NSFW language, obviously.
A video posted on Reddit and other social media appears to show a rider fleeing the scene on an electric motorcycle after allegedly causing an accident that left a mountain biker seriously injured.
The video was taken in San Clemente this weekend. The video does not show the crash itself, but a man believed to be the victim has posted on social media that he was hit at 50mph by an electric motorcycle rider heading in the opposite direction. The video shows the victim lying on the floor surrounded by fellow riders while the other rider checks his bike over before riding away, leaving the victim on the ground. The injured rider later confirmed his jaw was broken in two places and, after surgery, he will have to have his jaw wired for 6 weeks.
It's worth noting that the alleged perpetrator's bike appears to be a Sur Ron "restricted use electric motorcycle" and not a pedal-assisted, speed limited eMTB. These bikes have far more power, no pedals, and are capable of much higher speeds than a trail legal eMTB. These kinds of bikes aren't legal to use on most mountain bike trail networks and have to be licensed and insured to be used on the road in many countries.
The rider said, “I was hit head on at the mtb trails from an electric motorcycle going 50mph . I have a broken jaw in 2 places, just got out of surgery, and have my jaw wired for 6 weeks. This is basically quiet motorcycle and not a pedal assist ebike and does not belong on the mtb trails and this is why! You also watch the rest of the how the incident was handled. This a big life change for for my last days of work before my Xmas vacation. Thank you to all my friends, family, and to the best dudes around the dog park mtb crew for listening and allowing me to vent and tell my story. #dogparkcrew”
We wish the injured rider a speedy recovery and hope he's able to ride again soon.
Either way, he probably won’t bring that piece of sh!t back to our local trails and hopefully nobody else does either.
unfortunately there are no ohv areas in orange county so there's nowhere to ride these mini e-motos, so you get people riding them on crowded multi use trails. i don't personally condone it, but where are people gonna ride these things? they're crazy popular. its probably like the same struggle that mountain bikes went through.
most of these electric motos have been respectful on the trail, i've come across a handful and theyve all slowed down to pass. i'm not sure what dude this was thinking going that fast. atrocious behavior that resulted in an unnecessary accident.
Considering the income of every one I know that has bikes like this, it's the laziness that is the barrier... Not the finances to gas up a trailer truck/van and drive out.
You want to be able to use your moto anywhere in the state? Move to a state that has tornadoes as their natural disaster.
Minute 1 shows the stupid pedal kit:
youtu.be/vWoQYKza06E
Needless to say batteries are Pandora's Box. I used an analogy elsewhere that the barrier that keeps most gas powered motos and mopeds off trails is the noise and visual cues that they are motorized.
Electric powered motos and mopeds can hide in plain sight thanks to MTB parts & their quiet "engines".
The analogy was that you can park a Honda Z50 & a SurRon 100 yards away with both on, blindfold me and I can only find the Z50
@mtbrhtc:
Translation: "When I ride my moto illegally putting others in danger I do so respectfully and try my best not to hurt anyone even though I am breaking the law."
Analogy: When I buy my firearm, I don't aim it at people, even though I am shooting in my neighborhood where people live and I know I could shoot someone. Instead of being safe, I choose to be reckless and hope for the best.
How about riding your Sur Ron where it's legal and then not have to worry about hitting non moto riders. Think past yourself.
Are you going to bias against heavier riders or lighter riders who aren't that smooth as well.
Correct your statement.
This isn't about up votes or down votes either. Like-minded biased individuals tend to flock together.
This is about taking responsibility for you own actions which affect other trail users and the trails and about the morals and principles or lack thereof of the individual riding the bike.
Mountain bike component manufacturers are making everything for electric mopeds and motorcycles now.
Mountain bike frame manufacturers aren't proud of the batterys on their mopeds. They're hiding them as much as they can in the frames.
Mountain bike frame manufacturers are making their trail bikes look almost identical to their electric mopeds.
Motorcycle manufacturers are making their motos with 80-90% mountain bike speced parts.
People who buy toys don't really care about trails, riders, rules....they just want to use their toy for as long as it entertains them.
I ride these and live 15mins away. I saw this posted on IG and I'm surpised it is on here. Have had 2-3x close calls in the last year with e-moto/e-bikes out there. This could have been any rider out there. My family old and young ride these trails often too. Hope the victim is okay and hope this doesn't lead to the trails getting torn down/closed... I already know it is on the State's mind...area belongs to the State beach park.
