When is an electric bike not an electric bike?

Community September 27, 2019

BLOG community When is an electric bike not an electric bike?

Volt Customer Letter — Scanned copy of the card from Volt customer Howard Cheeseman (transcript below)

When is an e-bike not an e-bike? When it’s in Northern Ireland where they’re “officially” classed at an electric motorbike :o

Over the Summer we received an informative and entertaining note from one of our customers who wanted to ride his Volt Burlington in Northern Ireland.

Mr Cheesman brought his e-bike from Annandale Cycles in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, but he wanted to ride while on holiday in Northern Ireland. Now, this should be pretty straight forward but as some of you may already know that the rules regarding electric bikes over there are slightly different from the rest of the UK.

We’re really impressed at the effort Mr Cheesman has gone to in order ride his Burlington. We loved reading his account and really felt it was something that should be shared with our community.

“Dear James,

Well, you are holding in your hand a very rare document indeed – perhaps only me?!

A V5C Registration Document for my Burlington so that I can ride it in Northern Ireland legally. You will note that it is classed as an ‘electric bike’ when I opened that, I was told that there was no category for an electric bike!

As a final episode in this crazy saga, I phoned the police in N.Ireland as technically I had to display a (rear) number plate + take a test over there. Actually, they were very helpful and agreed to waive both of these requirements as I was a temporary visitor and the bike is being treated like a classic car would be on a short visit. They even logged the conversation and gave me a reference number in case I was stopped.

So that is the end of 2-month absurd red tape! Yipee!

Thanks so much for your help with this. Sorry, it took up your time which I am sure should have been used for more important things.

Thanks again + best wishes ”