Noise, speed, safety complaints leading Dixon officials to consider regulating motorized bikes

DIXON — Dixon officials are looking to regulate the use of motorized bikes after city council members said Monday that they’ve received an uptick of calls from concerned residents.

The bikes in question use a gas-powered motor and reach speeds of 20 to 40 miles per hour. They’ve become a public safety concern for the city as some riders appear to be younger than 16 years old and are riding them at high speeds on sidewalks, roads and the multi-use pathways that run east and west of Heritage Crossing in downtown Dixon, City Manager Danny Langloss said.

To address the issue, Dixon’s city attorney is looking into the state laws around motorized bikes to “understand what the city’s legal authority is to regulate them or prohibit them. Then we’ll work with the council to figure out what direction we want to go,” Langloss said.

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Motorbike riders travel along Lincoln Statue Drive in front of the high school Tuesday, June 17, 2025, after crossing the Peoria Avenue bridge. City officials has seen un “uptick” of calls from concerned residents regarding these type of vehicles. (Alex T. Paschal)

At Monday’s meeting, council member Chris Bishop said he recently saw three young kids riding the bikes at Walmart on South Galena Avenue, which is currently undergoing roadwork.

“They went through the stop sign and then down to the stoplight,” Bishop said. “I thought, ‘Yeah now we’re in a construction zone with a vehicle that shouldn’t be on the road.’ God forbid one of these kids turns out in front of a car.”

For drivers, the motorized bikes are ”just really hard to see. You’re not expecting it," Langloss said.

Council member Mike Venier said he’s received a couple of calls from families who were out on the multi-use pathways and one of the bikes sped by “at over 30 miles an hour.”

Council member Mary Oros said she’s also received calls from people concerned about riders not obeying stop signs.”

The Dixon Police Department has received a couple complaints as well and recently responded to a bike that crashed due to equipment failure, Police Chief Ryan Bivins said.

Venier said he also got a call from a motorcycle rider who had a long list of regulations that they have to follow to legally drive their motorcycle, but motorized bikes have none.

“Most of these vehicles are not street legal, without headlights, tail lights or turn signals,” Venier said. There’s also “no sense of safety equipment on them, nor are the drivers wearing protective glasses.”

Langloss said he wants to find out the differences between a bicycle and a motorcycle “because they’re [motorized bikes] able to do 36 to 40 miles an hour. That’s not bicycles.”

On top of safety, the bikes are also a noise concern because some have no muffler systems, Venier said.

“They’re just very loud. They’re obnoxious,” Langloss said, adding that he thinks some of them already violate the city’s noise control ordinance, which outlaws “excessive or unusually loud noise,” the ordinance says.

“In the end, what we’re looking for is a sustainable solution that works for everybody,” Venier said.

Currently, Bivins said, if Dixon police see a bike commit a traffic violation, like running a red light or stop sign, police are enforcing the rules, but aren’t able to do much else. The department is working with city officials to come up with a plan.