So I'm at the NJ DMV.......

[arceeguy]

I was at the main Trenton DMV office renewing a registration and I asked the clerk about the legality of a "bicycle engine kit I purchased on eBay".

The clerk didn't know, and called in the supervisor who told me that:

If the motorized bicycle travels under 25 mph, it is up to your local municipality to regulate such vehicles. If it goes over 25 mph, you'll need it register and insure it as a motorcycle, and have a motorcycle license.

No mention of "moped" here, and I did make it clear that the pedals are still functional.

So I called my local police dept. and asked them if there were any laws regulating motorized bicycles, and he said that there were none. Truth is, I have gotten pulled over plenty of times on my small street legal Trail Cub motorcycle and never once on my motorized bike. I keep my speeds at 15-20mph on the bike so I don't attract any unwanted attention. I don't get hassled with the motorcycle anymore because they know that it is street legal and not someone riding a dirt bike on the street.

 

[ZnsaneRyder]

I ride a motorized bicycle with an engine-trailer, and have been pulled over 7 times for no reason. Maybe I should move to your state and get outta Florida! My family is from NJ by the way.

 

[Large Filipino]

ZnsaneRyder you're not gonna want to hear this but your hand truck LOOKS like it's dangerous. Then with your gearing it likes to sing well above 30 mph.
If you keep speeds slow by getting low gearing and when cops see you climbing hills at speeds less than 20 mph only then will they leave you alone.

 

[arceeguy]

I wouldn't pack your bags yet znsaneryder, I was shocked at the response from DMV and the local police because on the DMV website, they define a "moped" as:

"A moped (motorized bicycle) is defined by law as a pedal bicycle with a "helper-motor" capable of a maximum speed of no more than 25 miles per hour on a flat surface. A moped has a maximum displacement of less than 50 cubic centimeters (no more than 1.5 brake horsepower).

How to get a moped license

* You must be at least 15 years old
* Visit an MVC Agency to complete an application for a moped permit.
* Pass the 6 Point ID Verification
* Pay $5 examination permit fee
* Pass the knowledge and vision tests to validate your permit. Study by reading the Motorcycle Manual [524k pdf] and the online driver manual. The driver manual is also available in PDF version for you to download
* You must practice with a permit for at least 20 days before being eligible to take the road test
* If you pass the road test, take your permit, ride slip and score sheet to an MVC Agency to receive your license and pay the $6 license fee"

Problem is that the definition is wrong. Mopeds are not "pedal bicycles" with a "helper motor". Mopeds are purpose built cycles that are meant to use the motor as the main source of power, as the pedals are used just for starting or assisting up steep hills. Using the pedals exclusively is not practical with a moped.

On the other hand, you can easily pedal a motorized bicycle around without the engine at all for areas where engine operation may be restricted.

I wonder what it would take to get the DMV to change the definition of a moped, and clearly define a motorized bicycle as Arizona has done. It is obvious that the cops around here see me on the motorized bicycle and view it as an unregulated motor vehicle and leave me alone. I'm sure that if I were whizzing by at 35 mph, there would be trouble. Ride responsibly.

 

[s_beaudry]

Arceeguy,

I spent the first 36 years of my life in NJ and finally got me and the family out of there and moved to SC, and I look back on the last two years and it was the greatest thing I have EVER done, getting out of jersey....

Back in '04 I built a '66 Cobra kit car and dare I say tried to register it in NJ.... I spent months and months talking to several people at the Trenton DMV who all had conflisting views on whether it was a 2004, a 1966, or a 1974 model year car. Yes, they threw 1974 in the hat because that was the year of the engine in the car.

Someone in thier greatest wits wanted to finally register it as a 2004 and hold it to the standards of safety and emissions for that model year! There was no way in he** I would ever pass todays emissions standards with a 1974 ford 302 under the hood.

Long story short, after I built the car, I sold it.....

I would roll it out of the garage and park it in the driveway and run the engine and pretend I was driving on the road.

How the neighbors hated me with that 302ci with straight pipes and no baffles when I goosed it in the driveway. More then a few times the cops rolled up, but there was NOTHING they could do with it parked in my driveway! Heak, one cop even asked if he could jump in and goose it a few times..... the look in his eye with that kind of power at his right foot..... priceles!

Anyways, back to you . . . I say just ride the MB and if stopped plead ignorance, if given a ticket, go to court and beg for mercy from the prosecutor!

In the immortal words of Mountainman..... RIDE THAT THING

 

[sabala]

I got the same thing at the Santa Monica, CA DMV.

I went there just to pick up the rg230 form, (my printer is busted) to fill out and send to the main branch in Sacramento. The clerk gave me the crazy eye and said she never heard of that form and they didn't have any.

Talked to the supervisor, (I guess) and she said I have to register it at the police department.

I never went though, I figured they wouldn't really have any info either.

 

[Mountainman]

I got the same thing at the Santa Monica, CA DMV.

I went there just to pick up the rg230 form, (my printer is busted) to fill out and send to the main branch in Sacramento. The clerk gave me the crazy eye and said she never heard of that form and they didn't have any.

Talked to the supervisor, (I guess) and she said I have to register it at the police department.

I never went though, I figured they wouldn't really have any info either.

yes - in Calif the DMV is not always up on their own forms
I downloaded the 230 and took it to DMV
was advised on this site to mail it in -- DO NOT HAND DELIVER
but - since I didn't think that I had the time to wait
went in to DMV with form in hand anyway
two DMV employees looked and looked and almost gave up
then found out (to their surprize) what to do with form
plate came in around three weeks in the mail
worth the wait
very official looking -- what ever that means ??????

makes it better in my case when I am going to

ride that thing Mountainman