E-motorcycles<\/p>\n
Though e-motos, also called e-dirt bikes, are now widely available, they are not legal on any roadway in San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n
San Diego Police Department Officer Dustin Welsh said an e-moto is \u201clike a dirt bike but electric and a little smaller in size, but it operates the same way \u2026 without the assistance of pedals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAn e-bike has to have a pedal assist. It can have a throttle, but it has to have a pedal,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cE-motos do not have \u2026 pedals and operate at higher speeds\u201d \u2014 up to 50 mph or more.<\/p>\n
Class 3 e-bikes, which have a motor that provides assistance when the rider is pedaling and is not capable of exclusively propelling the bike, are the fastest class of e-bikes, maxing out at 28 mph. \u00a0<\/p>\n
E-motos \u201clook like dirt bikes, vs. a motorcycle designed for road use. But other features are like those of motorcycles,\u201d Welsh added.<\/p>\n
However, e-motos lack some of the safety features of street motorcycles, such as a headlight. And unlike motorcycles, which can be registered for street use through the California Department of Motor Vehicles and whose riders are permitted through an established process, e-motos \u201care illegal on the roadways,\u201d Welsh said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut they are sellable because, when used legally, they are used like a dirt bike, so they can be sold for off-highway use only,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cKids think they are legal. \u2026 [But] the ones the kids have, there are none that are street-legal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thus, he said, when SDPD officers see an e-moto on the street, they go right to enforcement via impoundment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey used to be more popular until we started taking enforcement actions,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cWhen officers see them, they get impounded automatically because you cannot ride it anywhere [on the street] in the city of San Diego. Kids got their bikes taken away, so parents would switch back to e-bikes, so we haven\u2019t seen a huge uptick in [e-motos]. But they are all over the city, county and state. It\u2019s a large problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When an e-moto is impounded, there is a process for the rider \u2014 or the rider\u2019s parents \u2014 to pay a fine and register the bike for off-highway use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SUT-L-eDIRTBIKES-02-01.jpg\")
An e-dirt bike is impounded by San Diego police this year. Police say the off-road e-motorcycles are not legal to ride on city streets. (San Diego Police Department)
\nLimited understanding<\/p>\n
The understanding, or lack thereof, that many parents and young riders have about e-bikes and e-motos is a challenge in promoting legal and responsible ridership.<\/p>\n
The public\u2019s confusion has made its way into the commercial space, according to Tracy Sheffer, co-owner of Pedego Electric Bikes La Jolla.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people have no idea that there are two different categories from a consumer\u2019s standpoint,\u201d Sheffer said. \u201cThe education process is in its early stages and it\u2019s really slow in terms of the acceptance of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheffer emphasized that e-bikes and e-motos are \u201cnot even in the same world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is an electric bike, which is classified as a bicycle. And e-motos are electric dirt bikes,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are all kinds of confusion because people see kids or even adults on these two-wheeled e-motorcycles that work like an electric bike, and the only way they can truly tell a difference is if they look and see that there are pegs and no pedals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pedego La Jolla does not sell e-motos, but Sheffer said that could change if the confusion dissipates and people better understand the laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, electric bikes have gotten a really bad name,\u201d Sheffer said. \u201cThe electric bikes have been lumped in with this illegal situation that\u2019s happening in terms of street use.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pair of young local e-bike riders, given the pseudonyms Jacob and Mason, said they know e-motos are more of a motorcycle than a bicycle.<\/p>\n
Jacob said he\u2019s heard that many of his peers use the throttle feature on Class 2 e-bikes, which allows the motor to power the bike when the rider isn\u2019t pedaling \u2014 a choice Jacob said can be \u201ckinda sketchy.\u201d Class 2 e-bikes can reach speeds up to 20 mph.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them are pretty easy to pedal \u2014 that\u2019s the ones we have and some of our friends have. But most people use a throttle because it\u2019s just easier,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t automatically make it an e-moto, but they sometimes go crazy fast \u2026 and do wheelies in the street.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you peddle it, it makes it so you have more control over it,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut if you were using the throttle the whole time, having your feet hang on the sides of it \u2026 it gets pretty questionable in some scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modified bikes<\/p>\n
In addition to e-motos, there have been recent reports of young people modifying their e-bikes to increase their speed \u2014 sometimes far exceeding their designated limits.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019ve got a two-fold problem,\u201d Sheffer said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got an electric dirt bike that is illegal to start with on the streets. And now you\u2019ve got the ability for the kids to go in and regovern their e-bikes to go in excess of 60 mph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such modifications are legal only to a certain extent, according to San Diego police.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An electric bike can be modified to enhance its abilities to exceed the class it is rated for \u201das long as it is in compliance with the [California] Vehicle Code 312.5 and its new class is affixed to the bike with a new label,\u201d said SDPD Officer Nicholas Tamagni.<\/p>\n
Vehicle Code 312.5 states \u201cthe following vehicles are not electric bicycles under this code and shall not be advertised, sold, offered for sale or labeled as electric bicycles:\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 A vehicle that is modified to attain a speed greater than 20 mph on motor power alone or to have motor power of more than 750 watts<\/p>\n
\u2022 A vehicle that is modified to have its operable pedals removed<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply riding an electric bicycle is not a violation of the law, and a person cannot be detained for only riding an electric bicycle,\u201d Tamagni said. \u201cUnless there is a visual change to the e-bicycle that is not in compliance with [applicable] vehicle code, the officer would have to observe the bicycle driving at a speed in excess of 28 mph to determine the bicycle has been modified and is no longer in compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Tamagni said he has personally trained \u201cevery patrol command within the San Diego Police Department\u201d to recognize unlawful e-bikes and e-motos.<\/p>\n
In some cases, he said, it isn\u2019t the rider\u2019s fault if an e-bike doesn\u2019t comply with California law. Different states have different qualifications for what constitutes an e-bike vs. an e-moto.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAn online distributor may advertise a bicycle as a Class 2, but that bicycle may actually be considered a moped or motorcycle in the state of California, as it exceeds the max power and max speed that is lawful per the California Vehicle Code,\u201d Tamagni said. \u201cIt is upon the purchaser of the bicycle to read the specifications, specifically the top speed and max power of the bicycle, to determine if it is in compliance with California law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young e-bike rider Mason said there seems to be a lack of clarity among young people about their bikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there needs to be more distinction between what you can own and what you can\u2019t, and also more parental guidance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A 13-year-old e-bike rider from La Jolla previously told the La Jolla Light that did not receive any informational material before or immediately after getting his e-bike.<\/p>\n
SDPD\u2019s Welsh said previously that officers have distributed fliers at schools outlining the dos and don\u2019ts of e-bike ridership and \u201cdid an email blast to parents that the schools and school police were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officers also held public seminars about bike safety but stopped because of low attendance, he said.<\/p>\n
Welsh said the goal is for e-motos and altered e-bikes to be used only in places where they are legal, such as on designated tracks or on private property with consent of the owner.<\/p>\n
Next installment<\/p>\n
The next article in this series will explore how other locales outside San Diego are dealing with e-bike issues. \u2666<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is the third part of a series exploring electric bicycles, their local impact and the ongoing controversy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[11705,7,930,5184,6804,6953,74,84,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-34761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-bird-rock","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la-jolla","11":"tag-la-jolla-light","12":"tag-la-jolla-light-news","13":"tag-la-jolla-shores","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-san-diego-headlines","17":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}