What is the smallest displacement you can ride on the highway?

suzuki2000

suzuki2000

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I gone by a guy on the highway twice now at the garden city skyway in St Catharines on my way to work. Guy is riding a scooter over the skyway. Not sure of the displacement but its probably a 125?


I cringe every time I see him because he probably fighting to get upwards of 80kph. Last time was a week or so ago in heavy rain. He was wearing a big yellow poncho rain jacket.

The kid (assumed) is probably going to the Niagara College campus, but I fear he won't make his destination one day :angry2::sad11:

Anyways.... I assume whatever he is riding likely falls under the limited speed criteria, so i assume he shiuld not be on the highway
 
I think under 50cc is illegal. But I could be wrong.
Anything branded as a limited speed vehical.
 
you assume WAAAY too much.

Classic north american thinking of "too much is almost enough"

The rest of the world rides majority 125s....and they're still around.

Another assumption is that the scooter cant go faster....there are scooters out there with 600cc engines that will give some motorcycles a run for their money.
 
Only something registered as a "moped" or "limited speed motorcycle" or "e-bike" is not allowed on roads with 100 km/h speed limit. There is no set displacement or horsepower minimum, it's purely on what its registration classification is. Mopeds are <50cc, limited-speed motorcycles are mostly 50 - 70cc. AFAIK all the 125cc scooters are registered as full motorcycles.

The direction the wind is blowing, and the slope of the hill, have a strong effect on the top speed of anything 125cc or below. But, air circulation from the traffic around you helps, and it's usually not a problem to go 110 - 120 km/h in traffic on a cbr125 (the scooters of the same displacement generally have less efficient powertrains and may be a bit slower). It takes a hill a lot steeper than the Garden City Skyway to push a cbr125 down to 80 km/h. Provided, of course, the rider knows how to downshift, tuck in a bit, and give'er.
 
I once owned a Yamaha Vino 125cc scooter (stock, no mods). It was in fact registered as a motorcycle, and therefore legally allowed on the highways. But its typical max speed was about 80, so I never went on anything faster than an 80 kph street.
 
I used to take hwy 26 from Collingwood to Barrie on my YSR 50.
It would do 100kmh. I used to get some strange looks riding that little thing around.
I loved that bike. I wish I still had it.
 
I took my brother's CBR 125 onto the 401 and 400, just to see what it was like. I can't say I really enjoyed the experience! Then again, I'm a very spindly 6' 1" so it was probably like attaching a sail to the bike. Personally I would shoot for a 250 water-cooled or 400 air-cooled. As long as it has a white plate on it, it's legally allowed on the highway.
 
the27thelement said:
I used to take hwy 26 from Collingwood to Barrie on my YSR 50.
It would do 100kmh. I used to get some strange looks riding that little thing around.
I loved that bike. I wish I still had it.
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lol I used to do the exact same trip on the same bike! I also had a YSR with a YZ250 in it, that one I rode on the hwy occasionally. The looks I got when doing that was priceless.
 
Chaos said:
I once owned a Yamaha Vino 125cc scooter (stock, no mods). It was in fact registered as a motorcycle, and therefore legally allowed on the highways. But its typical max speed was about 80, so I never went on anything faster than an 80 kph street.
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We had a vino125 here for a while, when my wife was getting licensed there was a huge discussion with MTO burlington, she needed a motorcycle license to drive it. They told her she was not eligible to test on it. We asked WTF, they said because it was a limited speed bike , not allowed on the 4 series hiways. But you'll need a motorcycle license to drive it...... its one of about 3 bikes that falls into a gray zone.
 
Yep. Girlfriend rode my 50cc two stroke from Toronto to Wasaga beach, and to Hamilton, and back. 10cc+ is good to go as far as highway in Ontario. I believe it's 150+ for Quebec, or it may be 125cc and up but the CBR is 124.9 so it isn't allowed.
 
