Overview

E-bikes and e-scooters have exploded in popularity across California’s HOA communities. And with that explosion, the Legislature has passed a variety of laws, many of which are scattered across California’s Vehicle Code, governing how these devices, and the batteries that power them, are built, certified, sold, and ridden. The serious fire risk posed by their lithium batteries has separately driven storage and charging restrictions at the HOA and local fire-code level. So far, though, none of these laws appears in the Davis-Stirling Act itself. That leaves homeowners caught between two different sources of authority. State and local law control how these devices may be built, sold, stored, and ridden, while your HOA controls the common areas, and in limited circumstances, the streets where you ride them. Understanding where one stops and the other begins is the difference between a rule you have to follow and one you can challenge.

An HOA newsletter out of Clovis, California, prompted this Fact Sheet. It not only illustrated how HOAs appear to still be violating AB 130’s fine limitations, but it also bundled e-bikes and e-scooters together under a single set of safety rules, speed limits, and fines. The latter approach reflects a common mistake because California law treats e-bikes and e-scooters as two distinct legal categories, and that distinction drives almost everything. Vehicle Code 312.5 defines an e-bike and sorts them into three classes based on how the motor engages and how fast it assists, while Vehicle Code 407.5 defines a motorized scooter, with separate operating rules located in Vehicle Code 21235. The two devices carry different speed limits, different age rules, different helmet requirements, and different licensing demands. An HOA newsletter that lumps them together under one set of rules, like the HOA in Clovis is attempting to do, almost certainly gets parts of it wrong because state law doesn’t treat the two the same.

More recent legislation has changed the landscape even further, and homeowners should know what is now in force. As of January 1, 2025, Vehicle Code 312.5 requires new e-bikes and their batteries to meet recognized safety-certification standards and bars the sale of devices designed or modified to exceed the legal limits. As of January 1, 2026, an amendment to the under-18 helmet law added new consequences and a safety-course option for young riders. These are not abstract updates. They affect fire risk, who is liable after a crash, and what your HOA can legitimately require.

Your HOA’s authority over these devices is real but bounded. On streets and common areas your HOA actually owns, it may adopt reasonable operating rules under Civil Code 4350 if its high-level governing documents authorize rulemaking (as the vast majority do). On public streets that run through the HOA, its authority is far more limited and exists only where the city or county has granted it through an ordinance, agreement, or permit program, and even then it cannot enforce against the general public.

This Fact Sheet explains the full legal framework for e-bikes and e-scooters in California, the three e-bike classes and their speed, age, and helmet rules, the separate rules that govern e-scooters, the new certification and anti-modification laws, the serious fire risks that drive many HOA charging restrictions, and where your HOA’s authority to regulate or ban these devices begins and ends. It also returns to that Clovis newsletter as a real-world example of an HOA that appears to have overstepped, including its attempt to impose fines that run past the limits set by AB 130.

Key Points

E-bikes and e-scooters sit at the intersection of two legal systems that rarely speak to each other. California’s Vehicle Code dictates how these devices may be built, sold, and ridden, while your HOA’s authority comes from the Davis-Stirling Act and its governing documents. In the context of HOA-homeowner conflicts involving e-bikes and e-scooters, the central conflict rests with whether the rule in question is reasonable and consistent with the HOA’s governing documents. The points below lay out the full legal framework, the three e-bike classes, the separate e-scooter rules, the new 2025 and 2026 laws, the fire-risk restrictions HOAs are starting to adopt, and the precise limits on your HOA’s power to regulate or ban these devices. Once you can separate what state law requires from what your HOA may add, you can tell quickly whether your HOA’s e-bike and e-scooter rules are enforceable or not.

