read in an american bike mag ( i live in england) that they are illegal in some states.what's the reason for this? seems a bit of a strange one to me.
signed confused of ole blighty

 

Some of our states have different regulations on bars, lights, helmets, etc, etc.

Some states have a rule that states the bars can't be 15" over seat height, some say, can't be above shoulder hieght and so forth.

States rights I suppose.

If somones bike is questionable, before doing an interstate ride, it pays to look at current state laws so ya don't get popped.

Such as:

http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/l...t.asp?state=NC

cheerio

 

why 15" what's the reason for it?

 

None, really.

It is an arbitrary number created by lawmakers who believe they understand bike geometry.

There are a bunch of reasons given such as loss of control during turns, entanglement during accidents, broken line of sight and more.

It ends up like so many other things that get run through government. Laws that have little or no basis in reality, but prove that your lawmakers just want to keep you safe.

Also see: Helmet laws, gun laws, smoking laws, food laws, airplane travel......You get the point.

 

same sh*t, different country

 

Yes, but it's almost like each state also gets to decide which laws it wants to enforce on each particular day......WV has the 15" law & DOT helmet law, but they are rarely enforced.

 

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.
Frank Zappa