I decided that my rusted commute bike deserves to be sent to the bike yard in the sky, or next to the pile at the nearest leopalace. So my friends suggested all sorts of cool looking e-bikes to keep an eye out for.
But turns out, the selection of e-bikes in Japan is very limited. Even Super-76 only has one model here in Japan. Upon more digging, it seems to be related to the laws and how electric bikes are viewed. But even they have been changing lately.
Does anyone here have any recommendations on a nice e-bike for everyday use? Or should I wait for the tide to turn in favor of e-bikes?
5 comments
I have a smrlo s9f, that I bought in Amazon, it is registered as an eletric assisted bike.
According to 2 bicycle shops I’ve been to (to register my bike, around the time I’ve bought) the staff told me that my bicycle required a license and therefore it should be registered in the city hall as a moped, and then receive a number plate.
But, on a third shop I went, I talked to the guy, made friends with him, and then, he explained that, if the bike was to be registered as electric assisted bike, there would be minor issues if I was stopped by the police.
He made me promise I would cycle carefully, after that he registered for me.
Now to my knowledge, fully electric bicycles still require moped license and city hall’s registration, but it became a gray area since they are allowing those standing scooters to go around. If you manage to register as an assistant bike, if the police stops you, they would argue that the bicycle was supposed to be registered as a moped, but they wouldn’t go after it once it is already registered as an assistant bike
E-bikes are awesome. I have had multiple vanmoofs and currently daily drive a specialized. No problems with the laws for pedal assist. You flip a switch in the app to be complaint with the max speed laws I think.
The selection is limited because Japan has strict rules (compared to other more permissive countries) regarding what is considered a electric assist bike and anything outside those rules is legally a moped which requires a license plate, mirrors, helmet and insurance.
To qualify, the e-bike must:
1. only provide pedal assistance (no throttle allowed)
2. cut off assistance over 24km/h
3. cannot deliver more than 250 W of power (which is lower than regulations in Europe)
Anything else cannot be legally sold in Japan (there was a huge crackdown on Chinese ebike sellers on Amazon/Rakuten a few years back).
Personally, I had a Yamaha PAS City-C for 8 years and recently upgraded to something very similar but slightly higher end from a foreign brand: [https://votani.jp](https://votani.jp)
> should I wait for the tide to turn in favor of e-bikes?
As a long time cyclist on regular bikes, I think the the limit here–24km/hr–is perfectly fine, and that anything that goes faster with boost should be fully licensed/fully insured as with any moped or motorbike (and a driver’s license also required).
There are already enough bike complaints on this forum, adding ebikes into the mix that go much faster (and are heavier machinery when they hit something) would not be a good thing.
Riders here are not rule-abiding, and the infrastructure for ebikes that go as fast as cars is just not there. Putting riders here on bikes that easily go 30-40km/h, and mixing them with cars/drivers that are not used to that, would be a disaster.
IMO, one (pretty big) risk of these bicycles is the battery. If you search (ebike fire), you’ll see news in various countries, where there have been a number of bicycle battery fires that have burnt down entire apartments while charging. There have also been incidents of batteries spontaneously combusting – and in a number of cases, within an enclosed space (eg: an elevator) with fatal results.
In light of battery safety, I’d recommend sticking with one of the major 3 locally produced brands. Yamaha, Panasonic, or Bridgestone (who I’ve heard sources from Panasonic).
Any big box retailer will have a catalog, and can usually order a bike from it for you if they don’t have it in stock.