Trail-using e-moto riders in the gun; fears fatal incident almost inevitable
Someone could be severely injured or even killed due to the rising number of illegal electric motocross bikes on Queenstown trails.
That’s the warning from Queenstown Trails Trust boss Mark ‘Willy’ Williams, who says they’re also causing costly trail damage.
Williams, who last weekend caught two Sur-Ron e-motorbike users on the Lake Hayes track and also found motorbike tyre tracks all the way up Arrowtown’s Bush Creek trail, says what’s ‘‘frightening’’ is these ‘‘very powerful’’ e-motos can go up to 70, 80 or 100kmh, surprising legitimate track users around blind corners, for example, because they’re totally silent, unlike normal motorbikes.
‘‘It needs to be stamped out before someone gets killed, because that’s how serious it is.
‘‘The community here doesn’t want to see anybody get injured on the trails, but the more we see of these bikes on the trails, it’s going to happen.’’
Williams suggests there’s ‘‘potentially a new group of users coming in and thinking, ‘great, we can get away with riding these because they’re ‘e’, they’re e-bikes, so we can ride any trails we want’’’.
However, he stresses they’re not e-bikes, but motorbikes, and as such they’re banned from all trails.
He says Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency recently confirmed any bike with a motor larger than 300 watts and/or isn’t propelled by
muscular action or pedalling is considered a motorbike.
These e-motos, he points out, can range from 2000 to 10,000W, and can weigh 50 to 85kg.
Because unauthorised trail use by e-motor bikes/motorbikes may result in infringements or prosecutions, Williams encourages anyone encountering them to get their details and report them to the police as soon as possible.
Illegal e-moto trail users ‘dangerous, disrespectful’
Further, local Department of Conservation (DoC) ops manager David Butt says ‘‘causing damage to natural or historic features of a reserve, conservation area or national park may result in imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding $100,000, or
both’’.
Last week, local Vertigo Bikes owner Tim Ceci says he came across someone riding a 2500W Sur-Ron e-motorbike, with a throttle and no pedals, up the very popular Salmon Ladder trail in Fernhill.
‘‘Some idiot last year rode a motocross bike up Beached As trail, which goes to the top of Fernhill, at 6pm on a beautiful summer’s day.
‘‘It is not OK to use these machines on public trails — it’s dangerous and disrespectful and just against the law, basically.’’
Queenstown Mountain Bike Club president Pete McInally says it seems the issue’s only got more serious over the past 10 days — he won
ders if it’s the same three or four riders causing havoc everywhere.
Track damage: People illegally riding e-motos on volunteer-built Queenstown mountain bike trails are causing untold damage
He says there’s no evidence e-bikers cause more damage to a track than a normal bike, in complete contrast to the effect of e-moto riders
using a throttle and accelerating out of corners.
He adds the club doesn’t have a big budget to repair trail damage — ‘‘tracks don’t maintain themselves’’.
Local Coronet Peak manager Nigel Kerr says they’ll be very concerned if any e-motorcycle riders use the skifield, on or off the trails, during
their summer mountain bike season ‘‘both from a safety point of view — the sheer speed they come upon people and there’s not really an
audible warning — and a track maintenance point of view’’.
‘‘It’s about maintaining the ecological values and the safety of users.
‘‘They are definitely a motorbike, and motorbikes in the DoC estate are banned for all sorts of reasons.
‘‘Any motorbike user up here is not welcome’’ — and they’d be referred on to DoC, Kerr says.
