Riding motorcycles is possibly one of the most exhilarating and exciting things anyone can do on a city road.
You get to experience the wind in your face, the freedom, the speed… and in general just the overall excitement.
By any measure riding a motorcycle is a thrill each and every time you get on one.
But there are a couple of issues.
First, you need a M class license to drive a motorcycle on roads, and getting one of those is definitely a hassle. On top of that, much like getting a drivers license for a car, motorcycles license are now on a graduated licensing system, so it also takes some time (read: YEARS) to get a full M class license.
Then there is the issue of insurance. You have to have it to drive a motorcycle in Ontario (which obviously includes Peterborough). Insurance is not cheap and quite frankly is just one more thing to deal with in life.
On top of that lets not forget about the license plate permit. Granted that while Ontarian's no longer have to pay for these, we still have to renew our plates or face punishing fines for not doing so.
But what if you could get all the pros of owning and driving a motorcycle without the cons (aka: hassles & extra expenses)?
Welcome to riding an e-bikes in Ontario.
To ride an e-bike in Ontario you do not require a M class license. For that matter, you don't even need a regular drivers license!
On top of this, you don't have to worry about the plate sticker or even vehicle insurance!
It's not exactly like the wild west though, you do have to be sixteen years of age or older to drive an e-bike, and you are required to wear either a motorcycle or bicycle helmet at all times.
With e-bikes you are free to ride on the majority of roads in Ontario (you have to stay off four hundred series highways or a few other high-volume highway type roads. Additionally you cannot ride anywhere that bicycles or e bikes are banned… but in Peterborough and area you should be fine on most roads).
E-bikes can travel up to fifty kilometres in distance depending upon various factors such as the bikes voltage size, battery size, your weight and so on.
They come in either bicycle or scooter models and to be considered an e-bike it needs to have pedals.
One final thing people quickly find about e-bikes. While they are limited to a top speed of 32 kilometres per hour, if you drive one you'll quickly find that any "need for speed" you may have is quickly satisfied as they just "feel faster" than they actually are.