Pocket Bikes and the CHP

[GlastronGuy]

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/pocketbikes.html

[Ziggy]

As with any popular item they had to crack down on the legal side of the issue---to many young kids getting hurt on them.
My local area had a large article, basically a carbon of that statement, in the paper warning that it will be enforced.
.
It was inevitable.:rolleyes:

[RiverToysJas]

Just another case of the man trying to hold back my 4yo....
http://www.op6c.com/images/fun2/jonny_supperbike.jpg
RTJas :D

[MagicMtnDan]

I'm way tired of those PBs and the scooters too. Friggin' kids riding them around in the local park makes it sound like a battle of weed wackers :mad:
People go to the park to get away from exhaust and engine noises (especially two stroke leaf blower/weed wacker engines!) - I wish they'd just ride them in the street and take their lives in their hands.
I'm sure I sound like an old fogey but there's no good place for those things - you want a motorcycle get one!

[ratso]

...land lice???

[Ken F]

I agree...I'm thinking piano wire stretched across the street.
Ken F

[RiverToysJas]

Originally posted by MagicMtnDan
I'm sure I sound like an old fogey but there's no good place for those things - you want a motorcycle get one!
I do have one, it's very small, pretty loud, and little smokey! It's my right to love it, and your right to hate it! ;)
RTJas :D

[GlastronGuy]

Originally posted by RiverToysJas
I do have one, it's very small, pretty loud, and little smokey! It's my right to love it, and your right to hate it! ;)
RTJas :D
And I'll defend to the death your right to love it.
Now, stand here on the big, red X.
Don't mind the 4000# safe suspended by a rope above your head.
;)
Waits patiently for Tom Brown to come here and tell me I am an asshole.

[superdave013]

Originally posted by MagicMtnDan
I'm way tired of those PBs and the scooters too. Friggin' kids riding them around in the local park makes it sound like a battle of weed wackers :mad:
People go to the park to get away from exhaust and engine noises (especially two stroke leaf blower/weed wacker engines!) - I wish they'd just ride them in the street and take their lives in their hands.
I'm sure I sound like an old fogey but there's no good place for those things - you want a motorcycle get one!
boo hoo
Sounds like some boatless sour grapes to me.

[Tom Brown]

Originally posted by ratso
...land lice???
LMAO! :D :D :D

[Spotondl]

.:confused: :confused: :confused:
I cannot believe that so many people are bent on these stupid pieces of shiat. Get over it. How many of you have REALLY been even slightly inconvenienced by one of these pieces of junk?
I am more concerned by the dickwad that blasts up and down my street on some R2, rice burning, crotch rocket at 9000 rpm. LOVE the sound BTW, just don't appreciate the danger....
Fair disclosure: I do NOT own one of these pieces of shiat but I have to say that I am surprised at the way everyone falls over themselves to portend some fellatiated community response here. Get real, it's just a stupid toy...
Just my .02...
Spot

[MagicMtnDan]

