To understand the need for this project and why we are so passionate about it, consider three facts:

• The “accident” rate for 10-15 year olds in Marin County on electric devices is more than 500% the rate of other age groups. Source: https://www.marinhhs.org/bicycle-safety.

• The single most popular electric device for that age group is Super73—a motorcycle-like throttle device with a top speed of 35 mph, no pedaling required. Sources: surveys by Safe Routes To School; Super73 website.

• Most police chiefs and cycling experts in Marin County agree that Super73 (and various similar brands) are motorcycles mis-labeled and sold as class 2 e-bikes to avoid the motorcycle minimum age, licensing, registration, insurance and safety equipment requirements. To qualify as a class 2 e-bike, the motor cannot be capable of working above 20 mph. Super73 app allows riders to go up to 35 mph, with no pedaling. Source: Super73 website.

What is a Super73

To quote its website from 2024:  “SUPER73® is an American lifestyle adventure brand based in Orange County, CA that develops products to help fuse motorcycle heritage with youth culture. Founded in 2016, SUPER73 has quickly grown into one of the most recognizable electric vehicle brands in the world with a passionate customer base including A-list celebrities, professional athletes, and many more.”

Super73 makes and sells several brands of electric throttle devices.  It has 326 dealers in the United States including 97 in California.  It is privately-held.

Although Super73s have pedals, the electric motors can be activated by pressing a thumb on the throttle without pedaling.  As Super73 explains, “You don’t have to pedal to access your electric motor’s power. All you need to do is add a little pressure to the throttle with your thumb, and you’ll get as much or as little assistance as you like. . . . It’s like riding an electric motorcycle.”

As of 2024, Super73 says it ships its devices in a “mode” with a top motor-assisted speed of 20 mph.  But it boasts that, by using its app, the rider can “unlock” the top speed of “28+ mph” (for all models except the new one for 4-8 year olds).  According to reviews and surveys, the top motor-assisted speed is actually 30-35 mph. And that speed can be attained in 15 seconds or so, and sustained with no effort other than pressing the throttle.

As a further selling point, Super73 proclaims:   “RIDE EASY:  No license, registration, or insurance required.”  https://super73.com/products/super73-zx

To make that claim and to sell for use by children of all ages, Super73 affixes a Class 2 e-bike label to all its models, stating that its top speed is only 20 mph.  

As of January 2025, after it was sued for consumer fraud, Super73 announced that for anyone who downloaded and paired its app after January 1, the app would not allow speeds over 20 mph. Super73 evidently did not attempt to change the app for the installed base or to disable third party apps that also gave the vehicles the capability to go faster than the Class 2 e-bike limit.

Bicycle Industry Trade Association Agrees That Super73s Are Illegal

People4Bikes, the industry trade association which sponsored the three class e-bike framework adopted by California and most other states, acknowledged in 2024 that vehicles with the motor size and speed capabilities of Super 73s and its imitators, typically Chinese imports, are not legal e-bikes. 

"[T]hose with motors in excess of 750 watts and/or which can greatly exceed 20 mph on motor power alone  . . .[are] not electric bicycles. These products are often advertised misleadingly and sold to the public as ‘e-bikes’” and represent a threat . .’ 

People4Bikes repeated the same point:  “numerous companies have entered the e-mobility space with a variety of products that are not ‘electric bicycles’ due to power or speed, but look like electric bicycles and are marketed as such. " https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/PeopleForBikes-on-Lithium-Battery-Safety-for-ebikes-Meeting-Log.pdf?VersionId=RxMV6q8YsbKyRuADpkRRL85CXMoZYMPL

As the Bicycle Retailer magazine editorial put it: "what consumers are buying online or at fly-by-night resellers are noncompliant motorized bicycles or full-on motor-driven cycles capable of 25 to 35-plus mph and all throttle controlled. Most of these come from Chinese distributors who offer white label bikes." https://www.bicycleretailer.com/opinion-analysis/2022/05/03/guest-editorial-out-category-electric-vehicles-only-acceptable-between.  

Our 2024 Recommendations:

• Local law enforcement and local schools should partner in a registration/screening process to ensure that students ride only safe and legal vehicles to and from schools, as some schools did for the Fall 2024 semester.

• Encourage your local school boards and city/town council to implement this process without further delay— and encourage local police to enforce the existing laws.

• Purchasers of Super73s and other illegal brands should seek a refund from the manufacturer and retailer.