{"id":545188,"date":"2026-03-17T01:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/545188\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T01:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:32:15","slug":"electric-bicycles-are-easy-to-modify-but-hard-to-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/545188\/","title":{"rendered":"Electric bicycles are easy to modify, but hard to police"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jeff lifts the back wheel of his push bike off the ground, his speedometer reaches 104 kilometres per hour at full throttle \u2014 all with the help of a conversion kit he purchased from China.<\/p>\n

While he said the fastest he has actually travelled is 70km\/h, his bike is 20 times more powerful than what is currently allowed on South Australian roads.<\/p>\n

The result, he said, was “just like riding a motorbike”.<\/p>\n

Jeff said the whole set-up, including the bike, cost about $1,000 but was cheap to run \u2014 he has solar panels and charges the bike during the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jeff says he has reached speeds of up to 70 km\/h on the road but goes “slow” on footpaths.\u00a0 (ABC News: Ashlin Blieshke)<\/p>\n

While it is not illegal to own a modified bike like this, riding it away from private property is, and can come with a hefty fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’ll ride it quite often because, of course, our petrol’s going up,” Jeff said.<\/p>\n

“If you’re doing silly stuff the cops are going to pick on you \u2026 just be sensible.”<\/p>\n

Above the limits<\/p>\n

The maximum power on a legal e-bike motor on South Australian roads is 250W.<\/p>\n

The motor needs to cut off when an e-bike reaches 25km\/h and the power must come mostly from pedalling.<\/p>\n

While Jeff said both finding and installing the kit onto his pushbike was an easy process, many store-bought e-bikes are also relatively simple to soup up.<\/p>\n

According to Adelaide e-bike seller Scott Pearce many sold in Australia only require a quick tinker to exceed the limit.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The motor on Jeff’s modified bicycle is more powerful than the legal road use limit of 250 watts. (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)<\/p>\n

“Some, an eight-year-old could probably unrestrict,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Pearce said it was impossible for him to stop customers using the devices unlawfully.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, once someone leaves the store \u2026 they can do whatever it is they want to it,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Scott Pearce says he can’t control what people do once they leave the store. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)<\/p>\n

Mr Pearce said online comments, media reporting and the way websites marketed high-performance devices had muddied the public’s understanding of e-bikes.<\/p>\n

“Unless it’s got a registration and number plate, if it’s doing 70km\/h, it’s definitely not legal,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Realistically, they’re e-motorbikes.”<\/p>\n

Another police crackdown<\/p>\n

In December and February, SA police targeted reckless riding, illegal modifications and non-compliance with road rules.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ABC Radio Adelaide this month, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the state had not seen the “extensive behaviour” witnessed in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.<\/p>\n

“The swarming \u2026 the kids who are really behaving in a way that makes your heart stop,” he said.<\/p>\n

His comments coincided with social media videos of teenagers performing dangerous manoeuvrers on e-bikes during organised rides in suburban Adelaide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

A police operation in February cracking down on illegal modifications and reckless riding. (ABC News: Daniel Taylor)<\/p>\n

Commissioner Stevens said he was concerned about the behaviour, but acknowledged the “inability” of officers to stop and pursue reckless riders.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want to be egging them on or giving them a reason to go faster or take more risks,” he said.<\/p>\n

Crashes under-reported<\/p>\n

Figures from interstate show a rise in injuries related to electric-powered devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Queensland Children’s Hospital study found e-scooter admissions more than doubled<\/a> between 2021 and 2024 and data from Sydney’s St Vincent Hospital told a similar story for e-bikes, with injuries doubling last year.<\/p>\n

Last week, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl died after a motorcycle collided with the e-bike they were riding,<\/a> south of Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Many collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists are under-reported, SA Police says. (ABC News: Daniel Taylor)<\/p>\n

In South Australia, emergency departments have seen limb fractures, lacerations, and concussions.<\/p>\n

“We have seen first-hand the significant injuries resulting from electric scooter and e-bike incidents,” Royal Adelaide Hospital Trauma Service Nursing Director, Nicole Kelly, told ABC News in a statement.<\/p>\n

According to SA Heath, hospital presentation files have no fields to record whether an injury has resulted from an e-device.<\/p>\n

SAPOL’s collision data has only recently carved out separate sections for e-device incidents \u2014 ahead of changes by the SA government last year<\/a> which gave private e-scooters the green-light for public use.<\/p>\n

Before July 2024, any incidents were recorded as either pedestrians or cyclists.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

SA Police started recording e-devices crashes separately ahead of legislative changes. (ABC News: Aiden McNamara\/Source: SA Police)<\/p>\n

According to SAPOL, crashes involving vulnerable road users were significantly under-reported and riders often left the scene of a collision without reporting it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councils consider e-device bans<\/p>\n

The trend in electric rideables has caused concerns on a local level, including from Jane Cadzow, a resident of the Adelaide coastal suburb of Grange.<\/p>\n

“I just feel very vulnerable that they’ll just knock you and that’ll be it,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jane Cadzow says she is worried about getting hit by an e-bike or e-scooter. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)<\/p>\n

Some councils, including Holdfast Bay, are looking at banning e-devices along certain strips.<\/p>\n

SA Transport Minister Emily Bourke said she was happy to meet with councils to discuss specific issues and welcomed the role of police in enforcing road rules.<\/p>\n

“The state government is actively assessing all options to stop the illegal and idiotic behaviour by some e-riders in the community,” Ms Bourke said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Avoiding a knee-jerk reactionUnder 16s should be banned from e-scooters and e-bikes, report says<\/a><\/p>\n

The committee has made a total of 28 recommendations covering the issues of safety, the risk of lithium-ion battery fires, the retail of devices, enforcement and community awareness and education.<\/p>\n

As debates continue around Australia about age limits, registration and what devices can actually be sold, some riders say the benefits of green transport are often forgotten.<\/p>\n

“We really need to be looking for broad and all kinds of solutions to be moving away from car and petrol-based transport,” e-bike rider Emma Dawes said.<\/p>\n

Ms Dawes and her wife take their three kids to school via e-bike, which has been the family’s main means of transport for the last five years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Emma Dawes says her family travels around using e-bikes. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)<\/p>\n

“The kids love it \u2026 it’s a lot better than fighting with them to get into car seats,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Dawes warns against a knee-jerk against e-devices and said modified, high-speed e-bikes are a “very different kettle of fish”.<\/p>\n

“If you police that, you can keep that to the minority,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jeff lifts the back wheel of his push bike off the ground, his speedometer reaches 104 kilometres…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[149323,269994,784,56279,38911,38913,43,269993,44,269995,38238,5326,41,39,42,40,16861],"class_list":["post-545188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-active-transport","tag-age-limit-e-bikes","tag-cycling","tag-cyclists","tag-e-bike","tag-e-bike-laws","tag-headlines","tag-modified-e-bike","tag-news","tag-police-commissioner-grant-stevens","tag-public-transport","tag-sapol","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}