Such an interesting...and long thread
Here is a bit of perspective from a California licensed DMV dealer that sells two-wheeled vehicles that span all of these classes, as we get people in the shop
all the time with bad information...some of them coming from less-than-honest competitors:
The Basic Rule of Thumb - The only thing in California with two wheels you can drive on a public road without a license is a bicycle.
The 406(a)/(b) "confusion" in our experience in almost every case is proliferated by 1. people that cannot get a license and are looking for a "loophole"... 2. unscrupulous or uninformed resellers (usually, importers of Chinese electric bikes, or Chinese electric scooters they got 'on the super-cheap' because they are not DOT approved/49 CFR 567 compliant) 3. people that are trying to "beat the system".
It is really very, very simple: if your ride does NOT meet the very specific and narrow requirements of 406(b), then it is NOT exempt from license, registration and insurance requirements.
While motorized electric scooters/bikes/2-stroke bike mods
can meet 406(a) and not be considered "Motor-Driven Cycles"
only 406(b) classified Motorized Bicycles are exempted.
Anytime someone wants to...debate...this in the shop, we just hand them the book from the DMV. The DMV book has the exemption language in
bold print
-K