Your zone may get lucky that it was someone on 2 wheels because if it's a hiker getting hit, all bets are off.
In a few years, when regular mtb ebikes will have just as much power as Sur-Rons, and won't be any different visually, this will be a huge shit show. Don't tell me that they are not the same thing, non mtbers won't see the difference and nobody will want to enforce the laws. People will always try to de-restrict their bikes and lame-ass companies will make ebikes without following the rules and installing fake pedals to make them "legal".
I effing have the ebike movement because no one and not a single bike company tried to reflect on those issues before flooding the market with those electric bikes. Stupid people won't follow the "no ebikes" signs and unfortunately, it seems like more ebikers seem to be entitled to do whatever they want (I'd like to do a social study on that).
Bike companies don't care, they are laughing all the way to the bank. No effort on their part to educate people on acceptable riding areas either. Just buy it and let 'er rip.
Just to clarify the laws of where this took place: At the entrance to that exact fire road where this happened there is a clear sign posted that says, "Class 1 Ebikes only". So the SurRon bike that was involved here was being operated illegally on this trail. The SurRon rider made a reckless choice, but regardless of who was riding it, these bikes DO NOT belong on these trails legally and logically.
I've been seeing this video circulating for a few days now. Half of the mountain bikers in the Orange County/San Diego county area are looking for this dude. My advice to him, time for a new hobby.
I am only commenting on his use of a motorcycle in that area and if we are truly sure he was in the wrong place.
Thanx again
Where I live, we have LOTS of trails that allow both dirt bikes and mountain bikes.
We're talking about a suburban Southern California neighborhood with some extra land set aside because it borders on a military base here. I know the kind of areas you're talking about well and do appreciate their existence but this isn't that kind of area.
The downed rider obviously hit his head, they should have been stabilising his head/neck and making sure he was moving as little as possible, not removing his helmet and offering him Ibuprofen.
Seriously, mountain biking can be dangerous, you owe it to yourself and your riding buddies to take, at the very least, a basic first aid course.
I have no doubt the internet will find the idiot on the Suron though, devil's advocate, if he had his bell rung good he might not have been thinking straight. Someone should have been watching him too. His helmet didn't exactly look motorcycle rated.
So really, NEVER travel to the USA w/ out buying extra insurance.
"Are you ok?"
"No."
... crickets
Keep him calm and reassure him.
Check him over for any other injuries, especially ones you might need to update the ambulance about e.g. head injuries, sucking sounds while breathing.
If the way he got hurt could have caused possible spinal injuries, stabilise his head while you wait.
Also don't assume that because you can't see major bleeding there isn't any - it could be internal or he could be bleeding into padding under dark clothing.
You don't keep looking at your bike and walking 10 ft each time.
I wouldn’t mind owning one, but wouldn’t want to ride most of the trails I ride my bike on. But our east coast trails are not nearly as open as your Cali trails. The video looks like it was taken on a dirt road? Was it open to vehicle use?
In seriousness, the only things that should matter when differentiating an eBike and eMotorbike are whether there's a throttle control, the wattage of the motor, and the top speed before motor cuts out. The issue is no nation and no state can agree on any of these things and put it into law, so all we have is a cluster @_%# of wild west where sales aren't regulated. In the USA, the CPSC guidelines that eBike fans always reference are a joke...they don't even make mention of the word 'throttle'.
Glad to see we finally are acknowledging ebikes and motorcycles as the same thing.
I would not wait for the help of the cops to protect your local trails. If at all possible, get this guy's key. Its a long walk with a 100+ lb bike. Plenty of time to call your friends and have them greet this individual.
I wish this injured rider a speedy recovery, glad he had a full face on and best of luck dude.
If it is not legal to use it, it should be illegal to sell it.
"The Surron is taking the USA by storm. Mid drive electric bike that you can ride anywhere."
Wonder why there is any confusion??
On their UK site it is very clearly listed as an "off road electric motorcycle" with nothing to imply anything about it being an electric bicycle and a conspicuous absence of any information on where it can be ridden (which in the UK is nowhere except private land with landowner's permission).
Everyone complaining about him is gatekeeping.
"The Surron is taking the USA by storm. Mid drive electric bike that you can ride anywhere. Fast, long range, and reliable. SurRon USA is one of the first to introduce this bike and we are proud to continue the tradition offering both bikes and upgrade parts."
