Scooters & mopeds allowed over bridges?
 

I had a question regarding the legality of riding scooters over larger bridges.

Most 50cc scooters max out around ~63km/h on a standard flat city road. And that is more than adequate for cruising around to work, or over to a buddies house. But for obvious reasons, limited speed scooters ARE NOT allowed on a main highway. And they are clearly marked with the "has to go safely over 60km/h to use highway" signs. So what about some of the larger bridges around the lower mainland?

Small connecting bridges like the 2 road bridge in Richmond, or the Arthur Lang shouldn't be a problem. They are short, simple and not very tall. But how about something like the lions gate bridge? It has a speed limit of 60km/h, and most scooters would probably max out around 50km/h on the elongated uphill section. I guess we could also expand the question to the Alex Fraser bridge, and even the Massey tunnel.

I've heard a few different answers from people. A few blatantly said no, since you can't reach the speed limit. Others say yes, as long as its not a real highway. And I've had a few say yea, but only if you take the closest on-ramp to the bridge, stay in the slow lane, then take the first available off-ramp and revert back to regular street driving. The latter sounds the most correct.

So boys and girl, how does one go about tackling bridges?
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Depend on which bridge.. A lot of the bridges are part of the highway system eg Oak Street, Lions Gate are part of Highway 99. While Knight and Downtown bridges are not. They are quite distinctively marked on any maps.

Basically if you are speed limited you can't go back and forth North Shore on it.

The questions also comes down to enforcement.. and if you get into an accident on them where you are not supposed to, ICBC will be rubbing its hands with glee, since it won't be going after itself for a change. Well, assuming you are still alive and have all your limbs intact after the accident.

Oop thank you for moving this thread. Didn't see the riders corner on my iphone
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If you operate a 49cc limited speed motorcycle, you can cross the Iron Worker's bridge. I drive it every day and every day i see the same people riding their scooters across the bridge. The only thing is that you must exit on Main St. Same thing coming back the other way, you must exit at McGill. To be safe, i recommend that you check with North Shore RCMP.

speed limit anywhere unless marked = 50 km/h

provincial highways unless marked = 80 km/h w/ a minimum of 60 km/h

speed limits are maximum allowable legally, doesn't mean you have to (though if you are impeding traffic that is an offense as well, not only that you become a slow-moving target)

With that said, I've taken scoots across Lions Gate, but not Iron Workers seeing the flow of traffic there is much faster than Lions Gate and feels dangerous to me. All other city bridges ie. Burrard and Cambie are fine. Oak 99 I would go only from Bridgeport and nothing along Shell and Southward. Knight is iffy, Arthur Laing is by far the safest feeling bridge I've travelled across with a 49cc in the Lower Mainland.

and for God Sakes stay in the slow lane, unlike some scooter riders I see left lane hogging even though they barely makes the speed limit.

Ride safe all.

Ex-scooter rider here chiming in. I speak from personal experience only so take it with a grain of salt and for all I know, I may be very wrong. Your mileage may vary.

49cc scooters: You can safely take the Oak Street Bridge taking the Bridgeport exits. Failing to do so could put you into a dangerous, if not, life threatening and stupid situation. Basically, the first and last exits on the Richmond side. The speed limit there is I believe 50 or 60km/h. You should be able to keep up with the flow of traffic, especially during rush hour. Always stay in the right lane.

Arthur Laing Bridge - same situation applies.

Knight Street Bridge - If you want to play by the rule book, you are technically not allowed on it because the max speed limit is I think 80km/h? But legally you should be maintaining 60km/h and/or keep up with flow of traffic. Having said that, a 49cc scooter should be able to maintain speed during rush hour gridlock traffic. Again, always stay in the right lane and enter/exit only from the Bridgeport exits. Any further - you are fucked and asking for a death wish. :D

Lions Gate - you should be fine during rush hour. Might get some angry cagers hassling you during off-peak hours but whatever. You are allowed on it as long as you maintain minimum speed.

Second Narrows Bridge & Massey Tunnel - LOL! If you want to die, sure. Go for it. Otherwise, you're not allowed on it whatsoever with a 49cc scooter.

Alex Fraser - Fuck Surrey. But personally, I don't know. Never rode on it on a scooter and don't care to. Sorry. Jokes aside, I think the incline on Alex Fraser is just too much for a 49cc scooter to maintain any kind of speed and getting on or off it is a real hazard so, I wouldn't even bother unless you feel like dying.

That's all I can think of. #YOLO. Good luck and ride safe.

hmm, dont mean to take over thread, but cant you do performance upgrades and still keep it under "49cc" or put a bigger engine in it? and claim it a 49cc?

Use your own sense, bcrdukes pretty much nailed it for you. personally I travel on lions gate, Arthur laing, knight street and oak street bridge and don't have any problem at all, (Arthur laing >Oak street > knight street when going in/out Richmond) but for legal purpose:

http://www.quickscribe.bc.ca/secure/archives/475.pdf

Slow vehicles and bicycles
2.03
Concerning the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows, Oak Street, Knight Street,
Okanagan Lake, Annacis, East Channel, Queensborough and Pattullo bridges:
(a)
Prohibited vehicles
. – No person shall operate a vehicle during the hours of 7
a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, inclusive, which is unable
to maintain the normal speed of traffic upon the structure or its approaches,
except vehicles engaged in emergency maintenance work.


