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Powersports Business • September 2026 • 19

The second cohort includes mostly riders of e-motos and modified e-bikes, who chase viral content and follow influencers who treat breaking the law as the whole point. One account alone can put daily reels of outlaw riding culture in front of millions of young eyeballs.

Education won’ t fix a business model built on defiance. I don’ t have a clean answer for this one, and I’ m not going to pretend I do. But treating it as the same problem guarantees two things: we solve neither, and it puts the whole enterprise and future of this pathway to motorcycling at risk.

Currently, the only legal places to ride an e-moto are private property or legal dirt bike trails.

TODAY’ S RESOURCES The Bellemont Project is a social enterprise founded by Beth Black, a former e-bike shop owner and safety advocate. She is working with families, schools, dealerships, and first responders on e-bike and e-moto safety. Her programs are grounded in adolescent behavior research rather than scare tactics.

Beth’ s book,“ The Caring Parent’ s E-Bike Survival Guide,” has been an Amazon best-seller in its category. It offers parents a plain-language resource for a much-needed conversation. It’ s the kind of thing a dealership could stock at the parts counter and hand to a nervous parent on day one— a low-cost, high-trust move.

Lee Parks is a former motorcycle racer, author, trainer, and gear manufacturer. He wrote the bestselling book Total Control and founded the Total Control Training program for motorcyclists. Lee and his team are launching a scalable in-person e-bike safety and education program designed to help stakeholders respond constructively to the e-bike crisis.

RideReady will equip riders with the knowledge and skills to avoid becoming an enforcement issue or a statistic. Like the founder’ s street motorcycle courses, this program is also built on proven strategies to prevent crashes.

Neither program replaces what the ATV and PWC turnarounds ultimately needed: an organized industry response. In the meantime, dealerships can help by directing uneducated riders and their parents in the right direction.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING Whatever the industry decides to do, it needs to move quickly because legislation isn’ t waiting.

See Plessner, Page 20