Ontario Laws Regarding Motor Assisted Bikes & Mopeds.

Good question! Can someone answer that as I too would like to purchase a gas engine for my mountain bike with a manual clutch and ride it on the street. I guess I'll have to go and renew my M1 again so I can ride my mountain bike with an engine on the street. Looks like I'll also need a small mirror and probably a headlight as well as a red tail light or red reflector for the rear of my bike. I always wear a helmet and I guess now I'll need to get some sort of Insurance for my bike if I'm going to be riding it on the street with the engine. Am I missing anything else in order to legally be able to ride a motorized mountain bike on the street?

Thanks.
Steve
DOT tires, license plates and insurance?
Well I spoke to the police after cruising the speed limit (50 km/h) beside two police cars for 10 km's. I stopped for a coffee and asked a different officer than the ones i was riding with ( he was a superviser) if i can get in any trouble riding and he said nope i'll be perfectly fine as long as i have lights at night and a helmet all the time wooohooo.

i also took my bike to a bike shop for some parts they did a mock safety and all i need to pass a safety is a switch that activates my brake light when the fromt brakes are pulled and a fixed headlight then it can have a legal safty, i could register it with the mto as a home built and then insure it, i may have to make up my own vin number though


The government assigns you a VIN number on application for home-built vehicle registration. Getting insurance will be the next hurdle. In Ontario you MAY be forced into the "facility" pool as your VIN may not show up in insurance classifications
 
It appears the gasoline powered bicycle situation is more of an enforcementr question than law question in Ontario. The law is pretty clear that motorized vehicles that do not fall into any particular class are not allowed on the road. An exemtion was granted for electrically power assidted bicycles under 500 watts that meet certain standards. Many so-called "e-bikes" do NOT meet the standards - for example folding pedals are not "always available" and "capable of propelling the bicycle" - so "technically" most e-scooters do not meet the standard. Also most DIY "conversions" do not have a permanently attatched sticker stating it meets the definition. (that one is relatively easy to get around - YOU are the "manufacturer" so you provide the sticker -)

This is not being enforced.

The law states you do not require a license or insurance for these "exempted" power assisted bicycles, but IF YOU HAVE A LICENCE which has been suspended you are NOT allowed to operate the electric bike on the road. It is a "motorized vehicle" and a suspended licence prohibs you from driving ANY motorized vehicle.

When it comes to gasoline powered "power assisted bicycles" they do not fall under the "exemption" so they are not allowed under those rules.
The closest category would be moped or low speed motorcycle. This category requires registration and liability insurance. and you require a minimum of a restricted motorcycle licence to operate it.
If your moped is a 1983 or earlier model, and you do not have an NVIS, you may make a self-declaration that the vehicle is a moped as defined under the Highway Traffic Act. After registering, you will be given a vehicle permit and a moped licence plate.

So if you convert a pre-1983 bicycle with an aged looking motor you MIGHT get away with it if it has all the rquired lights, odometer etc (not sure if DOT tires are required)
 
I live in the GTHA and have been riding these bikes for over 15 years now! The mto and insurance companies are dead set against legalizing these bikes,they don't fall into the moped or lsv classification due to having the hand operated clutch and are capable of exceeding the limited speeds of those classes.The only way to register one is as a home built motorcycle and therefore it has to meet those standerds.I've been stopped many times now and have lost a couple bikes to being confiscated by police,but more often I'm told to just peddal it home.I also have been charged with operating a motor vehicle being unreg,unplated,not insured and unfit that should have had me paying over 10k in fines but when taken to court and pointed out that even if I wanted to register and insure it it can't be done,so the judge has no choice but to drop the charges to operate a restricted vehicle and I ended up with $800 in fines.Now due to persistant people like myself whom can prove they have beaten the no insurance/reg issues Toronto has eased up on stopping us as has Peel region,Durham,and a few of the smaller outlying cities because the charges don't tend to stick and it's not worth their time in court.Here in Hamilton they are still stopping riders but they too are starting to ease up,if your not speeding and following the rules of the road you are more likely to just get warned and told to peddal it.It sucks when most of North America is permitted to use these as transportation and we here are not.
 
Buy an ebike they have 100 mile batteries now. After 50/60 miles I'm ready to call it a day.
 
Buy an ebike they have 100 mile batteries now. After 50/60 miles I'm ready to call it a day.
I have an ebike and it's great for little juant's around the city and I can ride 2up but it suck's to actually travel with.When I want to go to Toronto or beyond as I often do it's 100 miles or more one way! That in it's self makes the ebike hard to deal with plus most of the routes to do so are 45-50 mph speed limits and I'm not comfortable not being able to match traffic speeds and have some extra for where needed.The ebikes can be setup to get the speeds but runtimes suffer badly and even with a quick charger waiting even an hour to complete a oneway trip sucks so I stick with the gasbike for that and take my chances,I just blend in with traffic ride sane and fake peddal when I see a cop LOL like I could peddal my bike at 50+ but it seems to work.
 
I am planning to move from the US to Canada (Ontario) soon and would like to take my motorized bikes with me. Anyone done that before? Will I be able to cross the border with them in the moving truck? I don't want to break any law. But these are not registered vehicles, just bikes I slapped a 49cc engine on. What to do?
 
I am planning to move from the US to Canada (Ontario) soon and would like to take my motorized bikes with me. Anyone done that before? Will I be able to cross the border with them in the moving truck? I don't want to break any law. But these are not registered vehicles, just bikes I slapped a 49cc engine on. What to do?
Your fine they can't say or do anything at the boarder,some cops are unaware though when you use it on the streets here.
 
I am planning to move from the US to Canada (Ontario) soon and would like to take my motorized bikes with me. Anyone done that before? Will I be able to cross the border with them in the moving truck? I don't want to break any law. But these are not registered vehicles, just bikes I slapped a 49cc engine on. What to do?
Find out what state your going to and read up on the laws. Every state is different, a few are extreme like NY.
 
Thanks, at this point I'm more concerned about entering them into Canada. If the law in Ontario does not permit to ride them, I will not ride them. But I do want to bring them in and am afraid they won't let me, or worse, confiscate them.
 
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