Oklahoma Motorized Bicycle Laws

Oklahoma Motorized Bicycle Laws

Very sorry to hear about your family's unfortunate accident and ensuing legal issues but this thread is about Oaklahoma law not Tennesee.

You are absolutly correct about the key being "Automatic" which is why all reference to it was removed from 47-1-104 with the passing of Oaklahoma House Bill 2683 in 2012. http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf/2011-12 ENR/hB/HB2683 ENR.DOC

If you don't want to accept the letter of the law then read HB 2683 again, note the changes and you'll understand the spirit of the law which was to insure home built motorized bicycles including those using a China Girl are BICYCLES and are not to be confused with motor driven cycles or mopeds regulations.

Have you ever seen a statute in any other state here in the US that limits the engine size to 80cc?


The 80cc limit was probably because the guy had absolutely no clue what he was writing about and just grabbed it from the Internet in a confused fashion.. Nice to think that your law writers write laws about things they have no clue about in the least...
 
Very sorry to hear about your family's unfortunate accident and ensuing legal issues but this thread is about Oklahoma law not Tennessee.

You are absolutly correct about the key being "Automatic" which is why all reference to it was removed from 47-1-104 with the passing of Oklahoma House Bill 2683 in 2012. http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf/2011-12 ENR/hB/HB2683 ENR.DOC

If you don't want to accept the letter of the law then read HB 2683 again, note the changes and you'll understand the spirit of the law which was to insure home built motorized bicycles including those using a China Girl are BICYCLES and are not to be confused with motor driven cycles or mopeds regulations.

Have you ever seen a statute in any other state here in the US that limits the engine size to 80cc?


I wasn't able to open the file you posted HB 2683 in 2012. If you can post it that'd be great. Some of these ancient clauses in the laws really do need changing. All I was able to go by is what is on sites such as Justalaw. Sometimes changes are made that sites haven't updated. This is what's so great about the legal section here. Chances are someone knows if things have changed.
 
I hear ya, I'm on an old V1 IPad that's on it's last leg. Can't copy post with strikethrough highligting revision. How about PDF, see if you can open this one: https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/legislation/53rd/2012/2R/HB/2683.pdf

Or check out all of the bill information here. http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb2683&Session=1200

Hard to believe all the time and effort the legilative bodies put into changing 3 little things that would insure home built motorized bicycles could continue to be operated legally. Pretty cool when the system actually works like it should.
 
Also watch out, the moped definition is still in their law books, while a motorized bike has a definition in the books so does moped, and it's eerily similar to the motorized bike. From what I understand when 2 things have similar definitions usually the stricter rules are applied to the case. So if they can't hang you with the definition of a motorized bike they could pull the old switcheroo and, by definition, hang you on moped and real vehicle charges.

The books don't clearly state a difference between the two either. Such as a saying a motorized bike is not a moped, only claims its not a scooter and not something along the lines of a wheelchair.
 
Moped according to 'them' :
A “moped” is any motor-driven cycle with a motor which produces not to exceed two brake horsepower and which is not capable of propelling the vehicle at a speed in excess of thirty (30) miles per hour on level ground. If an internal combustion engine is used, the displacement shall not exceed fifty (50) cubic centimeters, and the moped shall have a power drive system that functions directly or automatically without clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged.



Motorized bicycle :
C. A motorized bicycle is any bicycle having:

1. Fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power;

2. A power drive system that functions directly or automatically without clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged; and

3. A combustion engine with a piston or rotor displacement of eighty (80 cu cm) cubic centimeters or less, regardless of the number of chambers in the engine, which is capable of propelling the bicycle at a maximum design speed of not more than thirty-five (35) miles per hour on level ground.

D. As used in this title, the term "bicycle" shall include tricycles, quadcycles, or similar human-powered devices, electric-assisted bicycles, and motorized bicycles unless otherwise specifically indicated.

