r/BikeLA • u/nshire • 23h ago

Irvine-based Super73 Inc. sued for allegedly selling illegal e-bikes

https://www.marinij.com/2024/12/27/fairfax-parent-sues-e-bike-company-for-alleged-deception-2/
55 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

39

u/donsoon 21h ago

I get the sentiment, but wouldn’t this line of thinking logically apply to car companies selling cars that exceed the max national speed limit of 85 mph?

Kids on e-bikes are reckless, but so are kids in Tesla Model 3s or Dodge Chargers. The only difference being that the latter can kill whole families.

5

u/MaximumReflection 8h ago edited 8h ago

Yeah. Are we against e-bikes here? I think people in cars and inadequate car dependent infrastructure and policy pose thousand percent more danger than these e-bikes and I’m not just saying that because I own one.

7

u/trashbort 19h ago

You need a license to drive a car

7

u/Eurynom0s 18h ago

A base driver's license doesn't prepare you to handle a car at 150 mph.

1

u/trashbort 18h ago

But some licensing is preferable to no licensing, and ebikes have no licensing

It would be great if cars had speed limiters, but this is pure whataboutism that makes nobody safer

5

u/donsoon 9h ago

It’s just funny that both are devices that are misused by people, often under 20. One of these devices is annoying and dangerous to the user while the other is dangerous and deadly to everyone around them.

It’s a guarantee that someone in LA County will get killed by another person doing stupid things in a car every week if not every day but let’s crack down on e-bikes because kids are stupid.

1

u/donsoon 18h ago

True. But people drive so stupid so often that you’d get laughed at irl if you said that having a drivers license means you’re a good driver.

1

u/hashtaglurking 8h ago

Your analogy is flawed. 

7

u/3j0hn 22h ago

That is a very weird choice of photo to top this article. Maybe they should have used a photo of an actual Super73

6

u/nshire 22h ago

local newspapers have 0 budget unfortunately

7

u/son_of_burt 21h ago

Do Surron next.

3

u/nshire 21h ago

They're made in China so extracting any real money from them is next to impossible. Maybe you could go for the dealers but they're just dime-a-dozen dropshippers anyway.

31

u/gigitee 22h ago

I hate to be the old guy shaking his fist here, but I always see packs of kids riding these things. They are usually not wearing helmets, have no lights, and ride wildly in traffic. I always wonder how parents are letting their younger kids do this kind of stuff, and be willing to drop serious money to enable it.

17

u/nshire 22h ago

I'll be the middle-aged person shaking their fist, because that's pretty accurate. I even saw one riding on the 210 freeway in Pasadena a few weeks back.

Some of my family have gotten some for their kids, and of course they're skipping the helmets.

13

u/No-Series6354 22h ago

Saving up for the tombstone 🪦.

8

u/gigitee 22h ago

I am also middle aged with 10 and 14 year old boys who know to not even ask for these things.

1

u/No-Needleworker-5160 9h ago

15 years old died in Glendale two weeks ago after colliding with runner or pedestrian on bike path.

11

u/Puzzleheaded-Dream29 21h ago

Super73 purposely designed their bikes to be easily illegally modified into e-motorcycles, which all kids know and parents don't. You cut one wire and the speed limiter is disabled. Instead of a 22mph e-bike you can bike go 45+mph. The owner (USA based in Orange County) is fully aware of this as he had them designed this way because he likes money more than children's lives. I hope he goes bankrupt and burns in hell.

3

u/professeurhoneydew 18h ago

I was under the impression it was even simpler than that, not even a cut of a wire. They have an “off road mode” that is accessible via their app with a few clicks.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1374/3231/files/Super73_SpeedChart_10112023.pdf

16

u/nshire 23h ago edited 22h ago

I would love to see these e-motorcycles taken off the roads until they're properly registered.

5

u/No-Series6354 22h ago

Why? Just impound the ones who misuse them.

13

u/gigitee 22h ago

When have you seen a systematic enforcement of traffic laws in LA?

2

u/nshire 22h ago

Any use of an e-bike that falls outside of the definition of class 1-3 on a public road is misuse.

5

u/No-Series6354 22h ago

Ok, let me rephrase. Why not just impound the ones that ride like jackasses or without proper PPE.

5

u/bearlover1954 22h ago

Unless your over 18 yo you are required to wear a helmet when riding a bike, motorcycle, ebike, scooter or skate board. And you can NOT ride on the freeway with anything but a motorized vehicle that is registered with the state and has a license plate. Any kid under 18 doing this should be arrested and their parents hauled into court to face the legal system, just like their doing for kids who shoot someone with a gun from their house.

2

u/professeurhoneydew 18h ago

Kids under 16 aren’t even allowed to have a class 3(throttle without peddling over 20mph). I wish we would simply enforce this on our streets.

2

u/moonbouncecaptain 7h ago

I think e-bike riders should need a certificate—maybe like a boating license, with an online course and test. I have my M1 and imo absolutely necessary to study and take a course on the rules and risks of the road. While I love seeing kids out riding with friends like it’s the ’90s, they need helmets and basic education on the risks. Their parents need to know too.

1

u/jojjoojj 40m ago

Is cutting the white wire truth or a fairy tale ???

1

u/jennixred 22h ago

That sure does seem like it's not very American to me. Shouldn't we be able to make our electric e-bikes as fast as we can make them go? I mean how are we ever going to get away from Boss Hogg and jump over the creek if we don't have high powered motor vehicles?