Meetup Message Board Update

   Hello to all my fellow Toronto e-bikers, blog readers, and just curious guests! Today I finally figured out how to regularly post news and updates from an excellent Meetup group called Toronto Electric Riders Association or symbolically  - "TERA" of which I am active and proud member myself (which makes me wondering  - should I call myself now "TERArian" or "TERArist"? :-), so here it is. Now every visitor of this blog will be able to learn about this abundant source of all kind of help, advice and assistance for all active and interested e-riders of T.O. I hope within the time these updates will bring many more new e-bikers from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, US and from around the world to TERA where we can share our visions, ideas and thoughts.

*Please do not reply to this message*
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You asked that we send you a summary of Meetup message board activity. The following is a list of discussions with new messages posted since October 10, 2012 3:45 AM.
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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: Private Group Discussion Forum
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STRATEGY - Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting October 11
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27275032
Latest message by m3chen on October 10, 2012 at 3:32 PM

Lock is in the hospital
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27606732
Latest message by Katie Tucker on October 10, 2012 at 6:38 PM

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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: Where to buy an e-bike or e-bike accessories?
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Advice needed to get my ebike back on the road.
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27704592
Latest message by Lubo Ebiker on October 10, 2012 at 2:33 PM

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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: E-bike Experiences
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Changing from large scooter style e-bike to smaller
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27422432
Latest message by Fred Weigel on October 10, 2012 at 8:35 AM

My experience using LifePo4 so far and some advice
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=26277482
Latest message by Ramon on October 10, 2012 at 9:38 PM

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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: E-Bike Technical Forum
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I guess it had to happen sooner or later ... :(
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27453472
Latest message by m3chen on October 10, 2012 at 3:17 PM

BMS wiring
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27724582
Latest message by Tariq Aziz on October 11, 2012 at 12:20 AM

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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: Biker Bar
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Who Killed the Electric Carriage?
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=25424232
Latest message by Allan Harmsworth on October 11, 2012 at 2:27 AM

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TORONTO ELECTRIC RIDERS ASSOCIATION
Forum: Top 20 Questions with Snappy (but accurate) comebacks.
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Winter Riding - I am planning on leaving on my pedals but removing the chain
http://www.ebikeriders.com/boards/view/viewthread?thread=27189872
Latest message by Andy McKenna on October 10, 2012 at 10:17 AM



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Meetup, PO Box 4668 #37895 New York, New York 10163-4668

Meetup HQ in NYC is hiring! http://www.meetup.com/jobs/

About the Winter storage for your e-bike... again! :-)

   Hi, fellas! We all know - old man Winter is coming, and how hard is it sometimes to find a good warm cozy stable for our faithful and so handy little electric horses. After 5 years of e-biking in Canada I know that very well too, since I'm living in the apartment like most of you too, so this year I've decided to try and help my fellow e-biking Torontonians to cope with that problem in a most efficient, elegant, meaningful and affordable way offering the thoroughly put together unbeatable storage and service package for just mere $50 a months which at the end of the cold season will not even buy you a decent new lead-acid battery, but will keep your horse and his energy source in a good or even better shape than it was, so here's my ad I run currently on Toronto's Kijiji website:

 

  Store your e-bike securely indoor over the winter in a regular secure public storage facility for $50 per month and get your e-bike or scooter and battery maintained and ready for the next riding season for free during the entire cold season from November thru March or you can store only your battery in a heated climate controlled secure indoor storage for just $20 per months and still have it regularly charged and professionally maintained.

