Are We Outlaws ?

i know the feeling, but i figure a fast runner could probably catch me before i got up to speed, a hardcore bicyclist could keep up with me, a motor-cycle could blow me away, and a cop car could run me down.

plus, if you did rob a bank, they could hunt you down just by listening for a winding out lawnmower.

and all that money would weigh you down, not to mention you'd need somewhere to carry it...

but, yeah, i still feel like a rebel sometimes. then i remember all the women my age that are passing me in their Beamers and volvos, think i'm a dum-bass little kid that's just in the way when they're turning into the mall...

I figure whatever I do, I will be invisible to young women anyway lol.

deacon said:

I figure whatever I do, I will be invisible to young women anyway lol.

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*sigh* Sad but true for many of us!

not me, the girls always want to ride on my second seat on my bike lol

Just that sort of came up the other day. My street was closed off due to digging up a water line. I happily rode up on the sidewalk and around the backhoe and barricades. Every one stopped working, (well the one guy with a shovel and the 3 watching) I waved and realized one was a cop. Dawned on my I was motorized bicycle riding on a side walk. Pretty much the one no-no aside from 30 MPH and >50cc. They waved back or nodded. When I first got into this crazy, I would ghost peddle constantly and was waiting to be stopped.

So, I think the worry is gone. For me it makes it more fun. Although I do miss the feeling like I was getting away with some thing.

lol Dan, that happens to me alla time and it STILL freaks me out a lil... guess I jus have a guilty conscience o.o

I've only encountered one copper that had a "problem" with my MB, I was clippin' down one of our rural highways (2 lane, no real shoulder, 55mph speed limit = sketchy) and a town cop passed me.

He kept right on going for a while, even passed a few turn-offs before he pulled over and got out of his car. Obviously he was givin' it some thought lol. He stood next to his car and as I pulled up I killed the engine and coasted, slowing to approach him - yet he waved his arms all excited like I was gonna break off into a high speed get-away

Anyhoo - I stopped and said "wassup?" and he proceeded to inform me that any and all motorized vehicles needed to be registered w/plates - up to and even including a handicapped person's electric wheelchair!

I politely said "erm... no - I don't believe that's currently accurate" and went on about how the local laws have been undergoing some changes of late, that in fact a motorized bicycle under 50cc is completely legal w/o plates, provided they follow all motor vehicle traffic laws. That I couldn't vouch for wheelchairs, but due to "enviro-fanatics" many home builds and electric vehicles were also now legal - but also that I wasn't sure about that having only researched my niche.

I also made mention a few times that I did indeed research this subject extensively before investing my time and money in this project, blunting the harshness of disagreeing with him by bemoaning the labyrinthine, contradictory, and generally confusing legal gobbledygook - he agreed that the mandates are somewhat confusing and we got in a good convo about the woes of dealing with bureaucracy.

He was moderately surprised to learn I had built it myself, he lightened up considerably after I mentioned that.

Eventually he said I could go, that he was going to look it up himself to confirm what I had said. He knew where I lived (unfortunate effect of small town life) and he said if there was a problem, he'd drop off a copy in my mailbox regarding any rules I was infringing on, that if I didn't hear from him that all's well. I never heard from him again. I do wish he had dropped off a note sayin' it's all good - that'd be handy later... but I didn't wanna push him lol

Before I left, I asked " So wassup? you want to impound? You want I should pedal home? Push it?" He said "Naw, it's fine - you're good to go." Which of course makes me wonder if all the above was just cause he wanted a look at my bike lol

Generally though I was nervous and I didn't want an enemy cop - in such a small town as this it's all over should you piss em off, it went really well. He was pretty cool about it, although he never admitted he was wrong - he was willing to let me go and look into it. Yet... to be completely honest the law here not only states under 49cc and mine's a 66 (can't tell from the casing tho and that's silly I figure) but that you're only allowed a max speed of 20mph - and I was doing a touch over thirty.

I figure that either he didn't bother to look it up, that it was just as annoying to try to interpret for him as it was for me, didn't notice I was doing 30mph, or that he plain didn't care.

Prolly didn't care lol


The way I figure it is so long as yer not obnoxious, yer bike isn't insanely loud (the biggest prob as I see it), leave room for pedestrians, don't ride sidewalks at high speed or clip across lawns and don't get all psychotic if you do get pulled over - odds are they'll figure in the end it IS just a bicycle and not really a threat to national security. If you're not breaking any traffic laws or riding like a dingbat there's no real reason to pull you over in the first place. While it's true there is more than a few asshat cops out there, most don't want any paperwork and I can't figure bicycle violations help fill their quota anyway heh.

I will also acknowledge that many police exhibit symptoms of "ageism" and will give a kid a hard time, even if the kid has done no wrong. This is highly unfortunate, the best I can advise is to make mention that you built it yourself or that it was a "father and son" project (or mother/daughter lol), that you need it to get to school/job or what have you - but to just keep yer cool. These bikes are legal, or very close to it anyway and should you be calm it'll probably be ok in the end even if you should need go to court due to one slightly rabid enforcement officer.

Deep breath, nod and smile, mild confusion, and nattering on about technical details works pretty well for an older guy like me

Some cops know the rules about these bikes, but there are few who do not.Just dont be a flashing beacon for them like Barely awake just mentioned.We are being flashing beacons for them just discussing the issue here.90% of them are okay and are not concerned about someone on a bike who is not causing trouble HOWEVER!! some are commie****Nazis and think that they are here to RULE THE WORLD!!!! remember that these are the ones that will come over and hassle you just for looking at them. JUST FOR LOOKING AT THEM!!!!!!! you dont know which ones are the COMIE****NAZIs and which ones are not!!!!!!!!!!dont even look at them and you better start peddling like crazy and pretend that they are not even there.I saw some poor dude on the television get handcuffed and taken away to jail just for J walking in an area where there was no traffic.It is very stupid to do that right in front of a cop. IF YOUR GOING TO BE SASSY IN FRONT OF THEM, YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT!!!!!!! dont forget to make it look like you are really struggling while peddling that bicycle;then "if" they notice you,they will look down upon you and pity you, and thats exactly what you want.They wont even give you a second thought.