The Real Deal on California Law.

GoldenMotor.com

reb1

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Aug 15, 2010
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CALIFORNIA
Ya I know I live in a fantasy world where everybody gets along and obeys the law and respects every ones rights. CA is most definetly not the worst state. When I get everything up and running on my cargo bicycle. I am going to visit dad in Arizona. I'm wondering if they will bark at me about the CA moped plate.
 

fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
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San Jose, Ca.
Yer a great believer in fedaral law, and I don't remember where I read it. But as I recall, one state MUST honor a legal registration from any other state. I'm sure you can find it in the fed. regs. somewhere.
fatdaddy.
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
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el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
Ya I know I live in a fantasy world where everybody gets along and obeys the law and respects every ones rights. CA is most definetly not the worst state. When I get everything up and running on my cargo bicycle. I am going to visit dad in Arizona. I'm wondering if they will bark at me about the CA moped plate.
Arizona shouldn't, but they will definitely howl and snap at you if you exceed their 19.9999MPH statewide speed limit on gas bikes!
 

reb1

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Aug 15, 2010
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CA requires it to be a moped plate and AZ requires Insurance and the speed limit is then 25. I will get insurance and stay oiut of Tuson, they make it up as they see fit there.
 

fatdaddy

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May 4, 2011
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CA requires it to be a moped plate and AZ requires Insurance and the speed limit is then 25. I will get insurance and stay oiut of Tuson, they make it up as they see fit there.
I didn't know you could even get insurance on a MB. I'm pretty sure you can get it on a factory made moped, they used DOT spec's when building it. If you get someone to insure you get back to us with the details. i.e., What insurance comany, How much, ect. I don't think I'll ever get any since there's no Ca. requirement, but I'm sure there are people that would.
And yeah, even around here, depending on what city you're in, the cops think they can make up their own rules. My favorite line from a cop was, "You can't ride that on the street!" (I was riding my "looks like a go cart" tadpole trike.)
fatdaddy.
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
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living the dream in southern california
i checked into getting insurance a few years ago. i called hb scooters 'cause they sell whizzers, and they gave me some local insurance guy's number.

he said i could get liability insurance, but it was some outrageous amount. more than the bike was worth.

since we don't need it i just blew it off.
 

reb1

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Aug 15, 2010
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CALIFORNIA
http://www.betterworldclub.com/home.cfm?join_code=SUST1492The moped insurance is required in AZ. So they sell it there for there purposes. There is a company out of Oregon that sells a plan like the AAA and yea they will send someone to tow you up to twice a year. Liability insurance is covered in that plan. They have a 16 dollar startup fee and the 39. dollar yearly fee. This is for regular and E bikes. I have not asked them about gas motorized bicycles yet, but will soon and I will let everyone know the answer. They are called Better World Club.
 

MotorBicycleRacing

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Jul 28, 2010
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Motorized bikes in Arizona have their own specific laws which
do not require a drivers license, helmet, registration or insurance.

Bikes have to be 48 cc or less and can not exceed 19.999 mph.

http://www.betterworldclub.com/home.cfm?join_code=SUST1492The moped insurance is required in AZ. So they sell it there for there purposes. There is a company out of Oregon that sells a plan like the AAA and yea they will send someone to tow you up to twice a year. Liability insurance is covered in that plan. They have a 16 dollar startup fee and the 39. dollar yearly fee. This is for regular and E bikes. I have not asked them about gas motorized bicycles yet, but will soon and I will let everyone know the answer. They are called Better World Club.
 

reb1

New Member
Aug 15, 2010
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CALIFORNIA
In AZ unlike CA they have a speed limit of 20mph. They want to penolize us for putting a motor on a bicycle and not using a car. The car would make more money for the man. Im not interested in there laws for MBs. I would rather be a Moped which has better legal status in most states including AZ. CA requires us to license up like a moped so I will do that.
 

gera229

New Member
Sep 4, 2011
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USA
If anyone needs the definition of motorized bicycle to print in credit card size here it is:
VC 406:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fm51fws7p5p1bvc

VC 4020:
http://www.mediafire.com/?r7dkn12z7y4ya7e

Attachment size limit on this forum is 19.5 KB for doc files and the doc file is 39 KB so I couldn't directly attach it to this forum.

