Bicycle engines and Darwin awards

jon1981

What's the story with these things , are they legal? They look happy anyway... it will end in tears though, not happy ones!

Tenzor07

They have no helmets and hi-vis?

tuxy

It's motorised so you need insurance and a licence to use it on a public road. No company in Ireland will insure you for such a vehicle effectively making them illegal on public roads.

The only use it could have in Ireland is on private land.

jon1981

Tenzor07 wrote: »

They have no helmets and hi-vis?

they passed me out at 35 kph ...

Tenzor07

jon1981 wrote: »

they passed me out at 35 kph ...

Ha! Just joking..

Where's the Gards when you need them, would have taken the bike off these 2 little scrotes and booted both of them down the road..

jon1981

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Ha! Just joking..

Where's the Gards when you need them, would have taken the bike off these 2 little scrotes and booted both of them down the road..

haha I was wonder how long it would take for the helmet question to arise !

NickNickleby

It definitely WILL end in tears. One night I was driving into town via Ballybough, and as I drove up the hill to the canal/railway bridge, they came over it from the town side of the canal, flying, smack in the middle of the road with no lights.
That was probably about 3 weeks ago. Another day, I saw an older guy on either this one or one very like it. Cant remember where it was, but I immediately thought he looked dodgy.

jon1981

Little feckers are too cute to be caught!

seefin

Met one in Limerick on a footpath last week !! Didn't even slow down when pedestrians, unbelievable !

amcalester

seefin wrote: »

Met one in Limerick on a footpath last week !! Didn't even slow down when pedestrians, unbelievable !

Damn motorists.

dev100

If you don't see them you'll hear them bloody noisy things altogether

jon1981

dev100 wrote: »

If you don't see them you'll hear them bloody noisy things altogether

You won't be using one as a gettaway bike when you rob the local bookie, thats for sure!

jon1981

Probably collecting KOMs all over the place on Strava...feckers

koutoubia

Often see one on the agency guys on work on one. Mad looking yoke and it really tips along.
But as noted ...ninja style it aint!
Be great as a training scooter to sit in behind -which of course would be illegal if such a ve-hi-cul had insurance which it doesnt so its not illeg....ok I should stop typing now!

daragh_

I regularly meet a chap on my commute riding one of these. We have a chat at the lights now and then. The bike he's got it fitted to isn't great but he's obviously spent a lot of time working on it - it's all spotless. Pretty slow to start and it tops out at around 40-45kph. Don't ask me how I know this ;-)

I wouldn't like to see him make an emergency stop as he's just got standard brakes.

seamus

Hah, was just talking to someone in work about this today.

Not only illegal but incredibly dangerous. I've never seen it installed on anything but an old beat up mountain bike with cantilevers and knobbly tyres.

At least if it was a well specced MTB with proper front suspension and hydraulic discs you'd stand a chance.

The guys who install them of course claim it's perfectly safe and legal. But they'll be nowhere to be found when you end up in St James's

fat bloke

Any yet, when you go to France every 16 year old and every 60 year has a little pedal bike with an engine. (Or a little engine bike with pedals if you like)

jon1981

fat bloke wrote: »

Any yet, when you go to France every 16 year old and every 60 year has a little pedal bike with an engine. (Or a little engine bike with pedals if you like)

Would love to see a 60 yr old getting a handlebar

Kaisr Sose

fat bloke wrote: »

Any yet, when you go to France every 16 year old and every 60 year has a little pedal bike with an engine. (Or a little engine bike with pedals if you like)

....but the brakes on those are built for the mass and power of the pedal/motor cycle. These retro fitted engines are on cheap cycles with brakes /wheels and frames that are not rated/certified for the power generated by a motor.

Somebody was selling them in Kimmage. Said they are legal to sell, don't need to be taxed or insured. Unfortunately that claim, may be technically correct, but that does not make them legal for use on public roads...and the seller knows this!

koutoubia

daragh_ wrote: »

I wouldn't like to see him make an emergency stop as he's just got standard brakes.

Disc brakes FTW

OleRodrigo

A well spent youth of frolics and adventure - feck the begrudgers

jon1981

As my mother use to say -

If you break your leg on that thing don't come running to me!!

daragh_

koutoubia wrote: »

Disc brakes FTW

I'll suggest it.

Mugser

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

...

Somebody was selling them in Kimmage. ...............!

Clickedy-Linky.....ring-de-ding-ding-ding-ding

check_six

How do these contraptions work exactly? I see there is a clutch lever that attaches where the brake lever would go. Where then does the second brake lever fit?

ted1

fat bloke wrote: »

Any yet, when you go to France every 16 year old and every 60 year has a little pedal bike with an engine. (Or a little engine bike with pedals if you like)

They also have 50cc cars that are classed as mopeds

jon1981

check_six wrote: »

How do these contraptions work exactly? I see there is a clutch lever that attaches where the brake lever would go. Where then does the second brake lever fit?

I'll review the video and see if i can figure it out

dragratchet

a lad on one of these things challenged me to a race up near stepaside a while back. beat him soundly to lambs cross. 1-0 to pedal power

tomasrojo

RE: motorised bikes with pedals in France:
They're "mopeds" though (in the original meaning of that term). The pedals are just to get the engine going, and maybe add a small bit of extra power (originally you had to run alongside motorbikes and jump on when the engine kicked in). They have proper motorbike-style brakes, and integrated lighting. They're designed to carry an engine.

The Noble Nudge

Seen quiet a few of these on the roads....
I also pass a sit down scooter type like the kids push one with a seat on the back in Dublin rush hour traffic so obviously commuting to and from work on it.....

I've been stopped twice in the car in the last week for road tax!
One of them checkpoints was on the Sally gap cross roads of all places!

Ciaran_B

Seen loads of these around Dublin 12. They fairly zip along and I wouldn't fancy taking a spill off one at top speed.

Maybe a thread in Legal Discussion could clarify the legality issue.