The reason I want an electric bike (with good range, don't care about speed, as long as it will do 10 mph) is so I can legally ride it on bike paths, where gas powered bikes are prohibited (I agree with this, these paths are used by bike riders, pedestrians, people walking dogs, etc., and the last thing they need is someone flying along on a noisy smoking gas powered bike) When I was riding pedal bikes, my average speed (on a cruiser type bike) was about 7 mph. My VeloSolex moped tops out at 20 mph on flat level ground, and will not climb hills, because it is friction drive, and has only one gear ratio. I also have a homebuilt gas powered bike, with a Robin-Subaru engine on a Staton friction drive kit. These are high quality parts, and it works fine, and has been for years. Due to a lack of gears, it also has problems climbing. I have a bike computer on it, and will not exceed 15 mph in town. That's faster than 99% of the people riding pedal bikes in a bike lane. When I come up behind them, I slow down and stay there until there is no traffic coming from behind, and I can move all the way over to the center of a traffic lane to pass. Pedal bikes have the right of way in bike lanes. I have absolutely no problem with gas powered bicycles. I love them. Way more than electric. It's just that for certain places, electric is the only option.
I also have no problem with riding a motorized bike outside the city limits on the shoulder of rural roads. I have had a number of factory made mopeds (Tomos, Puch, Motobecane) that topped out at 30 mph, and I rode them all day on the shoulder of rural roads. Mr. Vale, I'm sure you are aware of all the nice roads south of Phoenix, around Coolidge, Florence, Maricopa, Casa Grand, and the Pinal Pioneer Parkway that goes from Florence to Tucson. I live in Chandler, and have ridden thousands of miles on these roads on mopeds and motorized bicycles. I also had a 49cc Honda Ruckus scooter that topped out at about 40 mph on a flat level road. I rode that to Tucson many times, on the shoulder. But neither mopeds nor small scooters are allowed in the bike lane. They are extremely dangerous in town, because they must be ridden in a traffic lane, and will not even come close to keeping up with traffic on 45 mph roads.
Many do not know how lucky we are in AZ to have the rights that we do to ride motorized bicycles. Just try riding one in CA and see what happens. We have these rights mostly because of a guy named Roland Bosma. He used to be the owner of Spooky Tooth Cycles in Tucson, and later moved to Bisbee (beautiful little town by the way, like going back in time) then sold the business to someone else. I met Roland twice. He was a very nice guy, but broke the rules of the law he was largely responsible for getting passed (HB 2796) in the first place, with his organized "Death Races" and other activities. The "spandex" crowd were outraged when this law was passed, and they have a lot of political clout.
The "48cc" limit was used to exclude 49cc factory built mopeds and scooters, and because that is the displacement of most of the Chinese engine kits, including the Grubee Skyhawk. I personally have no issue with engine size. I always thought Whizzers, back when they made them, should be considered motorized bicycles. They had much larger 4 stroke engines, but were very slow due to the ancient engine design.
I still remember the days of gopeds and pocket bikes being ridden in the bike lanes and on sidewalks. I would be cruising along at 7-10 mph on my pedal bike, and one of those things would go flying by doing about 30 mph, just inches away. Most had performance exhausts on them, and you could hear them coming from a mile away. Finally there were enough complaints and kids getting hurt and killed on the things that they were outlawed. They should have never been legal anywhere but private property anyway.
"Motor assisted" bicycles, which is what HB 2796 refers to, are supposed to be for transportation purposes. They were never intended to be souped up street racers, ridden by hooligans who put regular bicycle riders and pedestrians in danger. They is no reason for a bicycle to go 30 mph in town. If you want to go fast, get a street legal scooter big enough to keep up with city traffic. But of course that requires registration, plates, insurance, and a motorcycle license, which I have. I actually think it would be cool to have closed course racing for motorized bicycles, where you could build them to go as fast as possible. But machines like that certainly should not be allowed on the street. An engine built to go 50 mph would be so high strung it would be practically unrideable at 20 mph.
The thing to keep in mind is that the law applies to home built motor assisted bicycles, not motorcycles. I own and ride motorcycles and have for over 40 years. But I do it legally. I don't ride recklessly, and I have quiet stock pipes. But riding a motorized bicycle is a whole different experience than a motorcycle.
I still believe 30 mph is an unsafe speed for anything ridden in the bike lanes in the city limits. Despite the law, there are a lot of people doing it already. And considering all the complaints that have been received about recklessly ridden motorized bicycles, and the cyclists lobby, I'm afraid we are in danger of losing what we already have. Asking for more is likely to just **** of the politicians, and rather than try and regulate such a complicated mess, they will outlaw motorized bicycles altogether. The old saying "offer someone a foot, and they try to take a mile" applies here. Be happy with what we have rather than pushing for more and more until we lose it all. Getting greedy can and probably will ruin everything. Again, if you want to go fast, then get a vehicle suited for that purpose, and deal with all the expenses and red tape that goes along with it.
i cant believe someone said this 