It is credit card sized, so to fit it in your wallet you can use thick paper. Or glue several layers of paper together.

The definition is for those cops that make up their own laws and helps to avoid any false confusion, well at least according to fatdaddy.
 
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GoPed

New Member
Jul 30, 2012
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Los Angeles
you can walk into the DMV, take a written test, and if you pass, you get a permit, good for one year. can't ride at night with it though.

then you have to take a skills test on a real bike to get the actual license.
question then why do they require you to have headlights
 

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
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living the dream in southern california
headlights or not, it's the same thing as a new driver with a permit to drive a car. they don't want you practicing at night because the dark is scary...:)

you could cut the motor and pedal at night if you see a cop and you're worried.

but you need a headlight on a bicycle after dark anyway.

i love this thread. i hope i go down in history as having the most redundant pages on a single thread. i gotta check the 100:1 thread and see if this one's longer...:)
question then why do they require you to have headlights
 

gera229

New Member
Sep 4, 2011
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USA
Thank you, gera229.
I will print that out and carry it with me.
I should make a similar card for VC 24015 as well.
VC 24015 has too many words to fit on a credit card sized paper lol.
Maybe you can do VC section 4020 on the back side.
I modified post #454 to include the link to VC 4020.

I spotted a law where a class M license is NOT required:
VC Sec. 12804.9
(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a person holding a valid California drivers license of any class may operate a short term rental motorized bicycle without taking any special examination for the operation of a motorized bicycle, and without having a class M2 endorsement on that licence. As used in this subdivision, "short term" means 48 hours or less.

What do they mean by "Notwithstanding subdivision (b)"?

Bairdco will give me some partial credits when this thread becomes the longest right?
 
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fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
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San Jose, Ca.
(b) is for electric bikes and require no license or registration unless you take off the peddals.
And I just e-mailed gera about having VC section 4020 printed on the back of my card. It REALLY confuses the cops. And a cop would want to see the rental reciept for the bike.
fatdaddy
 
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GoPed

New Member
Jul 30, 2012
24
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0
Los Angeles
headlights or not, it's the same thing as a new driver with a permit to drive a car. they don't want you practicing at night because the dark is scary...:)

you could cut the motor and pedal at night if you see a cop and you're worried.

but you need a headlight on a bicycle after dark anyway.

i love this thread. i hope i go down in history as having the most redundant pages on a single thread. i gotta check the 100:1 thread and see if this one's longer...:)
Well ok I already have a bike light and left mirror all I'm gonna do now is put a piezo horn on it and some brake lights no problem. Probably should have those just for safety reasons in the first place. Hopefully I can find out what's causing my motor to smoke so the cops don't pull me over. Since the cops in my town have ticked people for skateboarding! They don't have enough to do!
 

fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
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San Jose, Ca.
Well ok I already have a bike light and left mirror all I'm gonna do now is put a piezo horn on it and some brake lights no problem. Probably should have those just for safety reasons in the first place. Hopefully I can find out what's causing my motor to smoke so the cops don't pull me over. Since the cops in my town have ticked people for skateboarding! They don't have enough to do!
Yep, Pretty soon it'll look like a Christmas tree. Don't forget to put the little plastic angel on top.
As far as smoking goes, check your mix ratio. For the regular cheap stuff I use 3 1/2 to 4 ounces per gallon, and I think thats a little heavy.
fatdaddy.
 

gera229

New Member
Sep 4, 2011
465
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USA
To eliminate smoke, you can use synthetic oil such as Amsoil Dominator or Asoil Interceptor or Amsoil Saber Professional (I use it).

Otherwise you can use a very reputable synthetic such as Opti2.

I only use Amsoil because it proved to not smoke as much and they seem to be the founders of synthetic oils.