Texas Riding Blog

[JohnDoe]

Well this is what they said:

Thank you for contacting us. If your motor-assisted bicycle is considered a certified moped by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), you would be required to apply for title and registration. You can check the list of certified mopeds on the DPS website at http://www.dps.texas.gov/msb/documents/CurrentMopedList.pdf.

If your bicycle is not on this list, you will need to contact the City of Austin or Austin Police Department to verify if there are any local ordinances prohibiting its use on Austin roadways.

My message to them was:

I have a gasoline powered motorized bicycle. Are they legal on Austin roads? Do I need to get it registered? Can I register the bicycle?


They really didn't give me much there. Should I re-word the Email I sent them?

If you do ask them anything else then I would like to request that you ask about a CC limit. And body panels and brake lights....

 

[biknut]

If you do ask them anything else then I would like to request that you ask about a CC limit. And body panels and brake lights....

My advise is, stop poking the bear. They're never going to give you the answer you want to hear, because they can't. There's a problem in Texas law concerning motor bicycles.

Size of the motor, or how fast it goes doesn't matter. Texas law states that all motor vehicles are considered self propelled. All that matters is, is it considered self propelled, or not? If it is, it's a motor vehicle, and has to be licensed, and insured, and the whole nine yards.

The problem is there's no defined definition in Texas law of what constitutes self propelled, but one thing is for sure. If a cop sees you ride off from a stop without pedaling, your bike is self propelled, and you're riding an illegal unregistered moped, or motorcycle. Having to pedal away from a stop is your only defense in court.

 

[JohnDoe]

My advise is, stop poking the bear. They're never going to give you the answer you want to hear, because they can't. There's a problem in Texas law concerning motor bicycles.

Size of the motor, or how fast it goes doesn't matter. Texas law states that all motor vehicles are considered self propelled. All that matters is, is it considered self propelled, or not? If it is, it's a motor vehicle, and has to be licensed, and insured, and the whole nine yards.

The problem is there's no defined definition in Texas law of what constitutes self propelled, but one thing is for sure. If a cop sees you ride off from a stop without pedaling, your bike is self propelled, and you're riding an illegal unregistered moped, or motorcycle. Having to pedal away from a stop is your only defense in court.

I see what your saying, have the big engine and sports bike like body just be sure to pedal away from a stop. Or would that be abuse of the grey zone? I'm not planning on being reckless just want a really of the wall bike. (That's why in my self intro thread I asked about registration.)

 

[biknut]

China Girl sighting in Carrollton. I was across the street and noticed something looked funny about the bicycle waiting at the light. Then I realized it was a china girl at large. Then less than a week later I saw another one in the same area of town.



I also ran across 3 eBikes at large in the last month.

This A2B was riding close to my house in Farmers Branch



I was riding my Storm on the White Rock Trail and came upon another Storm riding toward me.



And another day while riding my Stealth I spoted an iZip with a front hub motor in Carrollton

 

[biknut]

That makes 5 motor bicycles I've run across in the last month. That's a record for sure. Usually if I see 1 china girl in a year that's about average, but I've been seeing maybe 4 or 5 eBikes a year, and now it seems like sightings are increasing.

 

[biknut]

I spotted a china girl at large last night riding in Carrollton.

 

[biknut]

Ran across another eBike today riding in Farmers Branch. This is John, and he's 80 years old. He said he can't see well enough to drive anymore, so he bought this bike so he can grocery shop and run errands, and whatnot.

Seems like I'm running across eBikes at large in greater frequency.

 

[Holyman92]

Hi I love in la Porte and I haven't been hassled yet, but today I'm going on a 30 mile or so ride to test my luck and see how it goes.

 

[biknut]

Hi I love in la Porte and I haven't been hassled yet, but today I'm going on a 30 mile or so ride to test my luck and see how it goes.

You could run into trouble since your bike doesn't have pedals. If A cop wants to, he can call your bike an unregistered moped.

In Dallas I know there's a lot of mopeds riding around that aren't registered, but I registered the one I had. Enforcement of the moped laws is spotty.

 

[biknut]

Saturday I was out riding in Carrollton Texas when I came across this eBike. The owners name is Joe. Joe said he'd owned this bike for a couple of months, and he loves it.

 

[Holyman92]

Hi I love in la Porte and I haven't been hassled yet, but today I'm going on a 30 mile or so ride to test my luck and see how it goes.

You could run into trouble since your bike doesn't have pedals. If A cop wants to, he can call your bike an unregistered moped.

In Dallas I know there's a lot of mopeds riding around that aren't registered, but I registered the one I had. Enforcement of the moped laws is spotty.

