4 stroke engine question

GoldenMotor.com

cmanns

New Member
Jul 1, 2012
132
0
0
Santa Cruz, California
^Well in my area kids get shot, killed, and ran over every week I take care of friend's kids and we keep them in sight.

CHP in my area roam around the city areas the last few years. A law passed that allows cops to go into other jurisdictions. I live less then .4mi from the freeway, so yes I see them. They don't bother me either

I'm clearly not at all concerned. People in my area do 2-6+ HP engines. It's more so if your riding like an idiot going 30+ they'd pull you over.

In my general opinion it's best to just figure the law for yourself. I had lots of race cars growing up, once I left my area at 16 or 17 and got a cali modified non smog legal exhaust ticket, however it was technically smog legal they can ticket you for modified exhaust now days. The ticket got thrown out before I even went to court, the cop was supposed to have my parents called, and have them come pickup the car. I had no parents, good luck! Oh well he was actually a CHP

I've driven with no exhaust in my area (Loud 13B Rotary RX-7), when I asked the cop if he was going to give me a ticket because someone stole my exhaust he replied no he's not that kind of *******.

I may be a 21 year old who's ran a business for 6+ years, but riding my bike on the street isn't the most fun. I have people illegally passing me on double yellows when I have the right away and am going the speed limit, I've been threatened by local gangmembers....police are the least of my worry. I'd be more bothered about these local thugs trying to take my bike, they love stealing bikes I couldn't imagine how one of them would feel getting one with a motor. They'd probably happily stab me all over for it, but that's okay I have some military training for them ;)

My fav is closed trails that have no signs about motors not being allowed. The folk jogging and walking always smile, shout, or wave. I have much more fun going through them trails man :)
 

showcaller

Member
Mar 9, 2011
69
0
6
Los Angeles
Cmanns, It sounds like you know the locals and based on how well you do with the CHP and the local police, you're right, you probably have much bigger fish to fry than showing some police officer a piece of paper. That said... I am in North Hollywood just a few blocks away from the gang bangers. I don't worry about them so much as I do riding in Burbank where the police don't have the most steller reputation. They like to see everyone obeying the law and this place is very much like the old Andy Griffith show. Also, for what it is worth, our great state of California is about as debt ridden as you can get. Any way they can raise a few extra dollars looking for traffic / registration violations is music to their ears. We on MB are great targets because they can assume most don't understand what is legal and what isn't. Our governor has already indicated that license plates to register your motor vehicle will be going up. This will include cars, RVs, motorcycles and of course that one time 19.00 fee we pay for our bikes to be legal.

Just food for thought.

Ride safe

Sho
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
4
38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
On the other side of the coin, If you can figure out a way to mount a 327 V8 on your bike and still be able to peddle it and have that engine develop less than 2 horsepower -you are legal.
There IS a CC limit for these in California: it's 149CC. Cali DMV says "150CC or higher is a motorcycle". An older fella at a Sacramento DMV told me that law came into place back in the day because of the popularity of Whizzers in California at the time. Whizzer engines are 138CC & 2HP stock.
 

showcaller

Member
Mar 9, 2011
69
0
6
Los Angeles
I knew that a motorcycle is considered 150 cc and above but I didn't think that precluded still having a mb with over 150 cc on it. I guess after 150 cc you need to be motorcycle compliant.

There IS a CC limit for these in California: it's 149CC. Cali DMV says "150CC or higher is a motorcycle". An older fella at a Sacramento DMV told me that law came into place back in the day because of the popularity of Whizzers in California at the time. Whizzer engines are 138CC & 2HP stock.
 

abikerider

New Member
Jul 7, 2008
219
0
0
Sacramento, CA
Just to clarify things a little. You can take the behind the wheel part of the motorcycle test in CA with a 49cc scooter and still get an M1 license as long as it doesn't have pedals. I know because I did it. The M2 license is only for mopeds/motorized bicycles which have pedals. The M1 is for motor driven cycles (under 150cc) and motorcycles ( 150cc and over). Also, motor driven cycles are not allowed on the highway, presumably because they can't keep up with traffic. I don't know why everyone thinks that a scooter under 150cc doesn't need an M1 license.
 

showcaller

Member
Mar 9, 2011
69
0
6
Los Angeles
Just to clarify things a little... I don't know why everyone thinks that a scooter under 150cc doesn't need an M1 license.
It's not a scooter that folks are mis informed about, it's our motorized bikes. In California the law requires an M2 (or M1) license. This would be under 150 cc with pedals.