That's all it said, Legally you are only prohibit for the above bridge at the certain time but I don't know how they define normal speed of traffic.

50cc four stroke's performance are very limited even you go with basic after-market bolt on stuff like exhaust. I would say +/-75km/h max unless with a big bore kit. but if you get into accident good luck with ICBC.

There is somewhat limited performance to get out of a 49cc/50cc engine. I know most ruckus guys swap them out for the gy6 150cc motor. That would get you up to ~90km/h. But that's when the legality of it comes into play. It's no longer a "limited speed vehicle" so you really SHOULD have your class 6 license. But I'm not sure if you legally HAVE to have a class 6 if you swap the engine.

If I put a b18c type r motor into a civic, I don't have to start paying type r insurance premiums... But I'm not sure how it works with scooters.


And thank you all for the info. I plan to pick up another scoot around the horseshoe Bay Area. I'd LOVE to be able to ride it back to Richmond. Stick to the coast road the way back, jump on the lions gate, exit ASAP into Stanley park, hop on at davie, take burrard bridge, and eventually make my way down Granville
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anything bigger then 49cc you need a class 6, so if you swap a 70cc into a Ruckus then its a ticket-able offense, (how would the cop find out is another question).
For insurance, everything under 110cc falls into the same rate class. so 70cc, 86cc big bore kit would still fall into the same rate class. but putting a 150cc technically putting you into a different rate calls but i dunno if ICBC will insure that or not.
your route from horseshoe bay to Richmond is the best scooter route I find within lower mainland. enjoy it

well it doesn't really matter if you have a 150cc motor because if a cop sees you on the highway (restricted for scooters), they will pull you over regardless if you are riding a modded scooter/mopeds. I don't think speed comes into play because at the end of the day, you either have your class 6 licence or you are riding illegally with a scooter that exceeds the CC restrictions.

So ask someone that 100% knows about the mods restriction and highway restrictions is your best bet.

I've seen 49cc scooters pulled over and it's because they were going beyond their capable speeds as intended.

Does it happen often? No, not to my knowledge but I've seen it happen. Is it worth it? That's your own judgement call. Upgrades on a 49cc are a big fat waste of time and money, IMO. Just man the fuck up and get your class 6 and a real bike. Again, my own opinion.

When I had my Ruckus I took the Oak bridge up to work all the time. Speed limit there states 60 km/h no problemo!

Would you guys think it'd be ok to take it onto Lougheed Hwy (the 70km/h section in Burnaby)? It's not a freeway, so I wouldn't think there'd be a minimum speed there.

A lot of the scooter guys on Vancouver Scootering take Lougheed all the time but usually in groups. Shouldn't be a problem.

Yes and no. I'd say it depends on the time of day. If during rush hour when everyone is crawling anyways? I suppose so. And at night when it's pretty empty? If you're a safe defensive rider perhaps. But people can be speed demons and extremely aggressive on that road. So I would be weary. If there are side streets you could take instead, I probably would.

And remember, although there is no minimum speed limit, there is a safe minimum speed. I was looking into a vintage moped, but it topped out at 51km/h. In Richmond people are very impatient with their 6.3L Amg motors, and I would not feel comfortable riding it around.
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I was thinking of going on Knight Street to cross over to Richmond, so I guess it's okay??

Another question for you all on a side note:
Just bought a cheap chinese scooter (lol) and I kinda wanna install an aftermarket muffler on it to boost the speeds...does anyone know about this?

an aftermarket muffler will boost speeds??

Apparently stickers do too! Haha jk. But seriously, that's what I heard...

Yes they can, there are a few factors

- a good exhaust and good intake can boost your top speed
- new jets in the carb to fuel the extra flow of air
- you will need a new variator with new weights to make use of the new power
- new cdi without rev limiter to make use of extra power and new variator

Do all, or none.

Dude you're a star... But how much would this cost and where can I do all this? Thanks!

Depends, if you've never done scooter work yourself there are a bunch of shops locally that can help you out. None come to mind but i know a few of them advertise on Craigslist.

If you can do the work yourself, there are lots of places to order from and lots of manufacturer of parts. What kind of scooter do you have?

I had a pollini variator and weights in my ruckus, as well as a real posh CDI from Japan. For exhaust i ran the mnnthbx exhaust, and intake i can't remember offhand, it may have also been mnnthbx (new inlet tube, uni air filter, etc)

It's a super cheap Chinese scooter...the brand is Vican? I just want to see what I can do to squeeze at least 2%-5% more power into it...thanks!

2-5% = .5hp? LOL


but in all honesty if it's not a widely known china scooter there probably isnt even any aftermarket parts available for it. if you want a louder exhaust just drill some holes into the muffler :D