A call for help to Louisiana MB riders.

[scarecrow47]

I would like to hear from all Louisiana MB riders as to the local ordinances concerning motorized bikes where you live. Maybe by comparing we might come up with some workable solutions to offer legislators. They tend to listen more to a complaint if you offer a solution with it.

 

[scarecrow47]

Well, it seems nobody else is interested. This is exactly why nothing ever changes in louisiana. Come on people. I don't care if your from louisiana or not. A little help would be appreciated . Are you really satisfied with the way the laws here are concerning motored bikes.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Not uninterested, just nothing much to contribute here.

Shreveport/Caddo Parrish have no motorized bicycle specific ordinances I've found. Bossier Parrish does, and they limit them to "vendors", which was enacted when a company began running bicycle rickshaws along the riverfront, and was considering putting small engines on them.

 

[scarecrow47]

Thank you.

I appreciate the input. I was begining to think nobody really even cared. Or maybe nobody knows the laws in their city concerning this issue. I know motorized biking is not very common in louisiana but there are a few here. Again , thanks for taking the time to post something. The wheels of success are greased by knowledge.

 

[tjs323626]

Hey Scarecrow,

I just found your post. I'm usually so busy tinkering with bikes and scooters that I miss a lot of the posts that I do find interesting. As a Louisiana native I checked into the local laws about motorized bikes. Motorized bikes are not legal here unless some hoops are jumped through. They must be registered like motorcycles are. I ride regardless. I'm very careful about avoiding running the motor in any towns. No need to here ,towns are few and far between. I do see cops fromm time to time. So far they don't pay any attention to me. I like it that way.

Tom

 

[SimpleSimon]

Hey Scarecrow,

I just found your post. I'm usually so busy tinkering with bikes and scooters that I miss a lot of the posts that I do find interesting. As a Louisiana native I checked into the local laws about motorized bikes. Motorized bikes are not legal here unless some hoops are jumped through. They must be registered like motorcycles are. I ride regardless. I'm very careful about avoiding running the motor in any towns. No need to here ,towns are few and far between. I do see cops fromm time to time. So far they don't pay any attention to me. I like it that way.

Tom

What Tom says is the key too success for the average rider. I've helped two guys motorize trikes here in Shreveport for use as "work trucks". Both guys do lawn care and yard maintenance type work using Schwinn trikes and small trailers. The first guy was an OLD black guy I stopped and talked with one day, he referred the second guy to me when the 2nd guy saw him riding his newly motorized trike.

I still talk to both of them occasionally, and the local cops ignore both of them totally. Mostly because anyone with the gumption to do hard physical work in this climate year round using a bicycle to haul his tools deserves a break, I suspect.

My new neighbor is a disabled welder - got crushed by a large beam that slipped out of its hoist cable at a construction site, and has a full set of welding and metal working tools. I spent an hour talking to him today about bikes and building custom bikes and trikes (amongst other things) and motorizing them, and he is very eager for me too finish getting moved in. He says his younger brother and nephew run a small machine shop/welding service here - maybe I can finally get some of my ideas off paper and on the road.

 

[give me vtec]

My new neighbor is a disabled welder - got crushed by a large beam that slipped out of its hoist cable at a construction site, and has a full set of welding and metal working tools. I spent an hour talking to him today about bikes and building custom bikes and trikes (amongst other things) and motorizing them, and he is very eager for me too finish getting moved in. He says his younger brother and nephew run a small machine shop/welding service here - maybe I can finally get some of my ideas off paper and on the road.

SCORE!!!!!

 

[SimpleSimon]

Yeah, I think so.

Guy is a few years younger than me, a quiet, family oriented fellow who has a hard time walking anywhere due to having his pelvis crushed some years ago. Doesn't drive, because he can't afford a car - as he put it, feeding and clothing his kids is a lot more important than wheels.

So, if I can manage it, I'm gonna put him back on wheels - bicycle wheels. He has a 5 year old little girl, and I have a 40 year old girls 12 inch bike frame - I think it is time to rebuild that little bike.

 

[scarecrow47]

This is the kind of stuff I want to see more of. If Roland of spookytooth cycles and the people in Arizona can find a way, why can't we?

 

[SimpleSimon]

scarecrow, Shreveport is one the older cities in Louisiana. The streets are narrow, and there are effectively no bike paths - not even in most of the parks. Where there are sidewalks, it is illegal to ride on them. This is a fairly dangerous town to be a cyclist in - I talk to the guys in the local bike shops and they all say the same.

Nevertheless, it is my hope to put an MB under as many folks as I can manage - including the cities police bicycle patrol. I'm working on acquiring a steady supply of small engines, and spread the word to others whenever the opportunity becomes available - if enough people want changes, then changes will come. The key to it all is building a base of people who ride MB's, and want them legalized.

Can that backfire on us? Surely it can, which is why whenever I talk with others I emphasize that an MB is NOT a motorcycle, it hasn't the power to hold a place in traffic on 35 mph surface roads, yet all of the risks remain - be responsible, WEAR A HELMET and protective gear, and be ALERT.

Gasoline is, right now, as cheap as it is ever likely to be again, and as the dollar collapses (a near inevitability, IMO) the cost of owning and operating an auto is going to become astronomical. An MB is going to be the de facto transport for a LOT of people in the future, and eventually the law will take cognizance of reality.