In January 2021, the Department of Infrastructure made a change to the federal vehicle standards, adding the criteria “cannot be propelled exclusively by the motor or motors” which effectively bans bikes with throttle propulsion. This rule was then adopted by NSW.
They didn't tell anyone about this, least of all bike shops and riders! This has led to a situation where there are many cyclists unknowingly riding bikes that are not street legal. The NSW Police have recently started enforcing this rule, and issuing fines.
For some bikes, the throttle can be removed, and the electric assistance will still kick in when the system detects that the pedals are being turned. It may also be possible to alter the settings on some bikes with Lekkie/Bafang systems so that either:
- the throttle only engages when the pedals are turning
- the throttle can only work up to 6km/h (walk mode, which allows you to start the bike going before the system detects the pedals are turning, and the assistance kicks in)
We're no longer able to alter the settings on Lekkie/Bafang systems - we recommend contacting Cyberbikes in Leichhardt.
For eZee bikes with Gen2 electrical systems (characterized by a display with two rows of coloured LEDs), it's possible to change the mode so that the throttle can only be used when the pedals are being turned. To do this:
- turn the bike off
- turn the bike on again
- hold the "down" button for 5 seconds, until the first and last LEDs in two top row (one green and one red) are illuminated
- press the up button until the second LED from the left is illuminated
- hold the "down" button for 5 seconds to exit
Due to these legislative changes, and the advice of our insurance company, we will no longer:
- work on e-bikes that have throttles, with the exception of Gen2 eZee bikes, on which we will change the settings to Mode 2 to make them street legal
- install electrical conversion kits