ELECTRIC BIKES ARE A FUCKING MENACE

[Simon of the Playa]

seriously.


speeding around at 25 miles per hour because you can while everybody else obeys the fucking speed limit is bullshit and i hate it, and them.

if you are handicapped, fine.

if you are healthy, fuck you, pedal a goddamn bike or walk.

i saw WAY too much dangerous driving this year and it came from electric bikes and scooters.

there, i've had my rant, and quite frankly may not return to black rock again if this is the "future".

fuck that shit.

[Miura-7]

Why don’t you get your own E-bike, and quit being a condescending asshole.

[Skuzzy61]

seriously.


speeding around at 25 miles per hour because you can while everybody else obeys the fucking speed limit is bullshit and i hate it, and them.

if you are handicapped, fine.

if you are healthy, fuck you, pedal a goddamn bike or walk.

i saw WAY too much dangerous driving this year and it came from electric bikes and scooters.

there, i've had my rant, and quite frankly may not return to black rock again if this is the "future".

fuck that shit.

Hell just froze over. Never thought it would happen but, I agree with Simon!!

[Simon of the Playa]

quit being a condescending asshole.

that's why i earn the big bucks, sweetheart.

[Miura-7]

Beavus and Butthead on E-Bikes,”Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law.” Can’t say I saw that coming. Next thing you know jousting will be outlawed!!!

[M F Bonz]

I’ve seen the
e-bike/scooter problem coming for about a decade or so.
I see it landed hard in 2022.

Oh Grasshopper….
You have so much to learn. Don’t be so quick with your assumptions.
You’re just getting a sliver of what happens in Black Rock City.
You have to be/been there to understand (and that can take a few burns)…. We can’t tell you…. it can’t be explained. Only experience.

There’s always a plethora of useful info mixed in with the snark. Look for it.

I really hope you make it out to Black Rock City one day.
It’s a city with just as many different personalities and ideas as any other city in the world of that size.
Until then sit back enjoy the show listen and learn.

> Grabs Simons Ass. <
>Does Nina move away to avoid the ensuing reprisals<

Moves forward >>>

[Elorrum]

Yes, it’s been coming. There are people on too fast powered bikes with no awareness that actually there are some rules there, some that keep us safe when we are not as capable to behave safely.

Physics out scores fun in a lot of contests on playa. Should we propagate a story, a red asphalt, better a red asphalt herring story, each year?

I thought there was a motor wattage limit? Speed limits are a start but need better awareness. Maybe a few public safety billboards? Patronize that art. How many people who don’t know, don’t care? Reach the ones you can I guess.

There are some who don’t like the desert, don’t want to get dirty, don’t like being too hot, won’t expend any physical energy to move to point b, and need all electricals so they can have a non-deserty burn, and they absolutely must be there. Wheeeeeeeeeee! They waste fine machinery and mobility.

BMorg could afford a talking industrial safety video, skewed to playa safety that at least people would acknowledge playing, to be required in the ticket sale registration. 26% of attendees were first year burners, according to some early census data. We have to agree many new burners don’t even look for FAQ on the main site, or know of the main site, forget them checking out the survival guide, or knowing what of all the things they want to buy for the playa, are not allowed?

I guess we’ll wait for the after report to see how many innocent bystanders were injured by the ignorant.

[BBadger]

Ugh, the e-bikes this year were definitely a menace and I would definitely like to see some some mandatory speed limits in place for all vehicles. Not sure how it can be enforced properly though. I also wasn't a big fan of the bright headlights on many of those bikes either.

[motskyroonmatick]

It's a self discipline issue and some people just don't get it. I saw one of those full send electric motorcycles just idling along at bike riding speed or less and I appreciated that and its obvious they cared. Others going full send without regard for intersections or anybody or other thing. Fuck them. They are the ones who will get us yet another set of hard rules we all have to bide by.

[Token]

It's a self discipline issue and some people just don't get it. I saw one of those full send electric motorcycles just idling along at bike riding speed or less and I appreciated that and its obvious they cared. Others going full send without regard for intersections or anybody or other thing. Fuck them. They are the ones who will get us yet another set of hard rules we all have to bide by.

So spill the beans … did you weld back together some $2500 electric bike-rockets or was it all Huffy all the time?

