New Hampshire MB registration as a Moped

[elcalvo]

Minor update: I spoke with a trooper at the safety department and apparently the deal is once I get the MB checked out, they will actually issue a VIN for it. (It cannot be properly and legally registered without a VIN, or so they told me.) Doing a little further research, it looks to me like federal law requires all gas-powered motor vehicles intended for road use to have a VIN, which indicates they pass safety standards for whatever vehicle class they are in.

That's the long and short of it, from what they tell me. So it's off to the DMV next Monday morning to get my MB checked over.

 

[elcalvo]

Success!

I finally got my MB registered as a moped at the Dover DMV yesterday. SirJakesus -- your description of the process turns out to pretty accurate with one exception: because they are motor vehicles, MBs -- if they are registered as mopeds -- are required BY LAW to have a valid VIN. It sounds like your DMV did not properly assign one. They are NOT supposed to use the bicycle frame number, although that becomes part of the VIN assigning process.

The trooper at the Dover DMV (who was duly impressed with the bike) took a copy of my engine sales receipt from thatsdax.com, took the frame number, classified my bike as a custom-built moped, and assigned a valid New Hampshire VIN. It cost $30 and is good for the life of the MB. That plus $2.25 for the plate, and I was good to go!

 

[SirJakesus]

I'm glad to hear it. Unfortunate that it's more costly and time consuming and bureaucratic than it really should be but at least you got it and you definitely won't have to worry about the fuzz harassing you... an added benefit of having the moped plate is you can mix it up with traffic more than you could as a "bicycle."
YAY ANOTHER NH MBER!

 

[elcalvo]

It was actually kind of comical. They didn't know what to do with it at first. One trooper thought it needed a salvage title! Haha.

Yeah it is very helpful to be able to mix it up with in-town Portsmouth traffic now -- but I'm virtually invisible, so I have to be very aware of what's going on -- more so than on a motorcycle. I've had people stare right at me as they're cutting me off.

So how many New Hampshire MBers are there..?

 

[sparky]

Yeah it is very helpful to be able to mix it up with in-town Portsmouth traffic now -- but I'm virtually invisible, so I have to be very aware of what's going on -- more so than on a motorcycle. I've had people stare right at me as they're cutting me off.

I think that if motored bikes were specifically outlawed, it'd be because people smash their large vehicle into something else while they were watching us float on two wheels. It's an amazing trick I can perform.

If the government mandated people riding motored bikes on sunny days, unless they have a disability or something... the world would be a much better place.

 

[SirJakesus]

Judging by the 3 people on the forums and the one guy that was in the union leader 4 MBers in NH. There are probably more but I've yet to see anybody with my own peepers.

 

[4doora]

Awesome news!!!
I was thinking about having my bicycle registered, but I thought I'd give the laws one last check. So i decided to put the state to work for me .
I emailed the NH DMV about whether or not my bike needed to be registered and I got this reply:

RJ,

In New Hampshire if it can be man powered then we do not register them, they
are still considered a bicycle and have to obey all the laws of a bicycle. I
hope that is what you were looking for.

Sincerely

Valerie Lamarre
Registration Bureau
Division of Motor Vehicles
(603) 271-2251

So even though I technically could register my bike, I now have evidence that I don't have to!!

 

[elcalvo]

Hey, that IS great news. It's how I was operating my own motored bike until I got it registered anwyay, so that is cool.

One DISadvantage to having a registered MB is that technically, I'm not supposed to use bike paths anymore (there are a few around my area that make riding to work quicker and safer). At the same time, most motorists don't know what to make of my bike and simply assume I'm not traveling nearly as fast as I am (25-plus mph), or should not be in traffic, etc.

Also, ironically it sounds like under these NH rules, you can operate a much more powerful unregistered MB than you can a registered one (which must have a 50cc-max motor, no manual transmission, and travel no faster that 30 mph).

 

[SirJakesus]

Haha, as I suspected. Even the government employees don't know our laws. I'm printing that out once I get my stingray up and running again. Thanks!

 

[CheapskateNH]

One More!

Judging by the 3 people on the forums and the one guy that was in the union leader 4 MBers in NH. There are probably more but I've yet to see anybody with my own peepers.

SirJakesus- give me 2-3 weeks and you can make it 5 -Evan