Legal Status

What is the legal status of the bikes sold by Motorized Bikes Ireland?

There are many variations of motorized bicycles, some have 2-stroke engines, 4-stroke engines, 49cc, 66cc, 80cc, pedal start, pull start, with/without a clutch and the answer is not the same for all bikes.

Here at Motroized Bikes Ireland we only sell bikes that comply with Irish laws and while alternatives have been requested by customers we refuse to put our name to these products. We have spoken with members of An Garda Siochana when gathering information on this product before selling to the general public.

So, what is the legal status?

According to Irish Law (not Facebook, Twitter etc.) the definition of a MPV (Mechanically Propelled Vehicle) is a vehicle that can be powered by mechanical or electrical power alone, and does not require pedalling or scooting for propulsion. You can see this in the below screen capture for the official Garda Website.

All bikes sold by Motorized Bikes Ireland need to be pedalled before you can even turn the engine on and therefore does not fall under the category of MPV (Mechanically Propelled Vehicle)

A previous customer of ours also contacted Garda Headquarters directly to enquire if these required a Licence or Tax. This was the initial reply;

After explaining that the bike has to be pedalled to 15 km/h before you release the clutch to engage and start the engine (bike can not be started without pedalling). And explaining that once the engine is running and you come to a stop, you still need to pedal to 15 km/h before you can release the clutch again to engage the engine, if the clutch is released when stopped the bike will cut out… This was the reply he received;

As you can see from Garda Headquarters reply;

“The determination of whether these vehicles are MPV’s under the Road Traffic Acts rests on whether the vehicle is a ‘powered’ vehicle or ‘power assisted’ vehicle

If a bicycle is fitted with an electric or mechanical motor which only assists the pedalling effort and which does not act as a means of propulsion in its own right, then the bike is not considered to be a mechanically propelled vehicle. Vehicles which are not considered to be mechanically propelled vehicles do not requre a licence to be driven and are not required to be taxed when used in a public place.”

While some motorized bicycles can be propelled without pedalling, example being a 4-stroke engine which does not require any pedalling and is a ‘Twist and go’ system. The bikes sold by Motorized Bikes Ireland all require pedalling to be started and also require pedalling when doing speeds of less than 15 km/h.

As you will see above all information is gathered from official sources and all answers come from asking the correct and relevant questions.

If your bike is purchased from another source or if you fitted a kit to your bicycle then please gather information on that specific product as not all motorized bikes are the same.