Free E- bike maintenance includes:

- Drum brake pads checked and properly adjusted or replaced
- Tires pumped and kept up to the specified pressure
- All bearings and gears lubricated
- Screws, bolts and nuts tightened
- Loose plastic parts reattached
- Loose wires and parts secured
- Power lines checked and their efficiency measured and  analyzed
- Small plastic cracks fixed
- Small dents on plastic repainted


Free SLA battery maintenance includes:

- Original condition and performance analyzed and recorded
- Capacity checked and accurately measured at multiple loads
- Every SLA cell capacity analyzed individually and labeled
- Overall battery performance balanced and battery trained
- Weak cells detected and reconditioned or replaced
- Battery training and reconditioning progress measured and recorded
- Battery wires checked and battery properly reassembled
- Battery case fixed if needed


Free pickup and delivery within GTA.
Free access to the storage by appointment.
Free consultation, advices, battery performance and capacity analysis.

Other free and paid repairs, fixes, services or arrangements are possible.

The labor and maintenance are free if e-bike is stored for at least three months. Parts are extra.

On the pictures above you can see me and my all terrain all season powerful horse :-)

Any questions by phone or e-mail are welcome.

Your fellow e-biker Lubo. 
 E b i k e r L u b o & B i k e R i d e r . c o m
( 6 4 7 ) 5 4 7 - 3 7 1 2 

Ottawa cop terrorizes E-Biker!

New e-bikes cause bylaw confusion

Cyclist gets go-ahead only to be stopped by police officer

By Ellen Mauro, The Ottawa Citizen August 19, 2010 Comments (17)

Electric bikes can resemble conventional bikes or be like mopeds, like the ones above.
Photograph by: Ashley Fraser, The Ottawa Citizen

Electric bikes: Are they or are they not allowed on the city’s bike paths?
That’s the question on Jacki Leroux’s mind. She thought she knew the answer. When she bought her e-bike earlier this summer, she called the city twice to ask where she could ride her new purchase and both times was told
e-bikes were allowed anywhere a normal bike can go.
So imagine Leroux’s surprise Wednesday when an Ottawa police car veered off the road, cut across the grass, and stopped right in front of her as she was riding her
e-bike to work along the Rockcliffe Parkway bike path.
The officer told Leroux her e-bike was not welcome there, although he stopped short of giving her a ticket.
“I felt like a criminal,” the 44-year-old said. “Clearly, something is out of sync here between the city and police.”
An e-bike is equipped with steering handlebars and pedals, travels on two wheels, and can be propelled with muscle power alone. It also has a small electric motor that can power the bike up to 32 kilometres per hour.
E-bikes may resemble conventional bikes or can look more like scooters or limited-speed motorcycles. Leroux’s looks like a moped.
She said she decided to buy an e-bike because “they’re a safe, environmentally friendly option. Never did I think it was going to get me in trouble with the police.”
According to Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, e-bikes are allowed to travel anywhere a conventional bicycle can.
The ministry has advised traffic enforcement officers on e-bike regulations, according to its website.
A potential grey area can develop, however, as municipalities are allowed by the MTO to pass bylaws prohibiting e-bikes from bike paths.
The City of Ottawa’s parks and facilities bylaw technically prohibits the use of motorized vehicles in a city park or on a city bike path.
However, e-bikes are considered bikes, not motor vehicles, under the law and were “not contemplated” by the city when the bylaw was drafted, wrote city spokesman Barre Campbell in an e-mail to the Citizen.
Campbell added that “the city has no objection to allowing the use of an electrically assisted bicycle in a park or one of its bike paths.”
The National Capital Commission has the same policy, said spokesman Jean Wolf. The path where Leroux was riding her bike is the NCC’s.
Sgt. Al Ferris, a traffic escort officer with the Ottawa police, said Leroux shouldn’t have been stopped, but said the emergence of new-fangled bikes and other new vehicles has meant many new rules for officers to memorize.
“It’s so difficult sometimes to stay abreast of all the new hybrids out there and the regulations that go along with them,” he said. “Perhaps the officer in this case was just ill-informed or unaware of the law on e-bikes.”
Leroux said she will continue to ride her e-bike to work.
“I bought it for that purpose,” she said. “I’m going to keep riding it. I just hope I don’t get stopped again.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/bikes+cause+bylaw+confusion/3419701/story.html#ixzz11c6oGP6m