For his 14th birthday in July, Gabriel Romero has his heart set on a "pocket bike."
The miniature gas-powered motorbikes, about knee-high, are the hottest trend on two wheels.
Gabriel, a ninth-grader in Fresno, said he has five friends who own pocket bikes. Because he only has a bicycle and run-down scooter, Gabriel often gets left in the dust.
"All my friends have one," he said. "They're all ditching me because I have a bike."
If he doesn't get the desired birthday gift, Gabriel said he will baby-sit his younger sister all summer to earn enough to foot the $500 bill himself.
A couple of weeks ago, Gabriel e-mailed Fresno police Sgt. Dave Gibeault to find out whether the pocket bikes were street-legal.
He got bad news: They're not. The gas-powered bikes are illegal to ride on streets and sidewalks -- just about everywhere except private property and closed race tracks.
In the last two weeks, Fresno and Clovis police have begun cracking down on people who ride the tiny gas-powered bikes on public property. Fresno traffic officers already have doled out a couple dozen citations, even more warnings and impounded about 10 bikes, Lt. Andy Hall said.
Like most of his friends, Gabriel is undeterred. He said he has a friend and relative who have property where he can ride. He said his friends, however, ride the tiny bikes on streets. Gabriel's friends aren't the only ones skirting the law. Fresno police have fielded calls about the noisy bikes all over the city.
"I've really been inundated with neighborhood complaints," Gibeault said.
Pocket-bike riders have nearly hit pedestrians on sidewalks, sped through intersections and raced each other in neighborhoods, Gibeault said.
Hall said, "Kids are getting more and more brazen with them."
The little bikes have exploded in popularity since April and May, when the weather warmed. At the Fun Time Scooter Co. in northwest Fresno, they cost between $390 and $490, but they can sell for as much as $1,500.
The scooter company is one of many Fresno businesses that peddle the mini versions of racing motorcycles. Carlos Castanos, manager of Fun Time Scooter, said he sells between five and eight pocket bikes a week.
"Nothing has had the appeal of the pocket bikes," said Castanos, whose wife owns the company. "They're so quick. That one, I've had more fun on than any scooter I've ever ridden."
Pocket bikes weigh about 50 pounds and can reach speeds of 35 mph -- higher with some modifications. Many don't have headlights, brake lights or turn signals, Hall said. Not only would they be difficult to see in a rear-view mirror, but the bikes are no match for a full-sized car.
"It's a tragedy waiting to happen if these two come into contact," Hall said.
No one has been injured in any pocket-bike accidents in Fresno, Hall said, but "we're just trying to get out in front of it before someone gets hurt or killed."
Pocket bikes have attracted two distinct sets of riders, Hall said: thrill-seeking teens, and adults who have had their driver's licenses revoked or suspended, usually because of a drunken-driving conviction.
Authorities say people with traffic violations are misguided. Pocket bikes are often referred to as gas-powered scooters, but they don't offer sanctuary from the law for drunken-driving offenders. While scooters are legal -- riders don't need a license to drive them on city streets -- pocket bikes are not.
There also seems to be confusion about the legal issues surrounding the pocket bikes. Last week, 35-year-old Gerardo Rios showed up at Fun Time Scooter carrying paperwork from the California Highway Patrol.
The night before, a police officer stopped his 14-year-old son as the boy drove a gas-powered bike around his Dinuba neighborhood, Rios said. The officer told Rios it was illegal to drive the bike on the street.
"Well, I was like, 'Where the heck am I going to ride it?' " Rios said. "Basically, I have it parked in the garage right now. I don't know what we're going to do with it."
Last week, Castanos was in Los Angeles preparing for a new wave of pocket-bike hysteria: electric bikes, which can be ridden on certain residential streets or in bicycle lanes.
"It's going to be the hottest thing since marbles," he said. "It's going to be the best thing for Christmas."
For now, however, gas-powered pocket bikes are still a hot commodity -- regardless of police scrutiny.
"They have been clamping down, but it hasn't affected sales," said Castanos, who warns customers the bikes shouldn't be ridden on city streets. Customers "really just don't care. They just want one."
source: Fresno Bee (newspaper) (http://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-sl-opinion-stories/story/8759508p-9639524c.html)

[LOWRIVER2]

I say keep 'em coming. I love any new way to put more parolees/bangers in jail. I've landed five off these bikes alone
in the last 3 weeks since it's EASY probable cause to stop these things when they're on the street. Some of the bikes require an M2 license which means it's 12500 C.V.C. which means a 30 day impound. That's a $700 hit on the owner.
Bottom line: The crackdown/media hype will come when some middle or uppper class white kid gets a dirt nap from riding one of these things. It's already happened in South LA, just not "newsworthy" enough since death is a regular thing down there.

[RiverToysJas]

I didn't realize little pocket bikes bothered so many people..... :eek: ..... I'll be riding it more often now that I know! http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/ruinkai/flipa.gif
We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man! :p :D
RTJas :D

[superdave013]

Dan, I hope that the day you get a boat it has through the hub exhaust.
I say that because I go to the lake to relax and not to hear the exhaust from your fockin boat! lol
I guess that won't be a problem as your grapes are to sour to even spend the coin on a pocket bike. lol

[GlastronGuy]

Originally posted by superdave013
Dan, I hope that the day you get a boat it has through the hub exhaust.
I say that because I go to the lake to relax and not to hear the exhaust from your fockin boat! lol
I guess that won't be a problem as your grapes are to sour to even spend the coin on a pocket bike. lol
Boats have hubs?

[superdave013]

Originally posted by GlastronGuy
Boats have hubs?
No, they have a hub. It's in the center of your prop.

[Wet Dream]

Originally posted by Spotondl
.:confused: :confused: :confused:
Fair disclosure: I do NOT own one of these pieces of shiat but I have to say that I am surprised at the way everyone falls over themselves to portend some fellatiated community response here. Get real, it's just a stupid toy...
Just my .02...
Spot
Well said. You'll see that quite often in here.

