The Sakura S50 electric bike needs no petrol and is emission free. Simply plug in to recharge. The Sakura electric bike is quiet and powerful thanks to its high efficiency brushless hub motor.

The S50 requires no servicing and low running costs. You can travel around 1000 miles on just £5 of electricity. No road tax and no congestion charge.

Statistics

CO2 emissions: Zero

MPG: n/a

Power: 1500w

Batteries: 48v sealed lead acid

Top Speed: 30 mph

Range: 20 miles

Charge time: 8 hours (full)
Warranty:

Reviewed by Wookay from Cambridge on 19 January 2009

I've had one of these for 5 months, and have done 1700 miles on it, doing a 19km (12 miles) commute each way. Short version: It's very good and excellent value for money - I'd heartily recommend it to anyone doing a commute of that length (if you can charge at work).

I bought it new (but stored for 18months) for GBP 850, with a certificate of conformity and spent another 90 quid getting it registered in the UK - which is a bit of a faff).

It has a 48V 20Ah SLA battery. It does 32mph, and nips through traffic. The 300W charger seems to work well. I have now put noticeable wear on the battery. It can get quite close to the bottom of the dial on really cold mornings (it's always fine on the way home after charging the warm). I suspect I'll need new batteries after about a year/4000 miles. A shorter commute would be less hard on them. A new set are GBP 200. The power control works well and there is almost no need to use bottom gear. If you slam the anchors on it can shift the selector to 'in between' and you wonder why you aren't going anywhere for a minute or so the first time this happens.

The criticisms I have are all fairly minor. The build quality isn't great and I had to rearrange a few bits of trim and wiring that had been put together wrong/badly. The rear suspension is rather bouncy over road-humps (no rebound-damping). The headlight is not great (some of my commute is properly-dark countryside), and it came adjusted too high. My rear brake starting sticking after 1600miles and needed greasing. The full-beam indicator lamp is annoyingly bright. The ignition/mode/feedback LED is mostly just confusing.

But all said I'm very pleased with it, and at 1.5kWh to recharge (about 20p), running costs are low, even after allowing for insurance (GBP 160 and battery replacements on an annual basis). Spares are available from the importers.

Reviewed by Brian from West London on 07 May 2008

What a great machine, gets me from my home to my office in the west end quicker than i used to do it by bus and underground, on a normal day I am saving at least 40 minutes on my old journey time (round trip). I have calculated that i will save the complete cost of moped within less than 18 months. I travel a total of 15 miles everyday which is well within the range quoted by the supplier.

Reviewed by Simon from London on 10 April 2008

I received my S50 5 days ago. It's AMAZING! It has exceeded my expectations in many ways. I travel to work (11.9 miles) and back again every day on it. The roads are mainly flat from mine to the West End of London where I work with only a couple of hill climbs. I ride it fairly defensively and am as conservative as I can be on the throttle.

I have managed on a full battery charge to do the return journey without even touching the yellow on the battery indicator. Apparently when it hits the yellow I should place the bike into the lower speed setting to ensure I get an additional 5 miles out of the journey. By my reckoning I should be able to get around 30 miles out of a full charge!! Of course, I suppose there are many factors to consider; I am 10 stone and not constantly on the breaks or fiercely hitting the throttle. I can also get it up to 40mph on flat roads which is the greatest bonus as it’s advertised as having atop speed of 30mph. So all is good so far!

Last night I travelled to work then charged the battery for 3 hours which was enough to bring the battery back to a full charge. I did my return journey and arrived at home still with the needle indicating a full battery!!!

It’s very easy to operate although when I received it I slightly damaged it. I was stationary and off the bike, holding it upright when I lost my grip. The bike rolled onto its side. It’s heavier than I expected and it scuffed the side panel which was protecting the speed changer. This in turn snapped the mechanism to change from lower speed to higher speed. However, thanks to the amazing service offered by my supplier, I was talked through how to temporarily fix the problem over the phone. In minutes I was riding it again with no problems and it’s being fixed today at no extra charge – even though it was my fault. I bought the bike directly from the importers the Sakura Battery Company www.sbsb.co.uk and they couldn’t be more helpful.

Everyone I have shown has been amazed at it. It looks just like a regular sporty moped but without an exhaust. It’s silent so you need to ride it very defensively and watch out for pedestrians stepping out into the road. No tax, no congestion charge, no charge for parking and Westminster Council run a scheme for electric vehicles so I can charge it on their streets for no cost! I would recommend this bike to anyone. It’s cute, cheap to buy and to run and I even pull away from lights faster than most small cars!!!!

Dealer Details
Call 020 8896 1133 quoting GreenCarSite.

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