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@Sriracha It is indeed ridiculous that one can buy these illegal machines just on a promise that one won't use it on public roads; almost as ludicrous as being able to buy a motor car that can do 230mph with a promise that one won't ever do more than 70mph. By all means let's have a crackdown on illegal electric motorcycles, but there should be simultaneous legislation restricting all cars to 70mph maximum with severe confiscate/crush penalties for any vehicle that has been modified to circumvent the restrictor.

Yes, let's send in the army to go after the group that kills 1750 people a year and seriously injures 25,000 more, 85% of whom admit to breaking the law when it suits them. Shocking that these thugs have been allowed to get away with their illegal behaviours for so long and at such devastating cost to their victims and their families.

@Steve K Yep, at the time I had a back wheel conversion ebike, fully legal kit from a reputable UK supplier, all three of my LBSs refused to do a front brake fluid replacement for me; they were very polite and apologetic but they all had a policy of only working on purpose-built ebikes from well-known manufacturers. One explained that there were plenty of falsely-badged dodgy kits around with 750W motors masquerading as 250W and they didn't want to risk any potential legal issues if they were found to have facilitated getting an illegal machine back on the road.

@leedorney Nowt wrong with inner tubes, but if you'd have spent £100 buying tyres to use them tubeless I bet you'd be at least marginally annoyed.

The cheery face of occupation...

Much as you cannot outrun a polar bear, but you might be able to outrun the bloke next to you, it's about persuading the scrote that the bike next to yours is easier to steal, though of course not as nice. And mine will always be grubbier. And it helps with the insurance payout. I like my hip lock DX1000, at the time of purchase it was the only lock that would fit around the rim and tyre, securing the rohloff to the frame and secure object. And it definitely looks the part. Yet to see the LPL attack the locking mech, the key, to my untrained eye looks better than my many kryptonites. As the above has it, these diamond sold secure locks are getting cheaper and that is no bad thing.

It's good to see that there are bike shop owners with principles. I was in a bike shop recently when some of the Deliveroo fraternity brought their bikes in. The staff saw that the bikes were illegal and refused to touch them. Fortunately the riders didn't cause any trouble, although this might have been because there were another 4 guys in the repair shop, with a lot of spanners and wrenches in easy reach! Illegal bike are a real problem, whether they're modified e-bikes or electric motorbikes. The Police and councils to occasionally run operations to try and catch them but they won't chase them. In my area they're being used for drug dealing.

Perhaps the friendly approach might work?

I don't believe tall stories about invincible bike locks, period. Even IF it could withstand an angle grinder, what happens if the thief doesn't use a grinder but another means? Say he douses that hard but brittle lock with refrigerant spray and gives it a good whack with a hammer? Or -what happened to me but fortunately with a low value bike- they don't manage to cut the lock and out of spite they attack the frame and cut through it?

This is one of the worst written articles I have seen. Dozens of typos and grammatical errors. Did anyone proof read it?