Big Legal Hitch With Street Lights/horn

[Mike S]

The whizzer motorbike is not classified as a motorized bicycle, because it has a motor way over 50 cc and it is built from the ground up on a light motorbike frame. Thanks for the comments as more than one person has suggested I see my congressman. I know I would be stopped here by police because I built what looks like a motorbike, with all the requirements of a motorcycle. It no longer has the look of a motorzied bicycle. I have decided to shoot a video next week and take it out on the street and take my chances just for the video. Although I can't ride it here in Illinois, it would be legal in other states,
so there is still reason to show it. Mike S

 

[loquin]

Mike, maybe you should send them a copy of Arizona Revised Statute 28-2516 for review.

If a bicycle frame can't be certified to ride on the highway, how can IT be ridden there?

We're not talking about adding an engine that pushes the bike along at 60 MPH. We're talking about an assist motor, that propels the bicycle at bicycle speeds.

 

[DougC]

I just re-registered an old VW in Michigan that has a VIN that is 6 or 7 digits (something like that), they just fill in the rest of the space with leading zeroes. I am sure that IL probably does something similar, because some vehicles, especially older ones, do not have standardized VINs. ...

IL does have a way to do that--but only for vehicles that have previously been titled or registered, for custom vehicles that will meet current roadworthiness standards (which bicycles can't meet), or for vehicles that are vintage and can be shown to meet roadworthiness standards at the time of their original manufacture.

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I have heard a reason that the law may be in dispute: a co-worker is considering getting a 150cc scooter, and knows someone at the local DMV. The law concerning motorcycle licensing in IL is being re-evaluated, apparently, and how this might cover motorized bicycles or not isn't yet known.

As it is in IL, motorcycles 150cc or above need a class-M license, 50cc to 149cc need a class-L license, and 49cc and under don't need any license at all. This is the reason that (according to the current reading) motorized bicycles under 50cc wouldn't need anything--no license because it's under the 49cc limit--and no registration or insurance, because you can't get them for a bicycle anyway.

The state is considering changing this to getting rid of the class-L and "unlicensed" categories, and requiring a class-M for a motorcycle of 1cc engine or above.

If this would change the legal standing of motor-bicycles, I don't know. I would think that they'd still need to specifically prohibit them. I'd wonder how they could charge you for riding an "unregistered motorcycle" if you're on a motorized bicycle and they insist that a motorized bicycle doesn't qualify as a motorcycle, and can't be titled and registered as one.
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[Mike S]

The law here in Illinois is definitely in dispute. The basic law says all motorized vehicles must be registered to use the roads, yet motorized bicycles are not registered by the state, so they legally have no right to the public roads. The law does not realize or recognize that a motorized bicycle is no more than a motor assisted bicycle. The law also states a motorized bicycle can not have a transmission. The problem is government believes users will put lawn mower engines on bicycles and try riding on a highway. It sounds ridiculous, but from a legal/lawyer viewpoint, a somewhat ridiculous argument can be made that motorized bicycles present some danger to the public. It's what they said about autos when horse driven buggies filled the pathways. Mike S