Updated Vehicle Rules and Protocols at Burning Man

[BRCDMV]

All,

The rules regarding Vehicle use at Burning man, especially Personal Transportation Vehicles (PTV) have been updated.

Please see:

https://burningman.org/event/art-perfor ... protocols/

[Sham]

I'm not giving a synopsis of the new rules on personal transportation allowed on the playa, but this addresses the issues of faster, motor powered devices. It seems to focus on scooter, gas powered bikes as well as other new gizmos not around just a few years back.

[lucky420]

I didn’t really see where it addresses power chairs though. Did I miss that?

[BRCDMV]

Hi,

If you mean electric wheelchairs, these are noted on the page regarding Disabled Person's vehicles

https://burningman.org/event/art-perfor ... -vehicles/

The following vehicles do not require licensing to be used as Disabled Person’s Vehicles :

Electric Wheelchairs
3 & 4 wheeled Mobility Scooters

Sincerely,

Chef Juke
DMV

[lucky420]

Thank you

[pappachuck]

Can I bring a mutated wheelchair even though I am not disabled?

[Sham]

Can I bring a mutated wheelchair even though I am not disabled?

Sure, if you have room in the moving truck you're bringing.

[pappachuck]

Does my lap counts as space?

[AntiM]

Can I bring a mutated wheelchair even though I am not disabled?

Having camped with someone who was in actual need of a powered wheelchair, my thought is anyone who brings one and thinks it is going to be a useful cushy form of transport is a damned fool who knows nothing about how heavy such things are, how susceptible to dust damage, how much power they suck, and how they sink into the playa, trapping the occupant. Many theme camps, and most of the art and mutant vehicles, are not wheelchair accessible. It is flat out a stupid idea.

[unjonharley]

The Cupcakes a few years back, were electric wheel chairs

[Ratty]

How are they powered?

They are all electric – so no, we don’t pedal them! The motors and mechanics are adapted from electric wheelchair, golf cart motors and small ATVs. They run on deep cycle marine batteries. At events like the Maker Faire, we recharge the batteries from the mains source. At Burning Man we recharge them on large solar panels set up in our camp.

How do I make one?

We are still working on more detailed plans - but basically, your mobile muffin / cupcake car comes in 3 parts:

1) The tin: made from 4 sheets of 4x4ft 26ga galvanized sheet metal.

2) The top: plywood, chicken wire, batting, and fabric.

3) The drivetrain: involves batteries, motor, controller, wheels, steering, and a seat. Some muffins have pre-packaged arrangement like the Minimoto ATV

If you have any more questions, (solar charger, measurements, etc.) Sign up for our email list and ask your questions there. NOTE: we get a lot of spam sign-ups on this list so you should send an email to one of our group members introducing yourself in order to get on the list.

How much do they cost?

Depending on the materials used, they cost between $500 and $1500. Or much more if you really want to get fancy. Galvanized sheet metal is about $75 for 4 sheets. Depending on the type of fabric you use, expect to spend $100 to $200 for the top. The Minimoto drivetrain is about $500 or more if you add batteries. If you have fabrication skills you may be able to use surplus parts and build the drivetrain for less, but you'll need at least $200 or so for batteries.

[pappachuck]

BTW, how fast can my stuff goes?? Because I have some serious electric motors.

Also, there is something we call IEC IP (international protection marking). It will be difficult to find a wheelchair or a consumer based product that complies to the IP to survive the weather at burning man. However you can find the parts to build your own projects, or even design based on that.

[gaminwench]

5 mph.

[sparr]

The requirement for working pedals is going to make some of my plans for small electric vehicles harder, but I think I can still manage. I had a technically-a-moped in high school where the pedals were really just a glorified kickstart and legal requirement than a useful option.

[Canoe]

The requirement for working pedals is going to make some of my plans for small electric vehicles harder, but I think I can still manage. I had a technically-a-moped in high school where the pedals were really just a glorified kickstart and legal requirement than a useful option.

Small electric vehicles. Hmmm.
Go read the rules.
Only Licensed Mutant Vehicles, Licensed Vehicles for People with Disabilities, a disabled person's Electric Wheelchair or 3 & 4 wheeled Mobility Scooters, and Allowed Participant Personal Transportation Vehicles.
"Working Pedals" refers to part of the rules for an "electric bicycle" under Nevada state law. There is also "Generally recognized as a bicycle" and "2-3 wheels".
Having an "electric vehicle" with working pedals does not make it an "electric bicycle" nor an Allowed Participant Personal Transportation Vehicles.

[Token]

When you FKOs decide you need inspiration, when you decide to be a real cool cat, when you decide that your conveyance needs to be EPIC...

