I live in Burnsville and have not registered my MB. The first day that I rode my bike home from work, I passed a St. Paul police officer and he ended up turning around and started following me. He stayed back about 50 feet just slowly following me and trying to see what I had on my bike. He ended up pulling up next to me to check me out and saw what I had and then just went on his merry way... close one! The next day I was going to work and 2 State Patrol ended up pulling up next to me at a stop light and I could see them both looking at me and talking to each other on their radios about my bike, they both just smiled and kept on going. Last week I was riding my MB out in the country doing about 30 and passed a Sheriff, he didn't do anything, just kept on going... another close one! I guess what I am saying is that I have passed many cops going full throttle and they have not done anything about my little motor on my bike. So until you get pulled over, I wouldn't worry about it. I have talked to 3 different DMV's and they do not even know what to classify these as. I have also talked to a few police officers and they do not know what these would be classified as. I think the reason no one will give me a clear answer as to what these are is because it is kind of a 2 classification situation.
1- Riding with no engine running= Bicycle
2- Riding with engine running = Moped (maybe)
I asked one of the officers if I could ride my bike on the bike paths without getting into trouble and he said that I could, with the engine off... considered bicycle. If i were to ride the paths with the engine on, I could get a ticket because the paths say "No
Motorized Vehicles Allowed" This is such a grey area with these bikes, I don't think the police would even want to bother pulling someone over on a bicycle... I can just picture it now!
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
Ben
