Petition in relation to the availability, sale and fitment of two-stroke petrol motors and accessories to pedal bicycles and tricycles.
To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled.
We the undersigned residents of Western Australia are opposed to the sale and fitment of two-stroke petrol motors with or without adaptor kits being fitted to bicycles and tricycles in Western Australia. Such bicycles are noisy, polluting and inherently unsafe and dangerous to the operator, other cyclists and pedestrians. They are not legal to ride on public roads, bicycle and pedestrians shared paths and footpaths.
Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council review the legality of sale of these two-stroke motor kits, and ban their sale, fitment and use in Western Australia.
The forms are below. Print them out, get (lots of) signatures, and then send the filled out petition to BTA, 2, Delhi Street, West Perth
2011 05 09 Pettition to ban two-stroke motor kits for bicycles doc
2011 05 09 LA Petition to ban two-stroke motor kits for bicycles doc
Did you know that it is legal to ride these powered bikes on the road? Read this link (http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/cycling_Power_Assisted_Bikes.pdf) for some more information.
If a 200W 2-stroke engine is inherently unsafe for the rider, wouldn’t you agree a 200W electric version is just as unsafe?
Craig that may be the case if the 2-stroke is under 200w, but they arent. The two-stroke motors that are being installed on bikes have way in excess of 200w power.
Direct from the horses mouth
http://www.zbox.com.au/200watt%20bicycle%20engine.htm.
When these polluting engines can comply with all relevant ADRs then maybe there will be a case for them to be allowed onto PSPs and the roads.
I’ve no interest in buying one myself, but if it gets a car off the road isn’t it a good thing? The paths aren’t exactly over-run with them at the moment, so I haven’t seen them as a problem. I’m always wary of fun police at work.
Are we sure that this isn’t going a bit too far petitioning against such vehicles? Sure they are a bit scary on cycleways but pedestrians often see cyclists in the same light.
Is the real issue we don’t like sharing?
Are these vehicles genuinely not a good fit for cycleways?
Perhaps, as long as they ridden safely we simply have to adapt to them. I regularly get “buzzed” by one on my way to work(for some reason they remind me of airplace scene in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest)but I would be more worried about them being on the road and coming to grief there than colliding with me.
Get with the times! In the Netherlands, people are allowed to ride motor scooters on the bike paths. In the town squares where cars are banned during the day, scooters share with cyclists and pedestrians.
And these are actually quite a bother for the cyclists. There is a current movement to have them more regulated or banned completely in Holland due to the issues relating to them.
Are you a cyclist or a motorcyclist Al?
‘Most’ of the kits ARE within legal parameters. Most are 50cc which is well within the power limits.
Yes, they’re noisy. So are leaf-blowers (which serve no purpose a rake can’t do just as well) and Harley Davidson motorbikes. If you want a REAL reason to ban them, it’s this. They put out more pollutants than a truck. As do leaf-blowers and 2-stroke whipper-snippers. Let’s ban ALL these things. (oh, and chain-saws).
What the ????
I don’t get it!
One gas guzzling single (impatient) occupant V8 gas guzzler (2-300kw) in peak hour stop start trafic would be a slightly less efficient way of doing the 20km inner city commute than 10 of these things. Stand at a busy intersection and count how many of each you see and then figure out which has the highest impact on the environment and road safety.
The average rider uses 2-400W to tackle an incline @ 10-30kph. Professional cyclists pump out an average 400W and up to 2000W. As far as I’m concerned 200W is a joke that needs reviewing, especially if you have any form of disablity and want to do your bit for the carbon emissions, or heaven forbid, you live in a more remote area and have no choice. I do agree that the emissions and noise of the cheap Chinese motors leave a lot to be desired, but are you going to ban all the new quiet fuel efficient (thanks to Ralph Sarich) 2 stroke outboards on boats as well? Lets not forget all the shipping out there that run massive 2 stroke crude oil burning engines that measure their economy in m3/h of heavy oil. Yuk! Fly over Singapore or Hong Kong Harbours if you want to see where you can really make a meaningful difference!
In the mean time I would suggest that you take a long hard look at your goals and find a more meaningful and mutually beneficial way of achieving it. Speed and noise limits on cycleways? Maybe. Cheaper ‘Moped’ type registration for higher powered units. Requires a revisit.
Look up the history on that if you want to witness a legislative cockup that leaves us behind the rest of the world.
It’s much like the industry driven 250cc learner motorbike laws which are finally being abandoned in favour of power to weight ratios that have been argued for by MC and safety lobby groups for 30 odd years.
Remember legislative mistakes on the whim of a minority can take an awful long time to fix in this country. They are definitely not going to go away (especially more powerfull Ebikes), so a happy and sensible outcomes for all is the best outcome for our ‘society’.