[MagicMtnDan]

Originally posted by superdave013
Dan, I hope that the day you get a boat it has through the hub exhaust.
I say that because I go to the lake to relax and not to hear the exhaust from your fockin boat! lol
I guess that won't be a problem as your grapes are to sour to even spend the coin on a pocket bike. lol
Put it this way Dave, I think pocket bikes should be on the roads and in the parks even less than I think lake lice should be on the water.
Those're some dang funny jokes you're making about me not having a boat. Guess what Dave, I don't own a boat. I have to admit it though, you're really witty. :yuk:

[RiverToysJas]

Originally posted by MagicMtnDan
Those're some dang funny jokes you're making about me not having a boat. Guess what Dave, I don't own a boat. I have to admit it though, you're really witty. :yuk:
Umm......I don't think you're allowed to post here if you don't have a boat, and I know we're not required to listen to you if you don't. ;) Try This Forum instead.. (http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/) :p
RTJas :D

[MagicMtnDan]

Originally posted by RiverToysJas
Umm......I don't think you're allowed to post here if you don't have a boat, and I know we're not required to listen to you if you don't. ;) Try This Forum instead.. (http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/) :p
RTJas :D
Another nice boater making friends. Well, if I'm not "allowed here" then I guess YOU and your non-boat-haters will have to "make" FM and other non-boat owners leave too.
So you don't want people on this forum who don't own boats? Is that the price of admission to this "club?"

[RiverToysJas]

Originally posted by MagicMtnDan
So you don't want people on this forum who don't own boats? Is that the price of admission to this "club?"
Yeah, you have to own a big off-shore boat, and send me brownies & beer! That's how you get in! ;) :p
Get real and light up MMD!!!! It's all jokes. Sheesh.... :rolleyes: :D Little sensitive are you??? LOL
RTJas :D

[CALIFORNIA PERFORMANCE]

Man..Its not like these kids are out killing people. Its kids HAVING FUN. Whats left for them to do outside anymore???We have xr50s.Yeah we crash,get hurt and live to tell about it.There are so many other things to worry about. I am sure when you were a kid you did not break any laws???Come on its just a mini bike get over it:yuk: :yuk: :even got a pic 4 ya. :D

[RACRJEFF]

Originally posted by RiverToysJas
Just another case of the man trying to hold back my 4yo....
http://www.op6c.com/images/fun2/jonny_supperbike.jpg
RTJas :D popular to belief even with an interceptor motor i dont think i could catch ur boy :) i might need the air ship lol

[RiverDave]

You know... What is America coming too when a kid can't even ride one of these things around in his neighborhood (residential streets)..
Shit we used to drive go karts around my neighborhood..
RD

[riverracerx]

Face it...anything fun will certainly become illegal. Go-Peds! ILLEGAL. Quit having fun.... Pocket Bikes. ILLEGAL! Quit having fun... All the OHV places being shut down and most bikes not receiving green stickers anymore....quit having fun.
Can't you just let kids have some fun?
I had a neighbor call the Sheriff because on my cul-de-sac we had 5 kiddy electric cars/jeeps cruising around. The neighbor didn't like the noise and thought it was unsafe and called the Sheriff? Get a life! Why don't we just lock everyone up in rubber rooms so no one can get hurt anymore.

[RiverToysJas]

Pretty soon we'll have to wear helmets when driving cars, and then later the cars will have to be filled to the bottom of the windows with those foam packing peanuts.
I'm just glad we have a government that is so interested in protecting us from ourselves, it makes living free in the land of the brave so much safer. :rolleyes:
RTJas :D

[Sherpa]

my neighbors used to rat me out for riding a 5hp minibke in my
neighborhood as a kid..... Our Original "Go-Kart" with the Mac 6
was waaay out of the question for the neighborhood...
Today, I see (and hear) kids riding gas skooters up and down the
street all the time... pretty much daily in fact.. I say, MORE POWER
TO THEM-!
If I was a kid today, and had a 2-stroke skooter, I'd be riding that
thing everywhere!
--Kids need to be kids for crying out loud...
I always wondered about the pocket bikes though...
Wonder how bad I'll get in trouble when I finish my go-kart/Radio
-Flyer wagon running a Mac 93 with an Azusa open header up
and down my street-???
--Sherpa
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult..................

[Excessive Force]

Im all for Law Enforcement but the CHP over do it. They'd pull over their mothers and ticket them, I figure they are strictly traffic so thats all they know how to do.