• California sorts e-bikes into three classes, and the class determines almost every rule that applies. Vehicle Code 312.5 defines an e-bike as a bicycle with fully operable pedals and a motor no greater than 750 watts, then divides them into three classes by how the motor engages. A Class 1 e-bike assists only while you pedal and stops assisting at 20 mph. A Class 2 e-bike adds a throttle that can propel the bike without pedaling but also stops at 20 mph. A Class 3 e-bike assists only while pedaling, reaches up to 28 mph, must carry a speedometer, and cannot be operated by anyone under 16. Knowing your bike’s class is the starting point for every other rule because speed, age, helmet, and trail-access requirements all flow from it. Your HOA can adopt a rule requiring residents to comply with these state and local requirements and enforce it through its governing documents, so an HOA could, for example, prohibit a 14-year-old from operating a Class 3 e-bike on its property and treat a violation as an enforceable rule violation rather than leaving it to law enforcement.
  • Your HOA can set its own stricter speed limits on the private streets and common areas it owns. The 20 mph and 28 mph figures in Vehicle Code 312.5 describe where a motor must stop assisting, not a ceiling an HOA has to accept on its own property. On private streets and common areas it owns, your HOA may adopt a lower limit, such as 15 mph, as a reasonable operating rule under Civil Code 4350, the same way it sets other common-area safety rules.
  • A modified e-bike, or a device built to be modified, can lose e-bike status entirely, and selling speed-tampering tools is now illegal. Vehicle Code 312.5 excludes from the definition of an e-bike any vehicle built to be modifiable past 20 mph on motor power alone or beyond 750 watts, any vehicle actually modified to exceed those limits, and any vehicle with its operable pedals removed. A bike that falls outside the e-bike definition is no longer treated as a bicycle and can be reclassified as a moped or motorcycle, which carries the licensing, registration, and insurance obligations that come with a motor vehicle. Reinforcing this, as of January 1, 2026, California prohibits selling products or apps designed to modify an e-bike’s speed beyond its class limits, which closes the loophole that let riders quietly turn a compliant e-bike into an unlawful one.
  • Some powerful “e-bikes” were never e-bikes at all, and the legal exposure for parents can be devastating. Devices like a Surron Ultra Bee, which can reach speeds up to 60 mph, are off-road e-motorcycles, not e-bikes. California law, therefore, classifies them as motor-driven cycles or motorcycles that require riders to be at least 16, licensed, registered, and insured. The danger is that a parent who doesn’t understand the difference can face catastrophic liability. In a pending 2026 Orange County case, prosecutors are charging the mother of a 14-year-old boy with child endangerment and accessory after the fact after her son, who was performing wheelies on a Surron Ultra Bee e-motorcycle, allegedly struck and critically injured an 81-year-old pedestrian. While the district attorney’s office has alleged that there was no confusion or ignorance on the part of this boy’s mother, who had been repeatedly warned by law enforcement regarding the fact that her son was not legally allowed to ride the Surron Ultra Bee in question (including in a nearly half-hour video-recorded interaction with law enforcement during which time they made it clear to the mother that her son could not legally ride the e-motorcycle), other parents in Orange County have been prosecuted in situations where the degree of prior knowledge was less. [The lesson for honest, well-meaning parents is to confirm what their child is actually riding because a device that looks like a beefed-up e-bike may legally be a motorcycle, and the distinction can carry criminal consequences.]
• As of 2025, every new e-bike and its lithium battery must meet a recognized safety certification. Vehicle Code 312.5, as amended by SB 1271 effective January 1, 2025, ties directly to the fire-risk problem driving HOA concern. The law requires new e-bikes and their batteries to meet established safety-certification standards as a condition of sale, and it bars selling, advertising, or labeling as an e-bike any vehicle designed or modified to exceed the legal limits. For a homeowner, the practical takeaway is to buy a certified e-bike and battery because an uncertified or modified battery is both a legal problem and the single biggest contributor to the lithium-battery fires that have prompted many HOAs in California to pass rules about e-bike and e-scooter storage.