[mgb327]

My experience this year: I converted my wifes' 3 wheeler to 48V lith front hub drive this year for our use to haul coolers for our Playa Pinguinos gifting. Had about 2K in it, ran beautifully, even on the shitty streets. Monday night, we went out to the Esplanade, right after dark to get out first real night out. Both of our trikes are very well lit. Mine is a front hub drive 1972 Columbia, great machine. Both are slow, but will pull through sand traps. My wife stopped as soon as we got on the Esplanade and stood up, straddling the frame to take a photo. A young woman, driving a brand new fat tire big electric, t-boned her at full throttle. Shit went everywhere. The young woman was on some chemical influence, had zero idea what or how this happened. All of us were unharmed. Can't figure out yet how there wasn't several broken bones. She had no idea where she was and her 5 other friends rushed up to basically accuse my wife of causing an "accident". We were quite shaken. They didn't speak much English, were from some "plug & play" that provided the bikes. (My assumptions, but after 12 years on the playa, the situation seemed obvious after our 10 minute interaction). My wifes' bike was totaled. Completely. Frame bent, forks gone, front wheel laying feet away. I had to pick up the pieces and haul the pile back to camp, which was 2 hours of pure enjoyment. I have more to say about the 25 mph machines, but please don't get me started, I am still on my first cup of coffee this morning. Losing our best bike so early in the week really made a dent in our abilities. Next up: how the fuck did Arctica run out of ice on Friday?

[golgotha-a-go-go]

We had a similar experience on Monday. My wife was riding her tricycle on 3:00 heading to Esplanade and I was on my 2-wheeler just ahead of her. We were going slowly as we sensed some frenetic riding around us. Out of nowhere comes this kid on an e-bike in the opposite direction going very fast and passes me dangerously close, swerves, and barrels into my wife and her trike. Trike and my wife toppled over and were thrown to the ground. I yelled "Slow the Fuck Down Dude," to which he answered, "I don't know how this thing works and I don't know how the brakes work." I came dangerously close to taking action but had to tend to my wife on the ground. Dude sped off. Saw lots more speeding and reckless riding by e-bikers throughout week. Not sure how Bmorg is going to solve this issue as the genie has been let out of the bottle. E-bikes are more like motorcycles/mini-bikes than pedal cycles and should be treated as such. This is a potentially serious degradation of the event. Been burning for 24 years.

[some seeing eye]

^ ^^ sound terrifying and it is a miracle your partners are safe.

Some of these bike personal reports, including as much description of the model of the bike, might be a good item for the Feedback email and Placement if the camp providing them is known.

[Elorrum]

Holy cow, MGB and golgotha! That much damage would not be happening at regular bike speeds. These are road vehicle speeds. Impaired people on these machines are a serious danger.

It’s a joke to say that plug in play is under control if camps can still bring in fleets of rvs and ebikes, without the least respect for civic responsibility. Something stinks.

[Just_Joe]

SWIM put 350 miles on an e-bike over three weeks on playa this year.
Pre and Post event, speed limits are 20 mph. During the event, the outer, less crowded streets and open playa can be safe, if not legal, at this speed. SWIM only rode sober, is experienced on e-bikes, and had a back issue that would have prevented them from leaving camp without one.
That said, idiots will be idiots and this is how we lose freedoms.

[burner von braun]

...idiots will be idiots and this is how we lose freedoms.

Exactly

[motskyroonmatick]

It's a self discipline issue and some people just don't get it. I saw one of those full send electric motorcycles just idling along at bike riding speed or less and I appreciated that and its obvious they cared. Others going full send without regard for intersections or anybody or other thing. Fuck them. They are the ones who will get us yet another set of hard rules we all have to bide by.

So spill the beans … did you weld back together some $2500 electric bike-rockets or was it all Huffy all the time?

We told a few rocket bikes with problems that we don't work on electric bikes. Notable was when a perfectly operational e bike came in and we had to deliver the heartbreaking news that the bike was heavy and it would take effort to pedal. We did weld a shitload of pedals back on huffy and equivalent when threads could not be salvaged. Did some frame repair on a few home made/modified bikes. Some electric assist 3 wheeled bicycles were patched up. Big year for crank bearings. Lots of welding fixes from the washboard roads and from the resulting harmonics acting on weld stress risers. Got some damn good whisky from a Raccoon art car who used my equipment to patch it up them selves.

[Simon of the Playa]

i would like to re-iterate.

i am ok with electric bikes for those that physically need them.

the people who are older or handicapped in some way tend to be safety minded anyway and are not the problem.

HOWEVER:

you dont give guns or coffee to squirrels and you should not give dangerous moving vehicles to 20 yr old ravers on bad molly.

bad things will happen, as noted above.

i say ban them unless you have a legit medical / age reason to use them.

either that, or make it 100% legal to clothesline a motherfucker doing over 20mph.

[some seeing eye]

Round 'em up, head 'em out

[M F Bonz]

Well there you go…
Sorry to hear about the personal incidences.

So it’s easy to say I saw something coming without saying what I saw. Hindsight is always 20-20.

2011 was the first time I saw a rocket bike racing across playa. At first I hadn’t realized it was under it’s own power. So because of the speed, I wanted to see how hard this guy was pedaling, but he never pumped the pedals, he just changed directions and increased speed. Wow that’s cool. It was rare to see one at that time.
As the rider reached the Esplanade he reduced speed and blended in with the pace of the crowd.

