Dangerous cyclist / what kind of bike is this?

[Rabaja]

Descending East Alpine Rd in Portola Valley (CA) I almost got hit frontally by a kid riding some kind of electric off-road bike at high speed on the wrong side of the road in a sharp turn. Kid avoided collision at the last moment when hearing me screaming at the top of my lungs. What kind of bike is this? Never seen this before.

[Blue Jays]

Knobbies are simply awful on asphalt. Weird to cross over while ascending.
Very glad that you two did not have a crash. Unfamiliar with his bicycle.

[Old School]

deleted, going on a bike ride.

[unterhausen]

I think it looks too much like a motorcycle for people to blame cyclists. But what do I know?

[Big Dan]

Ebikes are harmless they say....only old people ride them......

[Chris(NJ)]

Looks like he went through a lot of work to make it seem like he's a motox rider, w/o being a motox rider lol.
I dunno...kids being kids, I guess.
Can't solely blame it being an e-bike....I've seen roadies flying down hills way too close on the center line w/ oncoming traffic.
More of a judgement call on the rider than the bike they're on.
Nobody was hurt. Irritating, I'm sure. But could've been worse.

[spoonrobot]

As mentioned above, it's an electric dirt bike.

Mid drive electric bike that you can ride anywhere.

Everything an E Bike should be.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by Big Dan

Ebikes are harmless they say....only old people ride them......

a lot of the radpower radrunner style ebikes are being ridden by kids. I know it can be annoying, but that's one less giant SUV on the road.

The OP's nemesis was riding an illegal electric motorcycle. Some of them do have pedals. I'm sure if you tracked down the company that sold it, it says, "offroad only"

[54ny77]

boy he's lucky you weren't a truck, he'd have been a hood ornament.

kids being [stupid] kids.

and glad you made it out ok.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

The OP's nemesis was riding an illegal electric motorcycle. Some of them do have pedals. I'm sure if you tracked down the company that sold it, it says, "offroad only"

Actually, I did look up the Sur-Ron X (sold by Sur-Ron USA). The user manual doesn't say that it is for off-road only, and the only reference in the owner's manual regardiong riding on roads is this: "Follow the traffic rules strictly, and ride it on the slow lanes. Please drive slowly in snowy days or on slippery roads, and keep certain distance to ensure safety."

Oddly, the web page mentions maximum speed in 3 places, and the specified speed is different in each place ("up to 40 mph", "45 mph", "47 mph"), while the ownder's manual claims a maximum speed of 20km/h. And the web page claims rated and maximum powers of 3000W and 6000W, while the owner's manual says 168 W.

If I were to guess, I'd bet that Sur-Ron USA just imports and sells these vehicles, and doesn't really know (and maybe not care) what they are. But since they are located in the US, they are ripe for a lawsuit.

[unterhausen]

They call it an electric motorcycle.

Engineering & Design
Surrron has a team of top motorcycle engineers who made it their passion to make the Light Bee the best lightweight electric motorcycle ever made.

I agree they don't say anything about licensing or only riding it off-road.

I don't know about elsewhere, but riding an unlicensed motorcycle in Pennsylvania can cost you upwards of $1000. Some parents might be surprised about this. It's clearly an electric motorcycle but I don't know if it can be licensed as such.

[kppolich]

eBikes are motorcycles

[GOTHBROOKS]

s-works turbo levo with an upgraded noleen suspension package.

[Peter P.]

I can sympathize with the OP; if he were hit by that kind of mass, he would be on the losing end.

The other day I was driving home from work and I see a 20-something with a backwards baseball cap for a helmet almost keeping up with the 45mph speed limit traffic, on and e-scooter!

I see nothing good resulting from the twisted uses of e-bikes, etal.

[Peter B]

Luna Cycle is the US distributor and has this on their site:

IMPORTANT NOTE: We sale this bike as an off road only bike. These bikes are shipped limited to lower speed/power to make them road legal in many states, but you should check your local laws in your jurisdiction.

Out of the box they are limited to <30mph. Cutting one jumper enables Sport mode and ~47mph depending on rider weight and battery charge. Even speed-limited the legality of on-road use is marginal at best. It is an off-road electric motorcycle, equivalent in performance to about a 125cc 4-stroke, and should be used as such.