Sushii said:
With the weight of a scooter, doesn't it get scary when your going 100km/h?
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Yep, I have a riva 180 (selling it) and combined with both its light weight and tiny wheels it was quite sketchy in the highway. Not impossible by any means but a good gust of wind ment a lane change before you could think. Maybe that was the case for me as I was a lot less if an experienced rider at the time. Also I dwarfed the little thing at 6"1 and 230lbs.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
 
I got a 150, its ok on the highway. I like it better when there's traffic and no one is booting it doing 130 around you. But it's manageable.
 
If it has got a white plate, you are good to go! The 50 cc scooters etc. from before they introduced green plates were white.... so ride on.
 
The HTA requires a bit of interpretation on this matter as it doesn't specify Hwy restrictions for vehicle type, rather, the HWY restrictions are applied to the operator based on license class. The act describes an LSM as follows:


  1. can attain a rate of speed of more than 32 km/hr on level ground within a distance of 1.6 kilometres from a standing start;
  2. has a maximum attainable speed of 70 km/h or less;
  3. has steering handlebars that are completely constrained from rotating in relation to the axle of only one wheel in contact with the ground;
  4. has a minimum seat height, when the vehicle is unladen, of 650 millimetres;
  5. has a minimum wheel rim diameter of 250 millimetres and a minimum wheelbase of 1016 millimetres;
  6. has a maximum engine displacement of 50 cubic centimetres or less;


Notice how they don't explicitly state the vehicle cannot operate on 80 Kph + Hwy's, only that the vehicle have a maximum attainable speed of 70Kph and be less than 50cc's. It's therefore implied that an LSM cannot achieve the speeds required to safely negotiate an 80Kph + hwy at a rate of speed that would not impede traffic. But then again the HTA does not specify a minimum speed, simply stating in s. 132 that:


132. (1) No motor vehicle shall be driven on a highway at such a slow rate of speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic thereon except when the slow rate of speed is necessary for safe operation having regard to all the circumstances. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 132 (1).


Now, whether operating a vehicle in the right lane of a 80Kph hwy at 70Kph is considered impeding traffic, is really a judgment call on the part of the police and certainly up for argument in court. But if the operator of an LSM (holding either an M2L or ML license) could successfully argue in court that their operation of the LSM in those conditions was not an impediment to traffic... more power to them....
 
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crankcall said:
We had a vino125 here for a while, when my wife was getting licensed there was a huge discussion with MTO burlington, she needed a motorcycle license to drive it. They told her she was not eligible to test on it. We asked WTF, they said because it was a limited speed bike , not allowed on the 4 series hiways. But you'll need a motorcycle license to drive it...... its one of about 3 bikes that falls into a gray zone.
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Even between MTOs, the rules seem to differ. One told me it was eligible. One told me it was not.

I ended up doing the M2 Exit on my 125 through RTI. RTI substitues the 400s with the Allen Expressway. No hassles at the MTO
 
I don't know anything abut the legal end of it but my neighbour takes her Honda 125 on the 400 everyday. Mind you it only from one side of Barrie to the other. 10kms? 5 exits anyways
 
My old Kymco 50 cc Super 9 LC could attain at least 80 kms all day long! Hence it was issued a white plate back in the day ... 2006. Sold that little sucker but I see it has moved through 3 other hands. Ride on.. Green plate (LSM) really f's you up for where you can ride.
 
Sushii said:
With the weight of a scooter, doesn't it get scary when your going 100km/h?
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This depends on the tires and suspension and steering geometry. The new (2011+) CBR125 has better tires and a longer wheelbase and better aerodynamics than the old one. It's rock solid on the highway ... it just doesn't go very fast.

The step-through bikes that are a cross between scooters and full motorcycles, like Honda SH150, have bigger wheels than scooters have traditionally used and ought to be decent but I haven't ridden one. The old cbr125 was vastly improved by replacing the stock tires with something better (like the Pirelli Supercorsa Pro tires that they used in the racing series).

Traditional scooters with tiny wheels, crap suspension, and not much frame stiffness aren't a recipe for being pleasant at higher speeds.
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