Hi,
I have to agree will previous comments. I see the BTA doing a lot of good work but I feel you are going to far with this one. I don’t own one of these bikes but I see no issue with them and if means someone doesn’t cycle because they are not allowed to have one of these bikes this would be a poor result on your behalf. My question also asks about the petition, as every person who has commented is against your stand is this a true representation of Western Australian cyclist or are you just pushing your own agenda?
I ride at reasonable speeds on the bike paths, and I find these loud “bikes” passing me at over 50kph quite frightening. It would be useful to find a set of rules that allowed powered riders to maintain normal riding speeds of 20kph and up to 30kph without producing noise and exhaust pollution. The existing rules may be OK if they could be policed. Essentially these powered bikes are an excellent form of aid for those with less than full physical capabilities. (Much better than the 2 tonne petrol-powered gophers that most people in Perth use to get around)
You are absolutely mad, people, with this petition…
Regardless of whether its petrol or electric powered. You can still achieve nut breaking speeds with an electric kit regardless of its power rating.
You can cloak a 1000W kit as a 200W kit and do about 70KPH.
The police do not have enough time or resources to police every pedestrian.
You are essentially condoning the use of higher powered electric kits on perth roads making it even more dangerous for motorists and pedestrians.
These two stroke kits are a cheap and affordable alternative method of transport and by your child – like petition and reaction you are essentially contributing to the lack of democratic society.
Good luck with your attempt at infringing on my personal rights.
Just because you lack the knowledge to make such a kit doesn’t mean you have to destroy other peoples liberties.
Have consideration to elederly who cannot afford electric or gophers.
The two stroke engines provides them with a new lease on life.
You sad people. You have such pointless lives you have nothing to worry about for motorised push bikes! People like you are the reason society is failing. Go and find a positive interst or hobby. Put your energies into something positive like helping in the community or even picking up litter in the streets if you have nothing better to do.
I think any law maker worth their salt will cut through all the emotive talk and hone in on the hard facts. They will look at the statistic and want to find out how many injuries are directly attributed to these devices. They will want to know what the decibels are and what the emissions are. (Not hard to do, there are only 2 or 3 main kits currently on the market).
When you get to the heart of it there really isn’t a problem with these kits and people aren’t being hurt by them. If pollution is a concern (noise or carbon) then this is easily regulated. America have stipulated a specific carburetor for these kits and a catalytic converter to satisfy their emission regulations.
I suspect the real motivation behind this petition is a personal grudge against these devices.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/news/9176731/cycle-death-spurs-helmet-plea/
Does anyone actually consider the energy and resources that goes into the construction of both powered and non powered bikes and also the energy that is required for petrol and electric bikes not to mention the energy use that goes into setting up a IT WWW based petition , what do you think powers your i phones and the WWW magic ? off-course not it is all petroleum based energy so stop wasting it and focus on the conservation of it all 3 versions of the bike use and waste more energy than most other available forms of mass transport support them help them to improve but do not just ban them because it suits your very little mind sets , ask your self did you drive to work did you drive to the shops have you flown for holidays ? if you answer yes to any of them then i suggest you look in your own back yard prior to persecuting those that are trying to minimize their actual energy consumption.
Thanks for sharing your views. One thing that is so great about a democracy is that one can have different views and engage in a process of putting forward those views in an appropriate manner. With regards to two-stroke powered “bicycles” I consider them offensive and not appropriate on our shared paths. They stink, they are often over powered (i.e., illegal), they are often of dubious construction (retro kits on bikes not designed to take them), their braking power is questionable (more so when they are retro kits) so yes I personally would like to see them banned.
I guess I value amenity and my safety and that of others over the use of these “bicycles.” If there is a genuine need for a bicycle then ride an electric bike or a pedal powered one and benefit personally (health wise) and environmentally.
Thanks for sharing your views. One thing that is so great about a democracy is that one can have different views and engage in a process of putting forward those views in an appropriate manner. With regards to two-stroke powered “bicycles” I consider them offensive and not appropriate on our shared paths. They stink, they are often over powered, they are often of dubious construction, they braking power is questionable (more so when they are retro kits) so yes I would like to see them banned.
I guess I value amenity and my safety and that of others over the use of these “bicycles.” If there is a genuine need for a bicycle then ride an electric bike or a pedal powered one and benefit personally (health wise) and environmentally.
How about this? I need one of these to drive to work because I cant afford a real motorbike or a car- you disgusting stupid uneducated greenies cannot distinguish between a 200Watt electric engine and a 200W watt petrol engine- its the same fucking power output- go hang yourselves. The world’s average intelligence per square meter might actually be raised. While your at it whats heavier a tonne of bricks or a tonne of feathers you fucking morons.