With a population of 1.4 billion, China should be a goldmine for bike builders. But it?s not: motorcycles are banned in many of the biggest cities. In Shanghai you can still get a license plate for a bike, if you have 450,000 Renminbi (Yuan) to hand. Which is about US$67,500.
On the other hand, you can get a license for an electric bike for about 50 RMB, which is $7.50. China is tackling pollution by shifting the market towards electric motorcycles, and the small number of local custom builders are adapting fast.

Shanghai Customs is one of those builders. We?ve already shown their stylish electric street tracker, but shop boss Matthew Waddick reckons it?s this new eCub that will soon become his biggest ever seller.
?Shanghai is a pushbike city first and foremost,? says the expat New Zealander. ?Always has been, and always will be. Even before millions of cars and scooters took over, everyone used to get around on bicycles. The city is flat and beautiful, and with the architecture, shops and crazy traffic it?s perfect for electric scooters.?
Most of the ebikes in Shanghai are cheap and nasty, and powered by inefficient old-style lead-acid batteries: China?s most ?westernized? city has not yet cottoned on to the idea of stylish, high quality electric scooters. But Matthew is determined to change that. ?I noticed that the Cub frame is everywhere in China. I think it came ?off patent? years ago, and the Chinese swooped on it.?
?China is horrible for motorcycles, but wit...