I think things are going to get weird with states having different regulations instead of one blanket rule. For just going off the top of your head, you were pretty close to the exact definition written here. I think the more you talk about this, you should distinguish the difference between the USA and UK in regards to classes to help people understand. Great video mike!

The Wired Freedom that I just received ships as a Class 2 (20mph w/throttle). The 2,000w motor is even labeled as 750w because the controller is programmed to only allow that much. Take 10secs to change a couple settings and now I have an unclassified e-bike capable of 40mph with a throttle 😂. That’s why I chose this bike. The ability to switch classes on the fly and ride it responsibly depending on where I am. I believe the throttle can even be disabled making it a Class 1 for the State and National Parks 😊

It’s not about safety. It’s just another way to take peoples money, that’s it. They used the kids name for the bill purely to dug on the heart stings to build support. They don’t give one crap about safety. More stupid laws, more tickets to write and more of your money to take!

That’s correct for federal classification, which here in Michigan also follows.

You are too right. The real problem is the design of our communities. Everything caters to the automobile/SUVs/pickup truck/van culture. There are too many vehicles traveling too fast in multi-lane nightmares forced to make lane changes and turns under circumstances that narrows their focus entirely on headlights, taillights, traffic signals, and commercial and directional signage and blocks out everything else. That's why the van driver who killed Trenton "didn't see him." Or else he was texting or high. Really doesn't matter which. I live in Oregon and I cringe every time the legislature meets and tries to "fix" things to make themselves look good for re-election. I rarely drive a car and ride my ebike year round so this affects me, too.

The kid rolled across a driveway coming off a sidewalk without looking, he could do the same thing on a regular bicycle,so maybe public money would be better spent in classrooms teaching kid about driving vehicles in a public space.

@seacaptian6955 Sorry, I wasn't aware that sidewalk users didn't have the right of way in Oregon and that vans were permitted to blow through a stop sign and crosswalk without looking.

“Villains of the story” I don’t know about all that nor know the situation with that kid but as a cyclist and a motorcycle rider, I can truly say that my safety on the road is 💯 up to me. Since I have everything to lose in an accident I’m always on the defense and always assume idiot drivers will act like idiot drivers. Most people that die from accidents is due to lack of experience. Not only in the field of said accident but also life experiences. That’s why we are stupid when we are young and get wiser with age. We’ll sometimes 😂 Some never learn anything!

@zjedinite the driver of the van who killed the kid blew through a stop sign and crosswalk to make a right turn. Those kind of incidents usually occur when the driver attempts to turn right while looking over their left shoulder. The turn lane also has a curve to it that could allow the driver to make that turn at fairly high speed, and given that many people complain about folks speeding, it's quite possible that the driver was accelerating through the turn to merge with traffic. The negligence of the driver and the enabling design of the road is why I refer to those folks as "the villains". The victim was an accomplished amateur dirt bike rider, so his skill on a bike wasn't in question, and the state of the road leads me to believe that it wouldn't have been much different if the kid was on an acoustic bike and wearing a helmet.

Does the people's republic of Eugene care about rights or responsibility? The trash laying everywhere suggests they do not.

Exactly, I means for goodness sake, Trenton could’ve been walking and the van would’ve still hit him.

Well said. Electric bikes and electric mountain bikes have opened up a whole New World for people that are in their 50s or 60s and even later. I have a mountain range here in California and after 12 miles of climbing I am up at close to 6000 feet and who do I run into? A bunch of 60 year old dudes on the electric mountain bikes grinning from ear to ear having the time of their life. I remember climbing the same mountain when I was a kid and it kicked my butt. Now I am 58 and I am in better shape than I was in my 40s because I ride my electric mountain bike all the time. Have fun out there!

Gentlemen, I think you’re missing the point. Us older guys can continue doing our thing. But when we were young were we allowed to ride motorized vehicles around traffic and pedestrians. Hells no! All we are doing is replacing the gas motor to an electric one. Same rules should apply.

@@zjedinite screw the rules!

@@user-ke9yk5qp3u well rules are made for idiots. There are A LOT of idiots out in the road. If you don’t see that then what does that make you 🤔 Sorry that was too easy, 3 words answers are the best! 😆🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽

@@zjedinite I take great pride in being an idiot! And I have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.

I can confirm this. When I was 21 I was SUPERMAN! Until I almost killed my self on a motorcycle. 48 now and haven’t had an accident since. It took one lesson to teach me to “never assume others will follow the rules” Defense, defense, defense! It’s up to the rider to stay safe IMO

Exactly, I live in a fairly rural town, but every kid here has a hobby of riding dirt bikes or quads. Plus kids have been on roads with regular cycles for decades, they just don’t have to pedal now and it’s an issue.

Yep.

Hey old man, aren't you so special having six e bikey's. Don't forget your helmet and stabilizer wheels. FYI: I was driving a tractor at 10, started driving a manual shifting pickup truck at 13. Built and rode go-karts, engine driven minibikes as a kid. Helmet??? Lol. Years of owning countless motorcycles, many that have the capability of 150+ mph. I'm still here and nobody has died or let alone injured because of me.

@@Shopsmith10er So you are extra special. Did you ride in the "short bus" to school. I am totally unimpressed with your post.

@@RobertHaworth Never intended to impress you Missy Robert Hogwarts. Now go ride around your lefty commune in one of your six e-bikes, and don't forget your cereal bowl hat.