Go see this:

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/LeChat2 ... sort=2&o=0

http://s27.photobucket.com/user/LeChat2 ... sort=2&o=0

Then read about every step of the transformation of the old tobacco setter.

viewtopic.php?f=100&t=19038

viewtopic.php?f=106&t=22962

Then step back and realize that building a transport for the wrong reasons is weak sauce.

Be a mensch.

[unjonharley]

Stop your collective-fat-ass-whining , Bicycle or walk ..

[pappachuck]

Just saying: 5 mph is too slow even for a bicycle human-powered.

[Sham]

Just saying: 5 mph is too slow even for a bicycle human-powered.

Pedaled bike on the open playa are not really subjected to speed limits. I had to install a GPS speedometer in my artcar to keep it in check. The big problem is that it quickly becomes unsafe to have vehicles speeding along with pedestrians and very dusty conditions. 5 MPH is it.

[Luigi]

Thanks Chef for the update. Gotta say last year I was turned off by the ebike explosion. Too many going too fast!

Let's face it - a fat tire electric motor bicycle is a MOTORCYCLE. So what if it has pedals, the things go 20 mph no problem.

I will stick to my old trusty schwinn cruiser - I have thought about electric assist, but why mess with tried and true? As long as I can physically pedal a bike, I will.

[some seeing eye]

Someday the stories of the DMV need to be collected and published along with the mug shots of the vehicles.

One of my great memories was the Neverwas Haul. I never rode it, but a friend of mine elaborately costumed in steampunk goth gave me a tour. That year is was pulled by an (I believe actual) steam engine from Kinetic Steam Works. The combination had safety walkers with giant mustaches in pith helmets and khaki bush jackets - all massively non-PC today, of course.

How does the DMV deal with steam powered MVs?

[sparr]

"Working Pedals" refers to part of the rules for an "electric bicycle" under Nevada state law. There is also "Generally recognized as a bicycle" and "2-3 wheels".

That section appears to be a not-entirely-accurate attempt to summarize the relevant (and linked) law.

[Soul Patch]

So... This was my 6th Burn, and first burn with an ebike. I arrived with 3 camp mates, and waited hours on gate road. When we reached gate our vehicle was searched, and our trailer was searched. My ebike was located in the rear of the trailer. I was asked how big my battery was, I informed gate crew that it was 1000 watts. I was told that no battery bigger than 750 watts was allowed. We were asked to leave Burning Man and do not bring the battery back. I asked if they could take the battery and let us through gate, I was told by a rather irate gate crew that they had taken many batteries, that it had become a nightmare and they stopped taking them and just turned people away. I asked where the rules state the allowed battery size and was told that it was in the Survival Guide. I pulled out the Survival Guide and looked for ebike rules. And there are no rules about battery size. I tried to argue that point and was told that it must conform to Nevada state law. I had no way to look at Nevada state law, so we complied and left playa. Fortunately we had friends that work in Gerlach and left the battery with them. While we were in Gerlach I was able to go online and check Nevada state law on ebikes. This is what it states.

Must conform to the definition of “electric bicycle” under Nevada state law:
Generally recognized as a bicycle
2-3 wheels
Working pedals
Electric motor, up to 750 watts
Top rated speed up to 20 mph* with 170 lbs operator
Does not include mopeds.
There is no mention of battery size. So we are required to know Nevada state regulations, but the gate crew enforcing those regulations are not.

I am not an expert on ebikes, so correct if I'm wrong, larger batteries = more miles, larger motors = more speed.
The rules clearly state motor size, not battery size.

I understand why ebike rules need to be in place. During the burn I witnessed several ebike accidents, ebikes doing 3 or 4 times the 5mph speed limit, some with nothing but a small head light and tail light. My opinion is that a great many of burners who were on ebikes this year do not ride bikes often, may not own a bike on the outside, so have little to no experience with bikes at all.
The ORG must come up with some clearly stated rules for ebikes, as next year and the years after will see the ebike numbers on Playa explode.

[some seeing eye]

My physics neurons are in pain.

The BORG has not stressed ebike safety, meanwhile the bikes got better, faster, and cheaper since 2019. So more people have them. Plus they are going to end up with a fuckton of MOOP ones in addition to regular bike MOOP.

Wild ass guess, they will start a community self-awareness and self-"policing" culture, while reaching out to the bad bike concierge camps and spank them.

Complex enforcement schemes are not better, not faster, and not cheaper.

[xtaiilsx]

[deleted by user] found answer lol

[some seeing eye]

Very unlikely.

Ebikes have 2 numbers the motor power in Watts, and the battery capacity in Watt-hours.

Ebikes are limited to 750 Watts and under. The Watt-hours is not regulated.

Black Rock City is small, so you don't need a lot of Watt-hours because there is not that far to go, and it is much more interesting to be experiencing and participating face to face, rather than spending all your time riding.

[FlyingMonkey]

At first I was like "Dammit, I got sucked in to another old thread". But then I saw Sparr and started thinking about powered Zorbs.