Simon Cowell’s $20K e-bike banned on open roads in UK

Simon Cowell broke his back while testing out a $20,000 electric bike billed as “the world’s most powerful” — and which is banned from the open road in the UK because of its speed, Page Six has learned. The “America’s Got Talent” judge was riding the Swind EB-01 — advertised as ”the world’s most powerful …

Simon Cowell broke his back while testing out a $20,000 electric bike billed as “the world’s most powerful” — and which is banned from the open road in the UK because of its speed, Page Six has learned.

The “America’s Got Talent” judge was riding the Swind EB-01 — advertised as ”the world’s most powerful and most advanced electric bicycle in the market” — when it did a “giant wheelie” and he flew up into the air, friends said.

The bike, which carries a hefty price tag of $20,400, has a hybrid aluminum frame covered in a carbon shell. The frame’s design is similar to a dirtbike.

In the UK, the model is banned from the open road — as it exceeds the legal speed limit and has more than 250 watts of power. It’s only allowed to be used in private, closed areas, for sporting activities and on designated routes. Riders are told to be careful and use protective clothing.

Cowell was in surgery for six hours Saturday night as surgeons inserted a rod into his back, which he broke in three places.

Doctors told him he was lucky not to be paralyzed as he narrowly missed severing his spinal cord.

“He did a turn in his courtyard, changed gear, and then the bike went into a wheelie and threw him off the back,” a source said. “Simon was in complete agony and was stretchered out of his home and taken in an ambulance to hospital.

“When he fell off the bike, he landed right on his back, which broke in a number of places,” the source said, adding that “he had to have a metal rod inserted into his back.”

Cowell was at home in Malibu, Calif., with longtime girlfriend Lauren Silverman, their 6-year-old son, Eric, and her 14-year-old son, Adam, when he fell.

“He was in shock and in massive amounts of pain . . . He’s doing OK in the circumstances,” the source said.

The caustic television personality addressed his accident in a tweet Sunday night. “Some good advice . . . If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time,” he wrote. “I have broken part of my back. Thank you to everyone for your kind messages.”

The accident means Cowell will miss the first live shows of “America’s Got Talent” on Tuesday night and Wednesday night. An NBC source said, however, that the show will go on with his fellow three judges — Howie Mandel, Sofía Vergara and Heidi Klum.

Cowell turned to biking after embracing a get-fit regimen that saw him lose 60 pounds over the past few years.