Go-Ped, get fined

>> Cops plan to scrutinize motor-powered street surfers

By MICHAEL CITROME

Buzzing up the boulevard with nothing between your feet and the hard pavement but a wooden deck and a pair of tiny wheels linked to a lawnmower engine seems like a recipe for dangerous fun--and it is.

Born of SoCal skate culture and engineering savvy, the first Go-Peds appeared in 1985, but they've only recently achieved visibility in Montreal. Manufactured by Patmont Motor Works, the Go-Ped is the original and most prominent brand of motorized scooters. Retailing for about $900, they're priced far below any other type of motorized transportation.

The Go-Ped, which is quickly becoming the generic name for the type of bike, has more in common with skateboards than Hondas. With a skateboard-type deck and tiny wheels, the Go-Ped is designed to be ridden upright, and can be folded up and taken anywhere.

Ordinarily, eccentric wheels like this would be confined to the same grey legal haze as skateboards and roller blades, but things get complicated because of the engine. Even though it's a tiny, lawnmower-noisy 24cc two-stroke, used in such devices as weed blowers and gas-powered blenders, it's still a motorized vehicle and falls under the regulatory auspices of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec.

As the body responsible for motor vehicle registration and insurance, the SAAQ dictates who can ride what and where. Go-Peds would seem to fall under the registration rules for mopeds, since they have engines with a displacement of under 50cc and no gearbox. However, those rules were designed for the larger scooters from Japanese and Korean manufacturers. Not only that, but the moped permit test is still stuck in the '70s, with questions about pedal placement. There haven't been bicycle-style mopeds since the early '80s.

According to Roch Tremblay, media spokesperson for the SAAQ, Go-Peds have only recently come to the government's attention. Rather than attempting to legislate their legality in Quebec, Tremblay points to a Transport Canada ruling that classifies Go-Peds as not street-legal.

"Transport Canada has banned these vehicles from the public road system. They consider them off-road vehicles," explains Tremblay.

According to Tremblay, the SAAQ will be announcing their stance on Go-Peds in two-weeks' time, letting the public know that riding a Go-Ped on public roads will get them a fine of $30-50 if stopped by police. Motorless aluminum scooters with inline-skate wheels fall into another category, but aren't street-legal either.

But the local Go-Ped retailer, the Spin board shop on St-Denis, is hardly panicking. Says Spin salesman Eric Blais, an avid Go-Ped enthusiast and customizer, the machines "were never legal, they're just toys to use on the street."

For the owners of the 175 Go-Peds that Spin has sold this year, the legal restrictions could be discouraging. Blais, meanwhile, isn't worried. "Last year the government threatened to do the same thing and nothing happened. Now we'll just have to wait and see."

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