An e-Bike in Kuala Lumpur?

The Editors, eBikesDaily.com

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  -  March 29, 2009  15:00 GMT

A frequent visitor explores many different parts of Kuala Lumpur, from the Tamil-speaking communities around Little Bombay in Brickfields in the south, to the Malay neighborhoods near Lake Titiwangsa in the north, day after day, week after week, looking for an e-bike.

He is lucky, in the course of so much walking, to find two or three bicycles chained to posts outside shops.

And those are regular push-bikes.  E-bikes seem not to exist at all.

The only one he could find was this foldable model at a toy store in the bustling center of Chinese small business, Chow Kit.

Why only this one example?

Topographically, most of Kuala Lumpur is flat enough.  The city has deep trade connections with China, where so many e-bikes are ready for export.

Malaysia's capital is a productive, up-to-date city that is proud of its considerable home-grown innovation, and of the foreign innovations which it zealously adopts.

So why almost no e-bikes?

We spoke to the owner of a bicycle shop near Ampang Point, near a northeastern edge of the city.  His well-stocked shop specializes in road bikes for touring the countryside outside the city.

He explained:

First, city streets have no bicycle lanes.  Traffic moves fast.  Kuala Lumpur's roads are not a friendly place for any type of bicycle.

Second, new motorbikes sell for about 3000 Ringgit Malaysia, about USD 800.  People have the money for faster personal transport more capable of long distances.

Fourth, e-bikes require a motor vehicle license.  Laws do not encourage riders to choose e-bikes over motorbikes.

So, his shop carries no e-bikes.

A visitor to the city also notes two more possible reasons:

Public transportation is excellent.  There are clean, modern buses, a light-rail network, a long monorail route through the busiest parts of the city, a commuter train system, and cheap, safe taxis.  It is easy and inexpensive to get around, quickly enough.

Also, people may well be less self-conscious about petrol consumption in this city where, from every district, one can look up and marvel at the gleaming, metallic twin towers -- previously the tallest buildings in the world -- that are the headquarters of petroleum giant Petronas.

So, the mystery of the absence of quiet two-wheeled vehicles in Kuala Lumpur was solved.

Regardless, the frequent visitor continues to sense something is missing here.

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