My brother was building ebikes back in college back when companies were just starting to sell them, so this was somewhere around 2010(I’m not so good with numbers). When he built his it was more of a moped. It had a throttle and a hub motor and could go pretty darn fast, though technically counted as an experimental vehicle.
I believe back then there were still laws about how fast a bike could go before it was considered a motorcycle, at least in New York. But I think going fast was part of the appeal of early ebikes.
There was a very hacky feel to the community then. I remember visiting my brother and seeing a guy ride an ebike with a trailer that carried all his batteries.
My brother was building ebikes back in college back when companies were just starting to sell them, so this was somewhere around 2010(I’m not so good with numbers). When he built his it was more of a moped. It had a throttle and a hub motor and could go pretty darn fast, though technically counted as an experimental vehicle.
I believe back then there were still laws about how fast a bike could go before it was considered a motorcycle, at least in New York. But I think going fast was part of the appeal of early ebikes.
There was a very hacky feel to the community then. I remember visiting my brother and seeing a guy ride an ebike with a trailer that carried all his batteries.