles, I'm a huge fan of Jeff Jones bikes and love his recent mad speed experiments with e bikes and building 50mph, basically electric motorbikes!
That's not say there are no throttle bikes in Europe or UK. There are loads! A lot of the Chinese brands and other brands you see on here. Certainly in the UK given how the police seem to care little if your bike is stolen, they don't (so far) seem to pay any attention to either throttles or the legal speed cut offs, max power etc. At least in my experience. Nor does there seem to be anything stopping companies from selling throttle equipped bikes, which is a bit odd, legally. I mean who is at fault if you buy a bike from a company legally, but riding it unlicensed is illegal? Law not thought out very well. I guess apart from breaking the law the other consideration is if you are involved in a bad vehicle or pedestrian collision and you have a throttle, they'll throw the book at you for riding a vehicle not fit for road use.
So the constant discussion of throttle bikes on here, by US Brands that don't sell or sell very few in Europe sounds odd to my ears, because I have zero experience with them.
Lastly this is off topic but talking about throttles, I'm a huge fan of Jeff Jones bikes and love his recent mad speed experiments with e bikes and building 50mph, basically electric motorbikes!