But I thought about the saturation point of a bike like that. How many can you have rocketing around like that?
What would say 5,000 e-bikes look like at the burn.

2011 was also the last time I saw IBDave. He was on a rocket bike speeding past my camp….looking for my camp. Took about 40 feet to get it stopped and turned around to come back to my camp. Always under control. We talked about the convenience of the bike. And I pondered getting a couple for Bump and myself.

2011 was also the last time I saw BC. (BigCock) He rides his 1970s style street ten speed wearing a chicken head and costume. BC was also at speed looking for my camp and took about the same distance to get stopped and turned around to come back to my camp.

This all happened a couple of hours apart.

So a playa chicken can create almost as much speed and inertia energy as the rocket bike.

My camp happened to be next to the corner of 8 and E across the street from a dance camp that was only going during the day.

At 5:00 they all went out on their party barge. So sitting in my bar during the day I could see the humanity coming up and down 8th heading in for the Esplanade and back.

So I keep seeing small gasoline powered scooters. Like about ten over some time. Occasionally a Segway. But…then I see a black rock ranger straddling the front wheel of an actual small cc Motorcycle. The ranger is trying to radio for backup and a truck. At the same time telling the rider “I told you twice you can’t ride this around the city.”

The truck showed up with more rangers, they took the bike and the guy then everybody disappeared.

….As two more gasoline Scooters zipped by.

I don’t see how it’s going to be stopped or policed. Rangers on ATVs in 30 mph chases across camps and streets?

It’s clearly the Rider not the Ride.
Bad genie get back in the bottle.

[Skuzzy61]

Well, the obvious and harshest would be to forbid any non-human powered conveyance, unless it has been licensed to operate on the Playa.

Heck the BMORG could make money on it. Charge $175.00 to register/license those things.

Of course, enforcement is always a problem. For every person caught, ten more are getting away with it.

[Simon of the Playa]

there must be a way to make a magic wand / kill switch

by contacting frame somehow?

a scooter taser?

[mgb327]

Good concept Simon, but the girl that crashed us came out of nowhere, dark, 20+ mph. Not a split second to react. We were well lighrted, she was not. Still shakes us up to think our burn could have ended with a chopper ride to Reno. She hit us full speed.

[burner von braun]

mgb, first and foremost, I'm glad that you two didn't get injured.

After re-reading your earlier post, I'm not sure what I would have done, but that's some messed up stuff right there.

[ygmir]

dang it MGB, so glad you guys are ok!!ugh.
Rules vs no rules, to me, requires nothing subjective. Clear exceptions for legitimate reasons, such as disability or emergency.

[M F Bonz]

there must be a way to make a magic wand / kill switch

by contacting frame somehow?

a scooter taser?

Pulls file out of an old gray cabinet marked Infiniti Research lab

Opens Black Folder marked Black Rock EMP prototypes.

Pulls Individual schematics out.
Reading the titles and reinserting them back into the file.

Drone EMP
Nope
Checks next
Cellphone tower EMP
Nope
Checks next
Sound Camp EMP
Nope
Checks next
Party Barge EMP
Nope
Checks next
Bull horn EMP
Nope
Checks next
Motor home EMP
Nope
Checks next
Generator EMP
Nope ..
Flips over five or six more.
Wait wha …what about…. No wait that’s .. that’s for cellphones.
Looks at three more…

I’m going to need to get back with you later on this I think.

Puts files back in cabinet.

[Miura-7]

Hm, that kinda put a poker in the ass of my plan. Let me see, electric bikes have batteries, batteries make power, fans, lights, mini coolers use power. Anybody get where I’m going with this? “The smallest footprint!”

[Miura-7]

PS. I am sincerely glad nobody got hurt. Too many people are inconsiderate, and ignorant, and that ain’t blissful for us old coots.

[M F Bonz]

Sure.
Don’t get discouraged.

Your vision of “The smallest footprint!” Shouldn’t/doesn’t have anything to do with rocket bikes.
It’s the rider not the ride.
Lots of people are doing what you’re thinking. We have lots of builders out there…
Continue your journey. Just don’t run anyone down.

[Elorrum]

Hm, that kinda put a poker in the ass of my plan. Let me see, electric bikes have batteries, batteries make power, fans, lights, mini coolers use power. Anybody get where I’m going with this? “The smallest footprint!”

Is it electricity? It’s a big undertaking. Generator and fuel, or panels and big battery. Or need a camp with a generator, or a camp who provides air conditioning and rvs and bikes as well. “I knew an old lady who wanted an ebike…” we all know the tune.

Pre- Registration required as a motorized vehicle, check in with dmv for an operator sticker, ticket as a motor vehicle exceeding speed. Confiscate.

I also suggest purchasing the air medical transport insurance.