If you ride or ride an e-bike or electric two-wheeler for fun, you’ve probably seen the headlines. There is a new law in Washington state. Police are talking about enforcement. Parents are being alerted. And high-power electric bikes are suddenly in the headlines.
At first glance, it seems as if Washington has just declared war on electric bikes. But that is not actually happening. The interesting part of this story isn’t that the state wants teenagers to ride high-powered electric bikes. Many cities already grapple with kids racing across parks, sidewalks, bike paths and neighborhood streets on machines capable of motorcycle speeds. That part is not at all new.
What’s new is that Washington has finally brought to light one of the biggest questions in the world of electric two-wheelers: What exactly are high-powered “e-bikes” like the Sur-Ron and Talaria?
For years, bikes like the Sur-Ron Lite B and the Talaria Komodo have occupied a strange legal no-man’s-land. They are sold through powersports dealers. They look like dirt bikes. They can go at speeds that would put many scooters to shame. Yet they are often included in the same conversations as electric bicycles. Washington’s new law essentially says the negotiations are over.
Under the updated rules, an e-bike cannot produce more than 750 watts and travel more than 20 mph without pedaling. If a machine exceeds those limits, it is not considered an e-bike. It is now effectively governed by the regulations relating to electric motorcycles. It seems pretty straightforward until you realize what’s going to happen next.
It might be easy to interpret the law as paving the way for Sur-Rons to become street legal. Get licensed, be at least 16 years old, and you’re ready to go, right?
Wrong.
Photo by: Segway
The law doesn’t magically turn an electric dirt bike into a street-legal motorcycle. It simply removes the e-bike label that many owners were relying on. Once a bike is classified as a motorcycle, it must operate according to motorcycle regulations. And this is where things get a little tricky.
Many Sur-Ron and Talaria sold in the US were originally intended for off-road use only. They lack the necessary equipment, certification or registration status for legal road operation. In other words, being treated as a motorcycle doesn’t mean you can ride it on a main road.
So this is the real story here. Washington did not ban these bikes. This did not invalidate ownership. It also doesn’t say that adults can’t ride them. Instead, the state looked at a machine capable of 40, 50, or even 60 mph and basically said: Stop pretending it’s a bicycle.
Photo Credit: Niu
The timing is not surprising. Regulators across the country are trying to get a grip on a category that is exploding faster than the laws governing it. Electric dirt bikes have become extremely popular because they provide motorcycle-level performance without many of the hassles traditionally associated with motorcycles. Now those obstacles are beginning to reappear.
Tacoma’s headlines may be about teens being stopped by police, but the bigger takeaway is much bigger. Washington has drawn a hard line between e-bikes and electric motorcycles, and many machines that used to sit comfortably in the middle suddenly have to choose a side.
