Hi all
First of all let me say that i am not one of those lushes convicted of a dui. I have never driven a car in my life. I have a visual impairment, no i am not totally blind. I ride a road bike well over 20mph but for somebody who will never drive, something with a helper motor appeals to me.
I can't find a portion of the vehicle code for low powered motorized bicycles.
As some of you already know California vehicle code 406:
406. (a) A "motorized bicycle" or "moped" is any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device having fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power, or having no pedals if powered solely by electrical energy, and an automatic transmission and a motor which produces less than 2 gross brake horsepower and is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on level ground.
(b) A "motorized bicycle" is also a device that has fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power and has an electric motor that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Has a power output of not more than 1,000 watts.
(2) Is incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than 20 miles per hour on ground level.
(3) Is incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel the motorized bicycle faster than 20 miles per hour.
now section b allows you to ride such a vehicle without a drivers license but i cant find anything similar for a gas powered bicycle that only tops out at 20mph.
Now heres my little project i was thinking of:
I wanted to either salvage or buy a tomos streetmate(moped) and restrict it 20mph tops (increasing sprocket size etc).
so far i have called the dmv twive and both ladies said i wouldnt need a driver license. I called a chp officer and he said no....then he said well it would be trouble for me though i might be able to win a court case.
So what is the deal it would be an electric bicycles twin except for the gas vs electric motor. and as we all know, gas gets you alo t further before you have to fill up/recharge.
any help would be appreciated.
First of all let me say that i am not one of those lushes convicted of a dui. I have never driven a car in my life. I have a visual impairment, no i am not totally blind. I ride a road bike well over 20mph but for somebody who will never drive, something with a helper motor appeals to me.
I can't find a portion of the vehicle code for low powered motorized bicycles.
As some of you already know California vehicle code 406:
406. (a) A "motorized bicycle" or "moped" is any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device having fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power, or having no pedals if powered solely by electrical energy, and an automatic transmission and a motor which produces less than 2 gross brake horsepower and is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on level ground.
(b) A "motorized bicycle" is also a device that has fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power and has an electric motor that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Has a power output of not more than 1,000 watts.
(2) Is incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than 20 miles per hour on ground level.
(3) Is incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel the motorized bicycle faster than 20 miles per hour.
now section b allows you to ride such a vehicle without a drivers license but i cant find anything similar for a gas powered bicycle that only tops out at 20mph.
Now heres my little project i was thinking of:
I wanted to either salvage or buy a tomos streetmate(moped) and restrict it 20mph tops (increasing sprocket size etc).
so far i have called the dmv twive and both ladies said i wouldnt need a driver license. I called a chp officer and he said no....then he said well it would be trouble for me though i might be able to win a court case.
So what is the deal it would be an electric bicycles twin except for the gas vs electric motor. and as we all know, gas gets you alo t further before you have to fill up/recharge.
any help would be appreciated.