Lets start a email campaign asking them to change the marketing from a bike to a motorcycle.
I sent them the following:
"Perhaps you should change your marketing. This is not a bike, it's an electric motorcycle and you can't ride it anywhere.
While I understand you can't be responsible for your owners, your marketing is misleading.
Here is a video of one of your owners causing an accident and severely injuring someone on bike trails that are closed to motorcycles.
www.pinkbike.com/news/video-rider-flees-scene-on-electric-motorcycle-after-allegedly-hitting-and-injuring-mountain-biker.html"
Idiots like this get away with it, but it’s mountain bikers that end up paying when trails get closed.
Ebikers need to be instructed in direct and simple terms that YOU MUST RIDE AN EBIKE LIKE IT'S A REGULAR BIKE. It's dangerous otherwise, like putting formula ones on the the street with regular cars and letting them go as fast they want.
Quick look
Trek Rail 5 $5,499.99
Norco Fluid VLT A2 $5,498.00
Specialized Kenevo Comp $6,000.00
Seriously hope this guy on the SurRon gets found and charged and also gets sued.
1. If you ride on the Sat or Sun morning in most parks, got watch your speed up or down lots of people on the trails:/
2. Rangers will be cranking down on this area and now a lot of the fun stuff will be removed
3. Base on some of the replies on this article there are people out there that still don't know the different between an eMoto (Throttle controlled) and eMTB (Pedal Controlled)
At the moment when he moved behind the rest of the group, you should stop him.
So many people to stop him, no reaction at all...
Shouldn't be like that
E-Motos on trails with MTB's.
youtu.be/FknBMJjVSss
www.transportation.alberta.ca/content/docType41/Production/small_vehicle_booklet_final.pdf
A MOPED is a motor VEHICLE according to the motor vehicle act. And in Canada (specifically in Alberta) a MOPED is a MOTOR VEHICLE! A bicycle is not. That means, it requires registration and a class 5 license (and/or a motorcycle class license).
The word moped was coined by the Swedish journalist Harald Nielsen in 1952, as a portmanteau of the Swedish words motor and pedaler. Original mopeds were bicycles equipped with engines and in some countries this is still the case, and in fact the definitions of moped are continually changing.
Let's be very clear. A moped is any vehicle with pedals which can propel it as well as motor assist. It can also be a small, low-powered motorcycle. BOTH of those are definitions of moped.
Now, is an e-bike a vehicle with pedals which can propel it and a motor assist? If yes then it's a moped.
Imagine telling someone else to "grab a brain and do some research" when it's all right there. Either a complete clown or a troll, but I'm guessing the former.
All I said that was any different was that legislation hasn't caught up with technology. Not sure why that seems to have emotionally affected you so much, but I'm sorry you're so fragile snowflake. The fact that ebikes are source of debate is pretty irrefutable too, but maybe you need to "grab a brain" sometime
Nobody is criticising e-bilkes, literally none of the comments since your first one has criticsed ebikes. This is all about you not understanding what a moped is.
This is all about your comment which claimed that ebikes aren't mopeds, you then cited a regional piece of legislation which uses one specific definition of moped, which as we know is unusual, and actually different to other definitions even within Canada.
Other people clearly HAVE got brains and have done some research, maybe you should follow your own advice.
@CSharp is over here giving a free master class in internet trolling.
EVERYBODY is tell you they are mopeds. Why you are bothered by that I'm not sure, but that's what they are.
What does it say of us? That we have a low tolerance for disinformation and imbeciles? Yep, I do.
If specialized produced what you are talking about, then it would be an electric motorcycle, like the surron currently is.
Why didn’t anybody phuquing grab him when he started
Straightening his front end ????????
Bunch of sissies
I have had countless encounters at the local OHV areas where I have almost been hit head on, most of the time by fire road racers; the losers that lack all skill but to floor it on graded terrain. Its stuff like this that limits Dual use OHV and segregates riders into user groups (human powered, e-assist, emoto, moto, equestrian), instead of a united force of advocates for public off-road access.
That being said, this guy is a HUGE POS. His choices were repeatedly to do the wrong thing, these are the people that ruin it for everyone. I hope he gets sued on top of whatever laws he already broke.
1) that poaching trails is what all SurRon riders do
2) that an MTB rider has never made a poor choice and poached a trail that lead to accident and/or injury