How Many States Allow Motorized Bicycles?

[frogman]

Friction drive legal in Illinois ? ?

Tracked a motored bike rider down who has been driving a under 50cc friction drive for several years, in Wood River, Il. He had vision problems and could not drive a motor vehicle.
I am trying to track that fact down through the Il Dept. of Transportation. Can not find anything at there on-line site that is specefic. Have made two calls and not found the right person. They are having severe cut backs on staff and not responsive to giving out advice.
If your are from Illinois, you should know that the Illinois State Police make everyting illeagl. From then on, it is up to the citizens to protest and petition to have it , the law, changed.
I am on a quest to come up with a defined answer and picture of what a motor assisted vehicle or motor assisted Bicycle is. Will inform you if I can come up with an answer.

 

[Tinker1980]

In Oklahoma, the laws seem to be kinda slack. This is from the Oklahoma Department of public safety website - http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=81890

Title 47. Motor Vehicles
Chapter 1- Definitions of Words and Phrases
Section 1-104 - Bicycle, Electric-Assisted Bicycle, and Motorized Bicycle


A. A bicycle is a device upon which any person or persons may ride, propelled solely by human power through a belt, chain, or gears, and having two or more wheels, excluding mopeds.

B. An electric-assisted bicycle is any bicycle with:

1. Two or three wheels; and

2. Fully operative pedals for human propulsion and equipped with an electric motor:

a. with a power output not to exceed one thousand (1,000) watts,

b. incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than thirty (30) miles per hour on level ground, and

c. incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power alone is used to propel the device at a speed of thirty (30) miles per hour or more.

An electric-assisted bicycle shall meet the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as set forth in federal regulations and shall operate in such a manner that the electric motor disengages or ceases to function when the brakes are applied.

C. A motorized bicycle is any bicycle having:

1. Fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power;

2. An automatic transmission; and

3. A combustion engine with a piston or rotor displacement of one hundred fifty cubic centimeters (150 cu cm) or less, regardless of the number of chambers in the engine, which is capable of propelling the bicycle at a maximum design speed of not more than thirty (30) miles per hour on level ground.

D. As used in this title, the term "bicycle" shall include tricycles, quadcycles, or similar human-powered devices, electric-assisted bicycles, and motorized bicycles unless otherwise specifically indicated.

I like the "No more than 150cc" part. Yikes. A 5hp B&S engine is 147cc if I remember right. I've mentioned to a few people I know that I ordered an engine kit for my Bicycle (Kulana Moon Dog) and nobody I've talked to had any idea there was a such thing. There are only 3 million people in the entire state, and it's all spread out with the exception of OKC and Tulsa, so I can see why there aren't any around.

I'm proud to lead the way, however. Maybe I'll start a trend!

-Mark

 

[ZnsaneRyder]

At least police have no way of measuring your engine/cylinder to really know what cc's or HP you are running. That's why I completely debaged my engine of all stickers of any kind.

 

[loquin]

FYI: I've put together a centralized set of links to various state/province laws which may be applicable to Motorized Bikes. (there's 38 pages so far...)

Note that almost all states include reference to 'motor driven cycles,' but, these are really low-power motorcycles.

And, many include reference to mopeds or motorized pedal cycles.

Note that unless your state's statue doesn't use verbiage that a bicycle is powered solely, or exclusively, by human power, you could argue that, so long as you're peddling, that it is a bicycle.

 

[sparky]

That is an awfully swell PDF, Loquin.

I added a few more states & made a few corrections to my list, which is strictly to determine whether a motorized bicycle is classified as something that needs to be registered & insured like typical motored vehicles. I'm not mentioning safety requirements, because people should at least have to look a little something up for themselves. But you made that quite a bit easier for them also!!

Pretty surprising to me how few states actually haven't defined motorized bicycles as something mostly free from over-regulation. Only 4 or 5 that I've found so far, and there's only 22 left to go!! This should be done by tomorrow... hopefully. It'd be great if others could help me out with the blank states, or corrections to their state.