Hey man, I believe it just needs to be taught that you can’t do “wheelies”. E-bike or regular bike, kids will still be popping wheelies in the middle of the road and being a danger to traffic as long as no one cares. You can make up countless laws and restrictions, but odds are a cop is never going to be around every corner. It all comes down to parenting, if your kids being stupid, teach him common sense, teach him to hang around the right crowd. My Grandpa used to tell me when I was younger, “at your age I had a car, and kept my rifle in the back!” I was 14 at that time. The truth is, back then kids were raised that you don’t do that, so they didn’t do that, and in turn they could do a lot more things and no one cared, and there were no issues. Now that parenting has relaxed, and most kids are missing a parent, they aren’t taught common sense, and accidents happen, and they teach the younger kids the same bad habits, and they don’t know better. It’s not fair that the 15 year old respectable kid, with common sense who just got his first job, can’t get to work quicker, and make some decent profit at a young age, and work on his driving skills, because some moron immature, raised poorly, kids are creating a bad image. And for goodness sake in Trenton’s accident the e-bike was unrelated, if he had been walking he still would’ve been hit. All this to say raise your kids right, so you don’t spoil it for the rest.

3 years ago my dad bought a green bike 750. he was 72. he had no friends in his community despite living there for 20 years.....now he's the leader of a senior citizen ebiker gang. there is like 1/2 dozen of them in his club. he's 75 now and got a lectric xpedition dual battery and goes out on 50 mile rides a couple of times a week.

Bike lanes in car traffic are death traps. We need bike paths next to sidewalks.

Look up the numbers. Oregon Has lower overdose rates than literally dozens of states with no decriminalization. Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, Maine, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas... the list goes on. Why do people feel so strongly to parrot nonsense about things they know nothing about?

they make perfect sense....if you know what they really want.

Where are you from? I have a class 1 that’s 500w pedal assist only

Good, I hope it stays that way.

I totally disagree! It’s 💯 all about experience! The younger you are the least experienced you most likely be.

@@zjedinite but it really doesn’t matter, 31 year old Sam who’s been driving a car since 16 could and would still be lost the first time he rides a e-bike. Kids have been riding regular bikes as fast as they could since they were 7, now that they don’t have to pedal it’s a big deal?

@@Zayzanater sorry I miss your point. I’m saying that it’s about experience, a young person is usually inexperienced hence more of a chance on getting hit. If I remember this thread correctly, is about being safe. This dude said it’s about being seen, I say it’s about being experienced. What does pedaling or not have to do with anything 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@zjedinite Well, I agree, but I think if there banning e-bikes then they might as well ban regular bikes. Their just as unsafe, as an e-bike.

@@Zayzanater oh I remember another comment I made to someone else. Now I remember the topic, sorry 😝 Obviously I don’t know how old you are, but me being in my high 40s I remember how freaking illegal it was to ride mopeds. Quite frankly it seems to be way less restrictive nowadays. I literally have groups of like 50 dirt bikers and ATVs in my neighborhood taking over the streets and cops do shit! I had my dirt bike confiscated when I was 12 for riding it on my block! With that said, and to be clear, I’m not speaking of class one (which I own) there really isn’t much difference of these modern “throttle” electric bikes to old mopeds. Only difference is motor and fuel source. So I’m not saying for them to be banned, just have the same rules that we have had for years regarding mopeds. If I kid can pedal 30 mph good for them, maybe 1 out of 1000 kids could probably do it nowadays 😂 but to just sit there, and hit a throttle to go from 0 to 30 or more in seconds!? MOPED RULES MUST APPLY. This will create CLEAR and comprehensive guidelines for everyone to follow. I actually don’t think it’s as complicated as everyone is making out to be. Just use current laws to modern transportation 🤷🏻‍♂️ Class one is a different animal! You don’t peddle you don’t move! That’s an electric bike. Throttle = motorized vehicle

Right? I went to a bike store for a new bike and they asked for 2 forms of identification. They called a hostile federal agency and put me on a list. I had to fill out several forms and then they put me on a waiting list for months. Then when I went to pick it up I was I formed that I'd have to ship it to my home individually and disassembled or I could get a felony for crossing back into my own state. I can't believe bikes are regulated to such a degree... oh wait. 😂😂

Me too. Wtf😂

all ebikes and bicycles with with small gasoline engines are, and always have been illegal to ride on public roads. You are completely wrong about this. In fact, most areas have laws saying things to the effect of "bicycles, including electric assist bicycles, can ride on the roads and can take over the entire lane if they need to do so to be safe. Cars passing bicycles must move over at least three feet, or change lanes to go around on multi-lane roads." Bicyclists have as much right to use the roads as drivers of cars do. "As far as laws go it's always been a gray area, nobody knows the laws, least of all the police, and it's always been up to the police officers discretion on how much they want to harass you on the side of the road," as odd as it may seem, I've looked up the laws pertaining to bicycles everywhere I've ridden bicycles. I even printed out a copy of the state law code section and carried it with me for a while to show it to ignorant people. State traffic laws are published and accessible. Print out the section and carry it in a ziplock back so you don't have to argue the point. Just hand them the written law and let them read it.

@@blqysmg exactly you just proved my point, you had to go through all that just to find the laws, then you had to argue the law with somebody who probably didn't care to know.

@@blqysmg and once your over 20mph on power assist your illegal just about everywhere, unless you lin the state of Maine in which case you can ride a four-wheeler down the mid of the highway in the middle of the afternoon, and no one will give a second look.

Did I misspeak? I thought I said class 1 was pedal assist only, class 2 pedal and throttle with higher max speed and class 3 higher power and speed with pedal assist and throttle. Just for verification, this is from the Bosch site. Pretty much what I said. “Class 1: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and have a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph. Class 2: eBikes that also have a maximum speed of 20 mph, but are throttle-assisted. Class 3: eBikes that are pedal-assist only, with no throttle, and a maximum assisted speed of 28 mph.”