New York Motorized Bicycle Laws

New York Motorized Bicycle Regulations

Cabin, I did do a scooter based e-bike (think I did a belt drive write-up on the electric portion here) and it is incredibly quiet. All you hear is a barely audible high pitch hum from the controller.
Still, it is a hidden deal.
Handy to have a crate on the back to put stuff in though. Motor is in the bottom of the crate. If all you do is a couple of miles, the electric is nice.
 
Does everyone get it now,that in Ohio & NY and there may be other states as well, no homemade gas bikes are lawful. You have to buy a complete gas bike from a state approved mfr of gas bikes and there are plenty of them 40 or 50 companies. Most of them have china names, Wildfire and Whizzer are the only one's I can spell or say.
 
I just got an e-mail back from my state senator about the e-bike bill. It is in a committee called "Codes" and senator Schneiderman is the chairman of it.
You can call him at 518-455-2041 or email - schneide@senate.state.ny.us
It would be great if he got some calls on this. If it got thru his committee, the finance comittee would be next, then to be signed by the gov.
The e-mail I sent mr. Schneiderman got an auto reply saying they would get back to me.
 
You guys are really stretching it switching vins and stuff. If a cop pulled you over on a huffy and you handed him a yamaha champ reggie with a grafted in vin# the balls will hit the bandsaw. Your much better off taking your chances riding around illegally. Or fixing up an old moped. I got an 81 yamaha champ off craigslist for 100$ put an 18$ bearing in it and it was good to go. No papers though so we tried to go back to the previous owner to get a bill of sale with dead ends. We ended up filing for a lost title and it went easy. 50$ to register it and 5$ a year after that. And since its a classic we insured it through hagerdy for 50$ a year and its all legal and a blast to ride. I still ride my mb but i only use the motor up big hills sofar iv had no problems with fuzz
 
You don't need a license to drive an auto or mb, you only need the license if a cop pulls you over. This is the sort of sentiment I read in these post when one joe says this and the other joe says the contrary. All these different point of views are really confusing to the guy that's wanting to register a mb in his part of the country.
 
Porsche, thanks for the comments and info, but, it is not a question of balls.
It is customization.
The bike will be completely legal, according to the DMV website sheet on Motorcycles and limited motorcycles, in NY you are required to not use tires marked, "for racing only", have a hearable horn, lights and helmet (depending on what class of limited motorcycle you are in).
Interestingly, there is NO hp limit or cc limit, just a speed limit- 20 for class C, 30 for class B and 40 for class A.

I could have a hundred hp on it and still be legal.
I would NOT pick a Honda or Yamaha to customize. I have a Puch, most people can't even pronounce it.

Take a look at the car scene, what is left of the typical "T" bucket roadster?
Let's see- chevy V-8, turbo 350, Ford 9 inch rear end, custom frame, Bell front axle, disc brakes. Fiberglas body.

I am days away from insuring and licensing my bike.
It actually has a Puch headlight on it.
I will re-do the Puch later (haven't decided wether to re-build the engine or re-power it with a 6 hp Techimseh).
 
You guy's need to read between the lines of what I'm saying here. First look at my bike!

It's an HT, has head and tail light that run off of the magneto.

If I pedaled my old moped (no registration) from Niagara Falls to NYC, would I have a problem? Probably not unless I was on the thruway...

THERE IS NO LAW PREVENTING YOU FROM PUTTING A MOTOR ON A BIKE. However, there are technicalities that they can get you on, such as having a motor on a vehicle and having it on a public motorway w/o registration (under motor power or not).

Given knowledge of these laws, if I got pulled over, I would show the Cop that the motor powers my lights and was disengaged from driving the bike.

If the Cop wants to start a :001_9898: fight, there are a plethora of other laws not being enforced. Such as the use of mobility scooters on sidewalks, upon which, riders must wear helmets and I think even need to be registered. Internal affairs complaints and the News Media are excellent venues for dealing with problematic, lazy cops who wish to ride the 9-5 gravy train harassing us.

Now if they catch you boozing and ripping up side streets on their dash cam at 4am, it sort of takes away from your argument.

Be smart, know the laws and don't be scared to ask what the last "mobility scooter" checkpoint in front of the old age home netted the town.

Be smart, know the Laws and don't become lackadaisical. You need to stay on point and shove back. By the way, I don't feel guilty about picking on the old people. They are the ones who helped get these Laws passed! It's up to us to get them changed now. What about the kids w/o bike helmets???
 
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The E-Bike bill passed! You can get them at Best Buy now, of course your looking at a grand or two to buy one. Nothing like the gas bikes you can build for a few hundred bucks. Oh well, progress I suppose.
 
I just checked S4014 and last action was on april 7. Guy named Eric Schniedrman headed the committe it died in.
The bike stores will tell you they are legal so they can sell them, that is what threw me off last year. Of course, you probably can get away with using a quiet e-bike.
 
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