• The under-18 helmet rule changed in 2026, and the consequences now reach parents. Vehicle Code 21212, as amended effective January 1, 2026, requires anyone under 18 to wear a helmet on any bicycle or e-bike, and it reshaped what happens on a violation. A first offense is now dismissed, a parent or legal guardian is jointly liable with the minor for any fine, and a citation can be cured by completing a bicycle or specialized electric bicycle safety course. Under Vehicle Code 21213, every Class 3 rider must wear a helmet regardless of age, and no one under 16 may operate a Class 3 e-bike at all. Adults on Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes face no statewide helmet mandate, though an HOA may be able to adopt its own helmet rule on its property if the rule is reasonable and authorized by its governing documents, which is a question of Civil Code 4350 reasonableness rather than a settled point.
• E-scooters are a separate legal category with their own, stricter rules. Vehicle Code 407.5 defines a motorized scooter as a two-wheeled device with handlebars and an electric motor, distinct from an e-bike, a motorcycle, or a moped. Its operating rules live in Vehicle Code 21235. A motorized scooter may not be ridden faster than 15 mph anywhere, on any road or bikeway, regardless of the posted limit, and a rider needs a valid driver’s license or instruction permit. The scooter must also have a working brake, and it can’t be parked on its side or blocking a pedestrian path. [Notably, these statewide sidewalk and speed rules apply to scooters specifically, while the e-bike statutes leave sidewalk riding to local ordinance rather than fixing it by state law.]
• Your HOA can regulate e-bikes and e-scooters on streets and common areas it actually owns. When a street, path, or parking area is HOA-owned common area, your HOA may adopt reasonable operating rules under Civil Code 4350, provided the CC&Rs, bylaws, or articles authorize rulemaking and the rule meets the statute’s reasonableness standard. On property the HOA owns, a sensible speed limit on a shared path, a no-riding zone in certain areas (such as sidewalks or near a clubhouse entrance), or a restriction on where batteries may be charged generally falls within that authority. The limit is reasonableness, so a rule that effectively bans a lawful device outright, or sets an arbitrary standard untethered to any valid purpose remains vulnerable to challenge even on HOA-owned property. [You can read about your HOA’s rulemaking authority in my Fact Sheet, “HOA Rules in California: Legal Authority and Rulemaking Limits.” Or if you prefer, you can watch an episode of my HOA HELL podcast where Sam and I covered the same topic, “Can My HOA Make That Rule? California HOA Rule Limits Explained.”]
• On public streets running through your community, your HOA’s authority is sharply limited. Not every street inside an HOA is HOA property. When a city or county owns the street, it remains public property even though it runs through the development, and the HOA cannot regulate it as if it were common area simply because of where it sits. Municipal ordinances govern public streets, and local law enforcement enforces them, so an HOA generally cannot use its governing documents to control how e-bikes and e-scooters are ridden on a public street.
  • While your HOA can’t enforce e-bike or e-scooter rules against the general public, it can regulate residents on a public street if it has municipal authorization. An HOA’s power over a public street exists only if the city or county has granted it, through an ordinance, agreement, or permit program, and even then the HOA cannot enforce its rules against members of the public using that street. [If you’d like to read more about the public-versus-private street distinction, check out my Fact Sheet “Can a California HOA Tow Your Car or Ban Street Parking?”]
• Lithium-battery fires are a serious and growing risk, and more and more HOAs are moving to restrict charging and storage. E-bike and e-scooter batteries have been known to fail catastrophically, igniting fast-spreading, hard-to-extinguish fires, and that danger is sharpest in condominium and townhome buildings where units share walls and exits. In response, a growing number of HOAs have begun prohibiting battery charging inside units or in shared spaces such as hallways, laundry rooms, and clubhouses. These restrictions generally rest on the HOA’s authority over its common areas and on health-and-safety grounds. The most protective step you can take is to buy a certified e-bike and battery and follow the manufacturer’s charging instructions because an uncertified or damaged battery is the core of the risk the HOA is reacting to.
