Motopeds Occupy Muddy Middle Ground Between Moped and Mountain Bike

Looking more like a skinny dirtbike with pedals than a mountain bike or moped, Motopeds mount a 50-155cc Honda XR50/CRF50 engine and swingarm to a custom frame with downhill mountain bike suspension components and brakes.

Being able to ride quietly on the sidewalk, switch on the four-stroke Honda engine (or similar Chinese design, if you'd like to go the cheaper route), then pretend you're Ricky Carmichael for the rest of the way home sounds like great fun to us, but take note of your state's laws before you do so. In California, for example, the two main laws in the vehicle code require motorized bicycles to have automatic transmissions and less than two brake horsepower to be legal.

Also take note that the Motoped is a build-it-yourself ordeal after buying the frame, though the company supplies a parts list with many options depending on price range. If you're interested, visit the company's Kickstarter for a discounted price on the frame (as long as the Kickstarter goal is met).

Whatever motor is featured in the video below is the one we want – we have a strong feeling it has more than two horsepower. Or wait for the electric motor version, which is under development, says Motopeds spokesman Joe Rajakaruna.