If you commute or ride an e-bike or electric two-wheeler for fun, you've probably seen the headlines. Washington State has a new law. Police are talking about enforcement. Parents are being warned. And high-power electric bikes are suddenly in the spotlight.

At first glance, it sounds like Washington just declared war on electric bikes. But that's not exactly what's happening. The interesting part of this story isn't that the state wants teenagers off high-powered electric bikes. Plenty of cities have already been struggling with kids ripping through parks, sidewalks, bike paths, and neighborhood streets on machines capable of motorcycle speeds. That part isn't exactly new.

What's new is that Washington has finally forced one of the biggest questions in the electric two-wheeler world into the open: What exactly are high-powered "e-bikes" like those from Sur-Ron and Talaria?

For years, bikes like the Sur-Ron Light Bee and Talaria Komodo have occupied a weird legal no-man 's-land. They're sold through powersports dealers. They look like dirt bikes. They can hit speeds that would embarrass many scooters. Yet they've often been lumped into the same conversations as electric bicycles. Washington's new law essentially says that the conversation is over.

Under the updated rules, an e-bike can't produce more than 750 watts and can't propel itself beyond 20 miles per hour without pedaling. If a machine exceeds those limits, it's no longer considered an e-bike. It's now effectively governed by rules pertaining to electric motorcycles. That sounds straightforward enough until you realize what comes next.

It can be easy to interpret the law as creating a path for Sur-Rons to become street legal. Get a license, be at least 16 years old, and you're good to go, right?

Wrong.