MOPED ARMY

Cool to see you're onto two wheels, but being that this is a US based crowd of mostly vintage 2t moped people, you're source of info may be lacking.

Hopefully some folks from the UK will chime in.

you need to look into how your federal/local laws can be applied to electric things with 2 wheels. Laws in Europe are not the same as US states (which are also not the same as each other).

here in Virginia, an Electric powered thing with 2 wheels could fall into like 5 different categories and only one of them is free and able to ride on paths and roads.

I'm not flaming, I just don't understand why anyone would actually want a battery powered bike if an internal combustion powered bike is available. Nor only do I find them incredibly boring (to me moped, motorcycle, or even scooter, especially ones with manual transmissions, mean FUN) but their range is not even close to being what I want or need. But I understand everyone is different. I am very much into the greasy oily vintage 2 stroke type mopeds. It was my love for the internal combustion engine that got me into bikes, and then cars, in the first place.

As for what's legal, what can be used where, what kind of license if any is required, whether registration and/or insurance is required, that is usually determined by the wattage of the motor. The less powerful the motor, the less complicated things usually are. There are many differences between battery powered bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles.

As far as I know, none of the Rad Power bikes require any license, registration, or insurance. In my state they can be ridden in bike lanes, BUT there is a speed limit of 20 mph, and that is at least twice as fast as most pedal bicycles are ridden. For some reason, I have noticed that speed is the main thing battery powered bicycles are concerned about. Their first question is invariably "how fast does it go" while my first question would be "how far does it go without pedaling"

Many places also make a difference between a "pedal assist" bike, which won't do anything unless you pedal, the battery powered motor just makes it easier to pedal, and "throttle" bikes, which can be ridden by throttle only, with no pedaling. My feeling is, if you are going to pedal, why do you need/want a motor?

While I wouldn't want one, I do see a battery powered bicycle as being a little different from a battery powered moped, scooter, or car. Those are supposed to have internal combustion engines, as far as I am concerned. On a bicycle the rider is the engine.

I now have NINE bikes (5 motorcycles, 2 scooters, and 2 mopeds) I am divorced, and my kids are in their mid 30s, so I live alone. I converted my living room into a bike shop/storage place. 5 of those bikes are in there. They don't all get ridden that often. I have a couple that haven't been ridden in over 2 years. But they do get started up, warmed up, and moved around a little at least every 2-3 weeks. Several of them have TruFuel in them. Unlike ethanol gas, it has a lifespan of 2 years, so I don't have to worry about it going bad and doing serious damage to the fuel system. I also have 3 cars and a truck. Only one is used on a daily basis. But the other 3 get warmed up and driven at least 5 miles every couple of weeks. All the bikes with batteries have battery tenders on them. I retired last year, so I have more time to spend with my vehicles now. Internal combustion powered vehicles have always been my main and only real hobby.