It’s a bit like a British version of the heist movie The Italian Job, but with Sur-Ron e-bikes instead of Mini Coopers, because the London police have significantly expanded their fleet of Sur-Ron motorcycles to be able to chase criminals riding the same kind of bikes.

The bikes, which are used by criminals in street robberies and cell phone thefts, can reach speeds of about 80 km/h, jump curbs, navigate stairs, and access areas that a regular police car or motorcycle cannot reach.

Beat them at their own game

The Metropolitan Police / Scotland Yard has purchased 20 new Sur-Rons – specifically the Ultra Bee models – bringing their fleet total to 25. The irony is that the police now ride the same type of vehicle – but the legal version, rather than the often illegally modified e-bikes – that criminals use to rob victims, especially pedestrians carrying handbags and cell phones.

From a legal standpoint, the fast, lightweight and quiet Sur-Rons are electric motocross bikes/motor vehicles, not e-bikes. In the UK, e-bikes are legally limited to a maximum continuous power output of 250W, with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h.

Anything above that is classified as a motor vehicle and must meet the corresponding requirements – license plate, insurance, driver’s license, and type approval.

Sur-Rons, with power outputs of several thousand watts and speeds of up to 80 km/h or more, therefore fall well outside the UK’s legal e-bike category. That does not necessarily make them illegal on public roads: road-approved versions can be registered and ridden as mopeds or motorcycles, provided they meet the corresponding requirements for registration, insurance, licensing, type approval and helmet use.

Off-road Sur-Rons, however, may only be ridden on private land unless they have been separately approved and registered for road use. Riding an unregistered or non-approved Sur-Ron on public roads is illegal.

And that is exactly what the criminals do. They drive these vehicles through the streets of London – unregistered, uninsured, and without a driver’s license – to rob their victims and then often speed away recklessly through busy streets, over sidewalks, and through traffic.

Not breaking the law.

Sur-Ron: the motor vehicles are manufactured by the Chinese company Quilong Technology CO., Ltd., which makes the distinction very clear. The 2026 Light Bee X has 10 kW peak power and an 80.5 km/h top speed in 3.6 seconds, and is explicitly described as not road-legal. The Light Bee L1E is the homologated road-going version, limited to about 45 km/h.

Before you start thinking that the London police are driving around on unregistered vehicles, the Met itself says its Sur-Ron Ultra Bees are registered and insured as motor vehicles.

13,000 fewer offenses

The police’s approach is also paying off. The Met even calls it a game changer in the fight against snatch offenses. Neighborhood crime went down by 14%, helping reduce phone theft by more than 13,000 offenses across London in the last year.

The rollout is also part of the Met’s growing use of technology to pursue offenders who consistently use e-bikes, causing fear on the streets. So far this year, officers have seized more than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, often modified with high-powered batteries or uninsured.

Funding for the bikes came from profits taken from crime.

Also available in Belgium and the Netherlands

And we don’t mean to give you any bad ideas, but Sur-Rons are also available in Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgian specialist DCC E-bikes in Mol currently lists, among others, a street-legal 2026 Sur-Ron Light Bee with a speed of 45 km/h for €4,999, alongside considerably more powerful off-road versions.

EDirt Store in Mechelen also sells the Light Bee. It is already advertising a forthcoming 24 kW Light Bee 2 L3e capable of around 90 km/h, which becomes a proper light motorcycle. E-Bikes Bornem is also a major Benelux Sur-Ron/e-enduro dealer and offers Sur-Ron, Talaria and similar machines, including both road-legal and off-road variants.

In the Netherlands, you can find both the street-legal and off-road versions at places like Ebero in Lichtenvoorde – its 2026 Light Bee is advertised at roughly €4,895 – or at Resa Racing in Haaksbergen.

Legally, the distinction is almost identical to Belgium. In the Netherlands, a genuine bicycle/fatbike is limited to 250 W and 25 km/h assistance. A vehicle outside those specifications is legally classified as a moped or motorcycle and requires the appropriate approvals, registration, insurance, helmet, and license.

Similar problems with fat bikes

And both countries have the same underlying problem as London, but not phone-snatching gangs on Sur-RONS, but the broader phenomenon of very powerful two-wheelers masquerading as bicycles.

This summer, there were a few incidents involving young people riding fat bikes – some modified, some not – in places like Wetteren. Ghent police seized fat bikes capable of reaching speeds of 47 and 41 km/h in June. Turnhout police seized 34 non-compliant e-steps and fat bikes during two enforcement periods in August.

That is why some cities and municipalities – in addition to a helmet requirement, an age limit, and expanded authority to impound vehicles – are explicitly calling for a separate legal framework for fat bikes. This would allow local governments to take more targeted action, such as banning fat bikes in certain areas. Currently, they would have to ban all bicycles.

According to the office of Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés), however, existing rules need to be better enforced, and no separate legal framework is necessary.

Fat bikes do not currently constitute a separate vehicle category. Depending on their technical characteristics, they are classified as e-bikes, speed pedelecs, or mopeds. According to the government, clear rules regarding use, equipment, and traffic safety already exist for these categories.

In the Netherlands, the debate over fat bikes has been going on for some time. Dutch government figures show penalties for operating non-approved vehicles jumped from 643 in 2023 to 4,845 in 2024, then eased slightly to 4,694 in 2025. According to the police, most of the 2024 cases involved fat bikes.

And there is evidence of their use in crime, not merely hooliganism. In May, two youths fled a knifepoint robbery in Halsteren on a fat bike. In Jul,y suspects fled an armed robbery in Zaandam on one. Another July case in Zaandam involved three boys on fat bikes attempting to rob a wheelchair user.

In some places in the Netherlands, fat bikes are even banned, but the question remains whether such bans will hold up legally in the long term.

According to the Dutch Road Traffic Act, a fat bike falls under the category of an electric bicycle with pedal assistance, just like any other e-bike. This makes it legally problematic to fine a fat-bike rider or ban fat bikes, thereby conflicting with higher-level national legislation.