Funny how a legal motorized bike can be designed more powerful and faster than a moped is allowed to be.

Would seem the only loophole is to use a bigger engine to evade the illegal version of a vehicle. Again my comment of the law writers in your state would appear to remain true...
 
Unless it changed back again, under 80cc/35mph is a bicycle and requires no license. Any regulations referring to maximum watts are normally reserved for electric bicyles or e-bikes which in OK no longer require a drivers license.

https://www.sos.ok.gov/documents/legislation/53rd/2012/2R/HB/2683.pdf

http://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/2014/title-47/section-47-1-104/
Choctaw Nation Traffic codes state 150cc or less and automatic.....as long as your in tribal territory...eastern part of state....it trumps state and local laws.........
 
WOW. I cannot believe that nobody in Oklahoma knows the rules and laws regarding this. Thanks to the op that posted and did all the research on this but this is still a major issue.
1. Some questions I have is what age do you have to be to drive these?
2. Can I drive them anywhere I would a normal bicycle?
3. What licenses do you need if you are under 18 (My son is 18 and this will be a fun project) or over 18?
4. Do we need to tag it ?
I do not want to break the law or get ticketed so I though (yeah stupid me thinking again) to contact a few places to see what they have to say.
Tag Agency - Tells me that they do not tag those ( Motorized Bicycle) but that they are not street legal either. It's like a "quad-bike". They were not sure though so they referred me to the Police Department
Police Department - No clue but if it has a motor it must be tagged to drive it legally on the road. I explained that the Tag agency don't know anything about tags for this type of bicycle. He asked me if it had head lights, brake lights and turn signals and the answer is no. The did not really know so they referred me to the DPS (Department of public safety as we do not have a DMV so to speak). He also told me that I need to search oklahoma title 47 (http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/index.asp?ftdb=STOKST47&level=1) as that is what they use.
Department of Public Safety (DPS) - No clue. Said that you can ride a bicycle if you're 3 years old so they and that if it's a bicycle even with a motor that the normal bicycle rules will apply, but I need to call the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. They will know.

I guess you get the picture. I can go on and on ... called the police department back and asked them again about it and if they will write me ticket if they see me on the road with this ... no matter who I call, every time I speak to somebody the answers change. The one thing that's clear is that nobody has a clue.

So i'm at a loss at this point in time and cannot find any concrete information to give to the police etc in case I get pulled over as nobody seems to know the answers to my questions. Are there actually people in Oklahoma driving these around on public roads? If not where can we go ride / play with these without getting trouble?
 
Anton submitted a new resource:

Oklahoma Motorized Bicycle Laws - License Required & Registration Not Required

A cop in DUNCAN OK. HANDS EVERYONE WHO RIDES A GAS POW. BIKE LAWS ON F'N MOPEDS...HE THREATENS CITATION ON 2ND PULL OVER...THREATENED TO IMPOUND MY BIKE..MADE ME PEDDLE IT HOME...SAID IT HAS TO BE TITLED AND REGISTERED...SOMEONE STRAIGHTEN THIS OUT FOR THE F'N STUPID COP...I SOLD MY BIKE AND HAVE TO PEDDLE A BMX BIKE 22 MILES A DAY TO WORK AND BACK.......
 
A cop in DUNCAN OK. HANDS EVERYONE WHO RIDES A GAS POW. BIKE LAWS ON F'N MOPEDS...HE THREATENS CITATION ON 2ND PULL OVER...THREATENED TO IMPOUND MY BIKE..MADE ME PEDDLE IT HOME...SAID IT HAS TO BE TITLED AND REGISTERED...SOMEONE STRAIGHTEN THIS OUT FOR THE F'N STUPID COP...I SOLD MY BIKE AND HAVE TO PEDDLE A BMX BIKE 22 MILES A DAY TO WORK AND BACK.......
The section you quoted does not apply until 1 Nov 2019. You need to see what the current law is.
 
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