AL - no, but cops shouldn't mess with you so long as you can pedal & have a light at night (tho trikes are NOT included in definition of a bicycle).
AK - yes, if under 50cc. must also have license & pay registration fee(s).
AZ - yes, if under 48cc & 20mph.
AR - yes, if under 50cc & 30mph. must also have DL (unless under 16) & pay registration fee(s).
CA - yes, if under 2 hp. must also pay for one-time registration.
CO - yes, but kill engine on trails or at least be extra respectful of other pedestrians.
CT -
DE -
FL - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2 bhp. must also have license & pay registration fee(s).
GA - no.
HI - unsure.
ID -
IL - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2bhp. must also have license & tag.
IN - yes, if under 50cc, 25mph, & 2 hp.
IA -
KS - yes, if under 130cc, 30mph, & 3.5 bhp. must also have license.
KY -
LA - yes, if under 50cc (tho trikes are NOT included in definition of a bicycle).
ME -
MD -
MA - yes, if under 50cc & 25mph. must also have DL & pay $40 biennial registration.
MI -
MN - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2 hp.
MS - no, but cops shouldn't mess with you so long as you can pedal & have a light at night.
MO -
MT -
NE - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2 bhp. must also have license & operational pedals.
NV -
NH - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2 bhp. must also have license & pay $4 annual registration.
NJ -
NM -
NY - no.
NC -
ND -
OH - yes, if under 50cc, 20mph, & 1 bhp.
OK - yes, if under 150cc & 30mph.
OR - yes, if under 35cc & 24mph.
PA - yes, if under 50cc, 25mph, & 1.5 bhp. must also have DL & pay $9 annual registration.
RI -
SC - yes, if under 25mph.
SD -
TN - yes, if under 50cc. must also have DL.
TX -
UT - yes, if under 50cc, 30mph, & 2 bhp.
VT -
VA - yes, if under 50cc & 30mph.
WA - yes, if under 50cc & 30mph. must also have DL & tag.
WV -
WI -
WY -

 

[spunout]

when you say "allow", i think all states do, its just a matter of what the requirements are to be legal.

Rhode Island:
no driver license
50cc and under
4.9 bhp
no more than 30mph
registration (not sure about inspection, and what that might entail)

 

[sparky]

when you say "allow", i think all states do, its just a matter of what the requirements are to be legal.

By "allow" I mean actually define a motorized bicycle or moped as something separate from a motorcycle, which requires insurance & isn't considered a "pedacycle", for example. As far as I know, all of the states that I've marked as "legal" do not require insurance... only 4 require it for sure that I've found so far, because they require motorcycle safety specs and other motorcycle endorsements, VINs, etc.. It's too difficult to do that for just a MB.

NY specifically does say that homemade MBs are not allowed on the road. That's the only truly negative state I've seen. The other three just haven't defined them, because their legislators prolly haven't seen a MB before, I guess.

 

[AlphaGeek]

Sparky,

Great job collating all of this info. You might consider using Google Docs to serve it up in spreadsheet form -- I've had good success using this approach on other message boards.

The info on the CA line is incomplete, which could be misleading. I'm going to post a clean summary of CA requirements in a new thread with an accurate subject line. Please take a look and update your table accordingly. At some point you might want to start a fresh thread with your table at the top, and simply edit that first post as needed.

-AG
(Newbie on this forum, seasoned veteran of Internet communities)

 

[sparky]

If you'll tell me what I wrote wrong, I'll correct it.

There are other safety requirements which I didn't care to write down (lighting, horn, helmets/goggles, etc.). I was just trying to figure out where MBs can legally be ridden.

I'm done with this for now as I have other things more important to me. I'd love it if someone offered corrections or to fill in the blanks, tho. Would make things easier for everyone.

 

[VTBikeman]

Vermont- Under 50cc, gas and people power pedals require a moped registration, insurance, & inspection. Which means it needs brake lights, turn signals, Hi & Lo beam headlights, reflectors. No helmet req'd.

State will assign a vin. You must have a valid drivers license or permit. No pedals, or over 50cc and it is a motorcycle requiring a motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license and a m-cycle reg.

(I also have a Suzuki 450 and the endorsement.)

Vermont defers to the federal statute regarding electric bikes and no reg, insurance or license req'd under 750 watts.

However, finding someone who will insure a homemade is **** near impossible. Best to not mention "homemade." Mine's a Panasonic touring bike I got in about 1980 and put a HT engine on it. It is officially a 1980 Panasonic moped which doesn't trip their computers. $88/ year insurance so I have to log about 400 miles/ year to break even on the gas over my 19 mpg van. My commute is only about 4 miles so it's hard to add up the mileage.