*** Pint-sized pocket bikes ***

Ukiah, CA (AP) -- 06/24/2004
~Police warn they're not for use on public streets or highways~
Pocket bikes: they're reportedly fun, fast and illegal on the street.
Teens love 'em; police say they're a headache.

And as their name implies, they aren't the biggest bikes on the block,
but they are gaining popularity with children, teens and adults
nonetheless.

"Down in Los Angeles and San Francisco they are real popular ...
I guess the retail is just going nuts down there," said Gary Nevill,
owner of Greeott's Brake and Wheel Service, which sells about
one a week here in Ukiah.

Manufacturers call the larger ones "scooters,"
but the "itty-bitty ones" are referred to as "pocket bikes," he said.

"When I was a kid -- and that was eons ago --
they called them minibikes, which were basically the
size of a bigger scooter," Nevill said, as he stood next
to several of the gas-powered miniature motorcycle type
machines, most of which are manufactured in China, and
sell at Greeott's for anywhere from $450 to $800 each.

An Internet search will pull up dozens of sites listing the pocket
bikes for as low as $350, with some on eBay going as low as $249.

"This is the little rascal that is creating all the havoc," he said,
pointing to a little red Ninja-style pocket bike, the seat no higher
than a foot off the ground, the tires smaller around than an average
dinner plate.

This Ninja-style bike is the most popular among the preteens,
Nevill said.

"The little red one is the smallest bike on our lot,
and it's also the fastest," he said, noting it will go
about 30 miles per hour.

Nevill said he isn't sure what the appeal of that particular model is,
other than its speed, however, the chopper style -- which is slightly
bigger -- is popular because it resembles a very tiny Harley Davidson
motorcycle.

"Right now, there is a Harley craze. If you look around
you see more Harleys on the road than ever before," he said.

"Nice," was the word used by Anthony Sisneros, 13, of Ukiah,
to describe the colorful array of miniature choppers and Ninja-style
pocket bikes he came up on while riding his bicycle across Greeott's
parking lot Tuesday.

"Really cool," were the next words out of his mouth, as he parked
his bicycle to take a better look, before sitting on the little red
pocket
bike, as if to try it on for size.

They are fun to ride, Sisneros said. "It's a nice sensation ...
the breeze in your hair," the young rider recalled.

His older friend, Kenny Trumble, 15, agreed. "These
things are awesome. I have been wanting one," he said.

Had Ukiah Police Capt. Dan Walker been standing there, he would
have likely told these teens what he told The Daily Journal: "If you
want to drive it around on your ranch property, or the driveway of
your residence, enjoy yourself."

However, keep the pocket bikes off the roadways, police warn.

"Our concern is that people are under the misconception that they
are legal for the street, and they are not," Walker said.

"Essentially, they are driving an unsafe vehicle not designed for
the roadway," he said, before referring to a memorandum put
out by the California Highway Patrol, which cites 15 vehicle
code sections that most pocket bike drivers are violating if
they are on the roadway.

"This one was being driven by an individual driving on a suspended
license," Walker said Monday, as he displayed a black Ninja-style
pocket bike recently impounded by police.

"This is not a bicycle; this is a motorized vehicle. It would be like
putting a go-cart on the street," the 6-foot-2-inch Walker said,
before picking it up with little or no effort.

Pocket bikes, depending on their size, weigh between 50 and
100 pounds, according to Nevill, who says they are as safe as
any other motorcycle when used with proper equipment
-- such as helmets and knee and elbow protection
-- with parental supervision, on private property.

Nevill said when people ask him if they can
ride them on the street, he tells them "no."

"The only legal one for the street is the stand up power scooter,"
he said, but only if the operator is 16 or over, wearing a helmet
and abiding by all bicycle laws, he added.

"Probably one of the biggest dangers (of riding pocket bikes on the
street)
is how low to the ground they are, which makes them less visible to
cars,"
Nevill said.

Pocket bikes also don't have tires legal for street riding, equipment
to keep them safe, and the brakes are lightweight, similar to those
on an expensive mountain bike, Walker said. "The lighting
(on the pocket bikes) is so low it's questionable where it'd
be visible," he added.

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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