• Your HOA can fine you for e-bike and e-scooter violations, but only within AB 130’s limits. An HOA may impose monetary penalties for violations of its lawful rules, but AB 130 capped most HOA fines at $100 per violation. Under Civil Code 5850, an HOA can only exceed that $100 fine cap in the case of a violation that may cause an adverse health or safety impact, and only after it makes a written finding specifying that impact in an open meeting. E-bike and e-scooter safety can present a genuine health-and-safety issue, so the higher fine is potentially available, but only if the HOA first satisfies Civil Code 5850’s prerequisites rather than simply attaching a safety label to the fine.
  • The Clovis newsletter that prompted this Fact Sheet shows how an HOA can run past those limits by skipping AB 130’s prerequisites. The HOA in Clovis announced a flat $200 per-occurrence “safety fine” for e-bike and e-scooter violations, and in the absence of the open meeting finding discussed above, that HOA appears to have exceeded both its own published health-and-safety fine schedule and the $100 fine cap contained in Civil Code 5850. In short, even where a real safety concern exists, an HOA like the one in Clovis, can’t skip those steps and jump straight to a higher fine. [If you’d like to learn about AB 130’s health and safety fine cap exception, read my  Fact Sheet “What Qualifies as a Health and Safety Violation Under California’s $100 HOA Fine Cap?”]
• Here’s how to tell whether your HOA’s e-bike or e-scooter rule is actually enforceable. Start by identifying your device precisely, its class if it’s an e-bike, or its status as a motorized scooter because that classification determines what state law requires of you. Then test the HOA’s rule against the two questions that actually decide enforceability, whether the governing documents authorize the HOA to make the rule, and whether the rule is reasonable under Civil Code 4350. A reasonable, authorized rule is generally enforceable even if it’s stricter than the state’s scheme, while a rule that effectively bans a lawful device or imposes an arbitrary requirement is far weaker. Check whether the street or area in question is HOA-owned or public because the HOA’s authority is strongest on property it owns and limited on public streets, and if your HOA claims authority over a public street, ask it to identify the municipal ordinance, agreement, or permit program that grants it. Finally, if the HOA has fined you above $100, confirm whether it made the written health-and-safety finding Civil Code 5850 requires because a higher fine without that finding is unenforceable.
• If you have questions about your HOA’s e-bike or e-scooter rules, call the HOA attorneys at MBK Chapman. These rules are new, and the underlying state laws will probably continue to evolve over the next several years as e-bikes and e-scooters become more and more popular. Because the line between a reasonable HOA rule and an overreaching one isn’t always obvious, if you’re trying to understand whether a rule or fine is enforceable, or more specifically, whether your HOA’s e-bike and e-scooter rules are enforceable, call us. The HOA attorneys at MBK Chapman are experts at helping homeowners like you determine what the Vehicle Code requires, what the Davis-Stirling Act allows, and where the two interact.

E-bikes and e-scooters are governed first by the Vehicle Code, which sets the classes, speeds, ages, helmet rules, and certification standards that define these devices, and second by your HOA, whose authority reaches the common areas it owns and narrows on the public streets it doesn’t. Within its own property, your HOA can set reasonable, authorized rules, including stricter speed limits and battery-charging restrictions, and it can fine violations within the limits Civil Code 5850 and AB 130 impose. The enforceability of any given rule turns on reasonableness and proper authority, so the practical move is to identify your device, locate the rule’s source of authority, and ask whether it’s reasonable. When the answer isn’t clear, that’s the moment to get competent legal advice rather than guess.

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About Michael Kushner

Michael Kushner is a California attorney with over 30 years of experience representing homeowners in disputes with their HOAs. He is widely regarded as California’s leading homeowner-side HOA attorney, and has built one of the state’s most prominent law practices dedicated to holding HOAs accountable under the Davis-Stirling Act and California law.

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