Rethinking the motored bike

mrbill

New Member
Local time
2:18 AM
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
7
Location
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Hello All,

After reading here for about a month I got my donor bike
and was ready to order my little chinese motor, well I had
a conversation with the local constabulatory and they said
NO NO NO. I was told I need ins.,reg.,&plates here in Penna.
So much for my plans.:bigcry:

Looks like my last option is to purchase a Whizzer
as it can be tagged and insured{$83 at progressive}.
I be pedaling for a bit longer until I can come up with
a solution to my new budget problem.

If anyone can suggest other options I might explore
post away I'm all ears{eyes}. Thanks.

Cheers
 
Have you considered electric? It might be in the future for all who want power assist sooner or later.
 
Hello Happy Valley,

I did consider a hub motor as it's not really noticeable.
but it's the same legal issues fines, confiscation, and
points added on to my driving license. Seems my local
police want tags and insurance on the machine.

Thankks for the thought.

Cheers.
 
I'm not in PA but I'd be really curious, not to say surprised, to see if electric assist mandated by the DOT under 750W can be outlawed in PA.

Anybody have the ruling?

EDIT:

found this:

Federal law trumps all States' laws. That is true with bicycle law, too. States cannot constitutionally pass legislation that reduces or eliminates Federal laws, they can only pass legislation that enacts additional (tighter) restrictions on its people. This means that no State can enact legislation that allows wattages or speeds greater than the Federal Government's limit of 750 Watts and a top electric-powered speed of 20MPH. States can only legislate LOWER wattages and top-speeds (which, to our knowledge has not been done by any state). An e-bike can go over 20 MPH, but not by means of the motor. No matter what state you bike in, bicycle speeds on public roads above 20MPH cannot legally be motor-assisted.
http://www.electric-bikes.com/bikes/legal.html
 
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It would seem to me that a person on a bicycle, pedalling along, an American institution for decades, never needed any reg/ins/tags, etc, before.
It was something that was an American pastime, the "freedom" to bike wherever they pleased.

NOW... think about this:
What's the average top speed a normal person pedals on a typical bike?
20mph?..... maybe 25mph? The average probably a bit slower, like 15mph?

OK....now consider a motor assisted bike.
How can ANY state/federal laws be imposed in a fair way on a bicycle if it only goes the same avg. speed?
It doesn't make sense...unless the motor goes OVER a certain limit, like a motorcycle.

Because then, a toddler on a tricycle or a pre-teen with/without training wheels would have to be registered/insured/tagged..... as well as licenced.
And that my friends is insanity.

Screw this governmental ****, I dare anyone to tell me I can't pedal a bicycle without some form of govermental "ok".
Bicycles were always FREE of hassle, I should be able to PEDAL or use a motor as long as my speed is limited.

Freedoms are being taken away from citizens and it's time to stand up and show we've had enough of this ****.
 
Cool thing with electric, is watts cannot be found out by a policeman. You can say the motor only gets less than 750W, but it's all in the controller and the amount of power you have. Bigger advantage than gasoline for sure. It's one thing to understate the cc's of a gas motor, but with electric, you can have as big of an electric motor as you want, as long as you supposedly have only 750W, it's legal.
 
It would seem to me that a person on a bicycle, pedalling along, an American institution for decades, never needed any reg/ins/tags, etc, before.
It was something that was an American pastime, the "freedom" to bike wherever they pleased.

NOW... think about this:
What's the average top speed a normal person pedals on a typical bike?
20mph?..... maybe 25mph? The average probably a bit slower, like 15mph?

OK....now consider a motor assisted bike.
How can ANY state/federal laws be imposed in a fair way on a bicycle if it only goes the same avg. speed?
It doesn't make sense...unless the motor goes OVER a certain limit, like a motorcycle.

Because then, a toddler on a tricycle or a pre-teen with/without training wheels would have to be registered/insured/tagged..... as well as licenced.
And that my friends is insanity.

Screw this governmental ****, I dare anyone to tell me I can't pedal a bicycle without some form of govermental "ok".
Bicycles were always FREE of hassle, I should be able to PEDAL or use a motor as long as my speed is limited.

Freedoms are being taken away from citizens and it's time to stand up and show we've had enough of this ****.

Agree 100000%

We should have the freedom to use our bicycles as we please!
 
It would seem to me that a person on a bicycle, pedalling along, an American institution for decades, never needed any reg/ins/tags, etc, before.
It was something that was an American pastime, the "freedom" to bike wherever they pleased.

While I agree with the sentiment, to be accurate there was a time at the turn of the last century when the safety bicycle had become so popular it became heavily regulated and in some locales it was all but prohibited.

You can find this history searching online but municipalities around the US had enacted ordinances against bicyclists as seen by a recent article in the news that illustrates the point:

Eastern Idaho city updates 108-year-old bicycle laws
by The Associated Press
Friday March 20, 2009, 12:19 PM

REXBURG, Idaho -- The eastern Idaho city of Rexburg has updated its 108-year-old bicycle laws.

The old law banned bicycles from plank sidewalks, and set a bicycle speed limit of 5 mph on Main Street and 12 mph elsewhere.

The old law also allowed violators to work off a $25 fine by laboring on village streets for $2 a day.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/eastern_idaho_city_updates_108.html
 
Cool thing with electric, is watts cannot be found out by a policeman.


Fair call too....In Australia we are limited too 200watt power assisted motored bicycles, in a recent NSW court case a sheila on an electric scooter was taken too court the police didnt believe it was 200watt, 3 'experts' were bought in to testify none of them could determine the actual wattage of the motor. The prosecutor did an about face and instead of trying to nail the wiminez for excess power they went after her and won under the ruling that the electric motor WASN'T the secondary power but the primary, the pedals were the assist, poor girl got done and several electric scooter stores closed up over it in N.S.W no longer able to sell the scooters for 'legal' road use....it is sad how far behind our laws are over here in OZ compared to other parts of the world. Governments worldwide jumping up and down to 'save the environment' and soon as an individual makes steps towards this they are knocked down for it :: sigh ::

I would also be very surprised if mrbill if a Police officer in your state would bust you if you were riding an electric UNLESS of course you were riding dangerously/drunk etc ...if you obey the road rules and pedal like crazy whenever you see a policeman you should be fine IMO the federal law has your back anywayz ;-)

Best of luck...

Kim
 
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