Sinclair Zike maximum speed of the bicycle operating under its own power was kept below 15 miles per hour to prevent it being classified as a motorcycle under UK law. The Sinclair Zike was developed by Sir Clive Sinclair following the commercial failure of the Sinclair C5 in 1985. Electric vehicles were one of his long-term research ambitions. The Zike was financed largely with his own money, and the manufacture was subcontracted to Tudor Webasto, a Birmingham-based company. The Zike was launched on 5 March 1992 at the Cyclex exhibition in Olympia, London, when a prototype was demonstrated to both press and
Sinclair Zike public. The price (mail order) was £499, comparable with a top of the range tourer or mountain bike at that time. The initial production target was 10,000 Zikes a month. In May 1993 press reports stated that Tudor Webasto had terminated production because of low sales and that Sinclair was seeking a new manufacturer. In the end only around 2,000 units were sold. Sinclair himself moved on to the development of the Sinclair ZETA (Zero Emission Transport Accessory)—a detachable powerpack intended to sit on the wheel of any bicycle to help power it along. Sinclair put the failure of the