I have the bottom something or another ordered just waiting for it to come in the mail, when it gets here ima weld it in and add pedals back to it but in the mean time I have been cruising along at the beach by my house and to and from work with no problems thus far... went on a 20 mile ride across town and back and it was nice but now I have a sun burn -_-

 

[[email protected]]

Hum, This is a good idea. This type of motor bicycle may make life easy and comfortable. It may reduce the hassle of jerking on the street.

 

[biknut]

There's rouge china girl in my neighborhood. I've seen him riding past my house a couple of times now in the last few months.

Last week a couple of my friends and I were out riding our eBikes, and we spotted a friction drive motor bicycle going down the street in Carrollton
.

 

[biknut]

Spotted at last months Dallas critical mass

 

[biknut]

This was April Critical Mass in Dallas







The after party



The after, after party

 

[biknut]

China girl at large sighting today. I was in Irving Texas near McArthur, and Pioneer Pkwy about 2 pm. I didn't get a good look. I think it was a black beach cruiser, with a black fellow riding it.

 

[Dirt Road Cowboy]

I spotted a black MB at the new Wal-Mart near us last week. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.) My wife was in a hurry, so I didn't get to check it out.

 

[Troy Boggs]

If you live in Texas and want to start riding motor bicycles, or already are, check in here, and tell us about your riding experiences. Texas is very motor bicycle friendly.

I live in Dallas, and have been riding for over 2 1/2 years. I've never been hassled by the police for riding my motor bicycle on the streets, and when I have time I usually ride 30 miles at a time.

If you're close enough to ride with me let me know, and we'll have fun. There's getting to more and more of us everyday.

I got my motobike today 49.cc

 

[Troy Boggs]

Hi all,
I am new to the forum and live 1 hour Northeast of Dallas, in Commerce, Texas (home of Texas A&M University-Commerce).

I am still deciding what will be my first build. I'm looking at different kits, but can someone please explain to me the difference between say, a "super rat" and something like a 66/80cc slant motor. What makes it a "rat" or "Super Rat"?

Thanks!
Jamie

Are you looking to build your own frame from scratch

 

[Kozlee]

Today we had 60 degrees and sun with no wind, so I decided all things considered the best thing for me to do would be play hooky from work and go on a 30 mile ride around town on my MB. If I've learned anything in life so far it's, a man had get his priorities straight. Besides I'm the boss so screw it.

It seemed like the time had come for me to ride into the lions mouth and see what happens. I rode from Farmers Branch to University Park, to Highland Park, to the Katy Trail. Down the Katy trail all the way to down town Dallas, and back up the Katy trail to Highland Park again.

Now I was at entrance to SMU, which is real close to the start of the Katy trail. If I thought it was risky to ride University Park, and Highland Park, the thought of riding into the jurisdiction of the SMU police seemed double risky. I figure the SMU police are so bored they'd probably pull me over just for the **** of it.

Well this is what happened. I rode all around Highland park and purposely did a drive by of the highland Park police station. Highland Park is probably the richest, and snootiest, and highest income city in all of Texas. You can get a ticket in highland Park just for driving while black. I figured it's a perfect place to test out a motor bicycle. Nuthin!!! I couldn't even get the police to notice me if I was on fire.

Next I hit the Katy trail. I didn't run my motor. Too many people. I just peddled the whole way. I passed a Dallas policeman on his bicycle riding the trail in the opposite direction, but he didn't pay any attention to me. I peddled the trail round trip from Highland Park, to down town, and back to Highland Park.

When I got back to the beginning of the trail I was less than 1/2 from SMU. I was thinking I better not go there because university cops are notorious for jacking with people, but then I decided I need to find out what will happen, so I rode right down the middle of the campus on the main thoroughfare, and then across some sidewalks under power and eventually out onto Hillcrest and into University Park. Nuthin!!!

From there I rode from one side side of University Park to the other, and directly past the University Park police station in the process, which is in the center of the town. Then about 6 more miles through North Dallas, and the last 3 miles in Farmers Branch.

This makes 9 out of the 10 city's in my riding range I've ridden in so far without any problems. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that motor bicycle riders are good to go in Texas. I've lived and ridden motorcycles in Dallas for over 40 years, so I know very well where the most likely places are to expect trouble from the police.

The worst of all are,

Farmers Branch
Highland Park
Anywhere around White Rock Lake
University Park

I've now ridden all of these places without even getting so much as a dirty look. A Farmers Branch cop even waved at me. So far so good.

I live in FB, cop at the historical park waved me down the other day just to ask I use a headlight at night and to tell me my bike was cool. Do you live around here? I would love a riding partner