SOME e-bike retailers including online suppliers, and their customers, have been blatantly breaking the law for at least a year. In NSW, e-bikes are supposed to be limited in power to 200w and be ridden at less than 25km/h. E-bike motors should not be capable of being independently throttle-activated, like a motorbike. Their 200w motors should only kick in when they are pedalled ("Customers warned on illegal bikes", Newcastle Herald, 30/12).
Many of the newer e-bikes regularly break the 25km/h speed limit on our footpaths. They have large illegal motors (many are 500w and 750w) that may be throttle activated.
