The media falsely reported that British music mogul Simon Cowell broke his back in the backyard of his Malibu home as he fell from an electric bike. In fact, he was driving an electric motorcycle with a maximum sensitive speed of 60 mph; maximum electric motorcycles in the U.S. They are pedal-assisted and are limited to offering a force of up to 20 mph. (In the EU, the maximum speed assistance allowed for maximum electric motorcycles is 15.5 mph).
Cowell fell off the high-powered device this weekend and, in a tweet, thanked the medical staff who cared for him at a Los Angeles hospital. The opinion on the skill screen sent a “huge thank you to all the nurses and doctors,” calling them “some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
Cowell was taken to hospital after falling off an imported SWIND EB-01 electric motorcycle produced through Swindon Powertrain in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, which has a 15 kW engine and sells for 16,000 euros. The 60-year-old said he “read the manual” before driving what he called an “electric trail bike.”
SWIND tweeted in February that he had sent one of his motorcycles to a visitor in Los Angeles.
“If you buy an electric trail bike,” Cowell tweeted, “read the previous manual for the first time.”
He also thanked enthusiasts and friends for their “nice messages” and for “staying safe.”
Cowell had an operation on August 8 that involved having a metal rod put in his back. He was said to have been testing his new electric motorbike when the fall occurred.
The music mogul has several fleets of electric bikes, with machines in his homes in the U.S. and the U.K. The SWIND EB-01—which is described by Swindon Powertrain as “brutally fast”—is classed as an electric motorbike in the EU, requiring full type approval, registration, tax, licence, insurance and a motorbike helmet to be worn.
According to the British Bicycle Association, the device has been mislabeled through the mainstream media: “This vehicle, in our view, has been misconscribed as an ‘electric bike’ or an ‘electric bike’,” says one from the organisation.
Twenty-six U.S. states, in addition to California, operate with a three-tier electric motorcycle sorting system, with a more sensitive speed than a Class 3 to 28 mph electric pedal motorcycle. The other two categories of electric motorcycles end in 20 mph, and the Class 2 electric motorcycle requires pedaling assistance.
The SWIND EB-01’s top speed of 60 mph puts those 3 ratings out of the door.
States with a three-tier classification formula exempt an electric bike from registration, registration and insurance needs to differentiate electric motorcycles from other motorized cars such as mopeds and scooters, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“The Bicycle Association, on behalf of the British cycling industry, notes that electric motorcycles that are not unusually referred to for sale in British motorcycle department stores have almost nothing that is not unusual in technical terms or protection with the electric motorcycle that driven through Simon Cowell at the time of their [incident].”
The organisation adds: “Very little is what an electric motorcycle purchased in the UK causes an involuntary horse.”
Article amended on August 11 with the main points of the SWIND EB-01 electric motorcycle, replacing the mention of the CAB Recon electric motorcycle produced through CAB Motorworks of California. Thanks to Syco Entertainment US Simon Cowell for the update.
I Transport Journalist of the Year 2018 in the Press Gazette. I’m also a historian. My most recent books include “Roads Weren’t Built for Cars” and “Bike Boom,” both
Transport Journalist of the Year 2018 through Press Gazette. I’m also a historian: my most recent books include “Roads Were Not Built for Cars” and “Bike Boom,” published through Island Press, Washington, D.C.