New ILL Law SB0236 Only For 1 HP

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Deleted Member 4613

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New Illinois law SB0236 active on January 1 does not seem to be good news for motorized bicycles due to it's requirement of one HP. Since a 49cc engine
can develop over 2 hp, the law still makes most gas motorized bicycles illegal in Illinois. The law seems to help only electrics. Any comment?
 
I suppose it's not actually good news for us. but it might be bad only in the technical sense. We could always just say, "oh no..this doesn't have any guts at all. Definitely under 1 HP." It might or it might not work.

But I think this law will give a bit of added legitimacy to those who try not to give the police any reason to be hostile.

I think this law was written (in the House) with only electric bikes in mind. Gas bikes were added in the Senate version as almost an afterthought. So it doesn't surprise me to learn that we're still something like second class citizens. But it's still helpful.
 
Right. My model airplane engines produce about 1.5-2.0 hp. Guess I'll mount one of my smaller model airplane engines to meet the regulation.
 
If it doesn't have a decimal point after the 1, then, you could argue that this means the motor horsepower, when rounded to the nearest whole number, must not exceed 1. Which would cover the 35cc 4 strokes. But, it is VERY difficult to find a 50cc motor that doesn't put out at least 2 HP.
 
I found a 25 cc Tanka engine that is rated at 1 or less hp. I guess this opens up the market in Illinois for fender mounted pedal assisted bikes. Not too exciting.
 
I hadn't noticed the 1 HP limit and it is certainly a pity.

But I wouldn't let it bother you; just go ahead and ride. Ride cool, of course. The police just don't seem to care about these bikes if you do that. They seem to feel that they have better things to worry about. (which is definitely true)

"Alternative transport" is (slowly)getting a foothold here in America. A guy in my neighborhood has a brand new 3 wheeled pickup truck. 2 whls back, 1 front. It looks for all the world like someome built a body on a Goldwing. But he told me that it's a Chinese inline 4 cylinder. It has a pickup style bed with a van style body; small 2 passenger compartment with a small super-cab behind the seats. It's a cool little vehicle.

You'll notice that as the Dow Jones average has risen, the price of crude oil has gone up right along with it. I'll bet we're entering a new era of public acceptance of vehicles other than the standard automobile.

I hope I'm not being over-optimistic on this, but I don't think law enforcement cares very much if we put a small engine on our bicycles.
 
......I hope I'm not being over-optimistic on this, but I don't think law enforcement cares very much if we put a small engine on our bicycles.


But someday, maybe they will.

Basically, they outlawed gasoline engines without specifically banning them. Pretty slimy if you ask me. People need to contact their representatives and try to keep motorized bicycles as unregulated as possible.

Pretty soon they'll regulate horses to below 1 HP.
 
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