I guarantee you won't have any trouble at all unless you run a stop sign or do something stupid in front of a cop. I think you'll find that if your motor bicycle was on fire, you wouldn't even be able to get a cops attention lol.
Hey, I know this issue is starting to bore some of you, but I came across this article from a few years back that says the seat and pedals of a bicycle do not count as a "deck" of a "motor assisted scooter". This is quite aggravating:
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?15421-Texas-Laws-Tickets
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?15421-Texas-Laws-Tickets
Yes, that's true, a motor bicycle can't be considered a motor assisted scooter. You wouldn't want that anyway, because a couple years ago Texas changed the moped law to require a drivers license even for 50 cc and under.
Even though it's disconcerting having to ride in a gray area of the law, you get used to it. As long as no police officer can say he saw your bike being operated as a self propelled vehicle you won't have a problem. Just remember to always pedal away from stops.
A couple weeks ago I was riding my electric bicycle at White Rock Lake. Electric bicycles are a different animal than gas powered as far as the law is concerned. I had a short conversation with a police officer while there which was kind of revealing.
He told me my bike was a moped, but I didn't get the feeling he was very confidant about that assertion, and after further discussion I came to the conclusion he didn't know very much about the law concerning motor bicycles. That's not surprising either, because hardly anyone does. He did know enough to be dangerous though. The one question he ask me was, is it self propelled? If a police officer asks you that question, and you say yes while riding a gas bike, you're busted. In Texas all motor vehicles are considered self propelled. You can get away with saying yes on an electric bike though, because electric bicycles have specific statutes governing their operation. Gas powered bicycles don't, and trust me we're better off this way. Any laws they write for motor bicycles won't be as good as now.
He told me my bike was a moped, but I didn't get the feeling he was very confidant about that assertion, and after further discussion I came to the conclusion he didn't know very much about the law concerning motor bicycles. That's not surprising either, because hardly anyone does. He did know enough to be dangerous though. The one question he ask me was, is it self propelled? If a police officer asks you that question, and you say yes while riding a gas bike, you're busted. In Texas all motor vehicles are considered self propelled. You can get away with saying yes on an electric bike though, because electric bicycles have specific statutes governing their operation. Gas powered bicycles don't, and trust me we're better off this way. Any laws they write for motor bicycles won't be as good as now.
Self propelled is an confusing word to some people as it easily translates into anything that moves under its own power at any speed. IMO word entrapment there.
As far as taking off I agree, its really slow/hard getting these little engines to take off from a dead stop without having to pedal first. I sometimes stall out trying to get the motor to help pedal me off from a stop.
That's the only reason a gas MB is legal in Texas. If you have to pedal it from a stop, it can't be considered self propelled.
The law says, In Texas, all motor vehicles are considered self propelled. That's why you need to use that specific wording if the question ever comes up.
having to use specific wording feels like a dirty trick to me though. Pretty much in my defense I'd say "ok so what if you were minding your own business and this happened and the only reason why im in court today is because i didnt know the complete definition of self propeled at the time yet knew every other restriction for my bike."
Laws are very specific. Black and white. The problem is in Texas, we ride in a gray area of the law, according to the DPS.
The only thing preventing them from calling a gas MB an unregistered moped is the question of is it self propelled or not? If it is, it's a motor vehicle which would require registration, insurance, and you'd need a license.
That would be a catch 22, because in Texas there's no way to register a bicycle because there's no VIN. We'd be sol in other words.
It's not really an issue for us so far, because the DPS has decided china girls at least, are bicycles. Slap a 10hp Harbor Frieght motor in your bicycle and you might be in for trouble.
Electrics otoh don't have that problem, they're specifically covered in Texas statutes.
I believe that Texas does allow people to register a certain number of "kit" vehicles each year. I think you just need to bring your bicycle in to have it inspected. Once it passes a safety inspection, you should be able to get it registered as a moped.
Kit vehicles don't typically come with VIN numbers... How would they if they are built from an assortment of parts?
