Electric bikes - “handbrake”?

[Wossname]

Curiosity… I saw a Zero ?DSR? the other day, in an unusual pale green, not that the colour matters. It was parked on the side stand on a slope, and had a bungy cord wrapped tightly round the front brake lever. It occurred to me - I always leave my bike in 1st gear as my “handbrake” to stop it rolling off the stand. Do electric bikes have an equivalent? Maybe this one did, and it wasn’t working; seems an odd omission otherwise.

Does anyone know?

[Nordboy]

Don't think they do. Only reason I'm thinking that, is because the demo leccy things we've had can be wheeled around when stopped?

[Wossname]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

[weeksy]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

With a bungee wrapped around the lever

[Rockburner]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

Backwards

[Mr. Dazzle]

Same with some DCT bikes innit, they also often have a parking brake. Twist and go scooters also roll away and can't be left in gear.

Park em backwards, like ya man says.

Most EVs are direct drive (car or bike)...like a fixy bicycle basically. So yeah you need some separate provision if you want to leave them "in gear", or do as above.

[Tarmacsurfer]

The Super Soco has a security feature whereby if the motion sensor is triggered it will hold the bike with the motor. So an electronic park brake type principle.
So it is possible to detect a roll away and counter it.

[demographic]

Aren't there states in America where its law that you have to turn the car wheel into the kerb when parking on a hill?
Sure I've heard that mentioned before.

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's certainly one of the things I wad taught.

FWIW cars have to have distinct mechancial parking brakes, most jurisdictions require transmission locking on "park" for autos as well. So they typically have a pin or similar which slots into the gears to lock the motors/gears/wheels. Thus those YouTube videos you see of stuck Teslas are nothing to do with the EVness, they're just stuck in park like an ICE auto.

No such rules for bikes generally!

[Horse]

Aren't there states in America where its law that you have to turn the car wheel into the kerb when parking on a hill?
Sure I've heard that mentioned before.

You wouldn't want one of these rolling away

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[Wossname]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

Backwards

So an electric motor can’t spin backwards under the effect of gravity? Proper faff that, if you can’t park on a downhill. Especially a one way downhill…

Still — at £20k+ they can probably afford to include a bungee in the tool kit.

[Roselan1]

Yes, electric bikes like the Zero DSR typically lack a conventional gearbox, so there's no "1st gear" to hold them in place on slopes. Riders often use a bungy cord on the front brake lever to prevent roll-offs, as seen in the scenario you described. Zero motorcycles also offer a parking brake option as an add-on for additional security.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Just like any other auto bike though isn't it? As above, how do you think mopeds work?

[Horse]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

Backwards

So an electric motor can’t spin backwards under the effect of gravity?

I thought that meant 'backwards, so it can't roll off the sidestand'.

[Rockburner]

So…how do you park them on a slope?

Backwards

So an electric motor can’t spin backwards under the effect of gravity? Proper faff that, if you can’t park on a downhill. Especially a one way downhill…

Still — at £20k+ they can probably afford to include a bungee in the tool kit.

no - the stand will create enough drag to stop the bike rolling, and by parking facing uphill the bike can't roll off the stand.

[Sunny]

Reusable cable ties would take up less room to carry than a bungy cord, they need to upgrade!

[Yorick]

We once stopped on Hardknott Pass on one of my VD Lakes tours.
A lad had parked his bike pointing uphill to help a pal.
We saw the bike starting to roll backwards. Was bloody steep.
The sidestand left bloody great scrapes on the road

We managed to grab front brake and stop it. We put it in gear and he was very grateful

[Wossname]

Yes, that’s my concern - this Zero was parked looking up hill but the side stand was obviously not going to stop it sliding backwards. I’ve not had any involvement with mopeds etc so wasn’t aware of that issue with them. But they’re cheaper when they fall over…

E cars have a mechanical handbrake; I’d have thought that it would be a sensible addition to an E bike, and probably not difficult/ expensive to do.

[Mr. Dazzle]

DCT bikes have it too.

In fact....

viewtopic.php?p=306886#p306886

Mechanical parking brake/lock is a regulatory requirement on cars, it's just not on bikes, however sensible it might be.

[Dodgy69]

That honda rebel 1100 dct has a handbrake and some MVs have a rear brake lever lock I think.