Exclusive: Mini bike street takeovers lead to mayhem on the roadways
A new and dangerous trend is taking hold, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, with big groups gathering on the streets and staging drag races and burnouts on illegal mini bikes.
Cellphone video captured riders on the mini bikes performing stunts, blocking traffic and scaring other motorists on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
At a garage in Compton, though, these young people said people should just let them ride.
"I promote mini bikes because it's a way of life. it's what kept me out of trouble. This is my safe haven," mini bike rider and YouTuber Davon Hunt said.
Hunt said that getting the mini bikes to hit high speeds is a big deal.
"We're making these things, some of them, go 100 miles an hour. So, to make something this small go 100 miles per hour is very impressive."
Many of the bikes are built in home garages, a hobby originally intended for off-road parks and tracks. The engine comes from a power washer and the speed comes from racing parts.
"We put a clutch on it and a chain and connect it to the wheel," said a mini bike builder.
Since the mini bikes are being made for speed, these young enthusiasts want drivers to share the road.
"We try to follow all traffic laws and all that, but people get scared of the loud bikes. But we try to do it as safely as possible," Brian Hemphill said.
For now, though, the mini bikes are not street legal.
"They're not meant for the roadway. They're meant for off-road riding. There's no legal place in the city to ride those bikes," an LAPD spokesperson told CBSLA.
Moreover, authorities said street takeovers with cars and mini bikes is very dangerous.
"When you take over a city street that's meant for motorized vehicles and you mix in these small bikes, it's a recipe for disaster," the LAPD official said.
In Compton, though, the mini bikes are a tradition.
"Our fathers and grandads had them. So, we..just a culture thing in LA with the mini bikes," Hemphill said.
Enthusiasts who love the mini bikes hope city leaders can find a compromise, so they can someday share the road.
There are a lot of reasons these mini bikes are illegal on our roadways. They don' have reflectors or lights, are too loud for the neighborhood and don't have enough speed for the streets, making it unlikely they will be street legal any time soon.