As far as I know no one has ever done this with a bicycle in Texas. Whoever does will probably be the first.
If anyone tries, please post your results on this thread.
Depending on where you live in Texas, I doubt the authorities would be too stringent. My car failed emission testing but since it is only OBD1, I could not get any codes from the computer. My car ran very well at the time, so it was anyone's guess as to what was causing the problem.
I threw a bunch of parts at the problem (not knowing what was malfunctioning), including an adjustable FPR and upgraded ECU, then took the car into the actual state DPS testing area. I failed again with emissions levels that would have gotten me gross polluter status in California. Since I passed the $600 part mark though, I was given a waiver.
The DPS officer told me that he would have given me a waiver with far less than $600 in parts if it weren't for the liberals in Austin. Our police officers are usually fair and are mainly trying to keep people safe.
I threw a bunch of parts at the problem (not knowing what was malfunctioning), including an adjustable FPR and upgraded ECU, then took the car into the actual state DPS testing area. I failed again with emissions levels that would have gotten me gross polluter status in California. Since I passed the $600 part mark though, I was given a waiver.
The DPS officer told me that he would have given me a waiver with far less than $600 in parts if it weren't for the liberals in Austin. Our police officers are usually fair and are mainly trying to keep people safe.
All I've really heard you can do is register it with local police at the station to say that's your bike.
Edit: And maybe when you do that you can probably get a stamped plate and weld it on or dremmel your name somewhere inconspicuos. Personal choice, I think all the cops do is take a picture and have it on file incase you report it stolen. Then they have the description already there in detail.
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I built a gas powered bike with the chinese 2 stroke motor everyone knows and used an off the rack schwinn schwindler beach bike. I also put on a banana seat and sissy bar plus a highrise handlebars. So far I have not been pulled over in Texas. I do use the sides of the roads and generally try to pedal across intersections, have a headlight on at all times plus a rear view mirror and reflectors in back. I believe that until some fool gets a DUI on a gas powered bike, the laws will not change. But after that Texas DUI I imagine MADD will get a handle on it and make the lawmakers define a gas powered bike as a moped. The Chinese motor is not a help because lots of small companies in the U.S.A are designing and building e-bikes for street legal riding. And in more states than not the gas powered bicycle is already defined in state laws as being a moped and requiring a moped driver license and a tag, insurance and all the usual requirements for a motorcycle including turn signals, brake light, horn. On the otherhand most states will continue to recognize an e-bike as still being a bicycle. The e-bike is clean, its made in the U.S.A. there are a lot of companies trying to build street legal 3-bikes for $1500 where as the gas bike can be built for a third of that price. So the gas bikes are tending to be off road vehicles only, and the e-bikes are being designed with lights and all the bells and whistles for work commuting on state roads. Texas is behind the other states with regards to the gas bike conversion to a tagged moped. It is only a matter of time. Before the conversion happens, it is a fun and cheap way to get around for the mechanically inclined because the bicycle is going faster and covering a lot more miles in any given amount of time than a human powered bicycle, and so part inspections and adjustments are every few days in my case.
Since there are only vaguely written laws about motorized bicycles, you might want to read this. If you consider it a moped this applies. https://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/motorcycleLicense.htm
People keep saying nobody has gotten trouble, but that's not true. About ten years ago a friend of mine had gotten a dwi so when he wanted to go to the bar instead of taking his car he would drive his motorized bike. One night he got harassed by the cops. Since he was driving on the street (about 10ft) they considered it a motor vehicle. They gave him tickets for no motorcycle license, no registration, insurance, inspection, etc. They also gave him a DWI and took him to jail and then towed the bike. So yes this shi* happens. I moved right after so I don't know if he fought it and won or what.
In the last month I've seen a couple of china girls riding around in far North Dallas. It's been a long time before that, that I've seen one. Electrics otoh are becoming more and more prevalent. Now they even have electric bicycle rentals in downtown Dallas.