Originally Posted by
chas58
. . . Are you in the US? The speed limit on e-bikes is 20mph. . .
A slight clarification on that one. Federal requirements in the U.S. limit the speed of commercially built and sold complete e-bikes to 20-mph if they want to sell them with no additional requirements, licensing, inspections, regulations to meet, etc . . . beyond that of regular pedal only bicycles. Which means home-built are exempt from that Fed. requirement which only applies to commercial manufactures and even commercial manufactures can build ones that go faster if they are willing to meet the more stringent standards that apply to Mo-Peds and scooters.
The actual "street legal" standards are set by each of the individual 50-states in the U.S. For example my state (MT) allows a 30-mph maximum speed but has the additional requirements of the motors power not exceeding 2-hp (1,492-watts) and also requires that the drive system function "directly or automatically only and does not require clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged". Since it uses the exact wording "
does not require" that is generally interpret as it is okay to have a mid-drive that runs through the bikes gears so long as you can pull away from a dead stop in any of the gears and thus you don't "have to shift" if you don't want too. Other states have other exact rules for what is and is not street legal, many adopt the 20-mph top speed that is in the Fed. manufacturers standards but not all of them. The vast majority (including my state) require that the pedal drive continue to be on the bike and continue to be usable for it to be street legal, I think that is a very good requirement personally. Some states like Texas also limit the maximum weight of an e-bike to some sensible amount.
Basically, check your state laws and don't go just by the Fed. manufactures requirements since that technically applies to the manufacturer not the end user (you) as far as street legal requirements.
Obviously for off-road use your options are pretty open, but if you want to use trails in a national forest or on state owned forest trust lands or such you will have to check with the agency in charge of that section of public owned land. Usually they will treat anything with a motor including an e-bike the same as an ATV (4-wheeler, etc . . .)