All e-bikes are officially banned in Hinsdale, Il, as well as in several nearby Chicago suburbs.

[traveller]

E-bike riders in the LaGrange/Brookfield/Countryside area that take long rides into Downers Grove, Naperville, and so forth and are used to getting there and back via that bridge near Spring Rock Park that goes over Interstate 294 are going to need to take a seriously huge detour if they want to avoid heavy fines and even jail time. That is correct, people, as of today, e-bikes, all classes, including regular bicycles that have been retrofitted with one of those electric bicycle wheel kits, are officially completely illegal in the Village of Hinsdale, Illinois, they can not be operated within the Village of Hinsdale, on neither street nor sidewalk, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Violators face heavy fines and up to 7 months in jail. Hinsdale now also enforces a strict speed limit of 8 mph for all regular bicycles, radar enforced, and if they catch you doing 9 mph, including going downhill on an incline, even if it is at 2 in the morning, you will be pulled over. E-bikes are also completely illegal, on both street and sidewalk, in the adjacent suburbs of Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, and Western Springs, and are also illegal in Elk Grove Village, Oak Park, and Schaumburg.

And I will agree, those people that hate e-bikes so much need to pack up and go move back to New York and Long Island, where both regular bicycles and e-bikes are completely illegal, on both street and sidewalk within the City of New York, as well as in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, and if you get caught by the New York Police Department in possession of a regular bicycle, let alone an e-bike, let alone riding a regular bicycle, let alone an e-bike, on street or sidewalk within the City of New York, it's 5 years on Rikers Island. In Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, operating a regular bicycle or e-bike, on street or sidewalk, and even being in possession of a bicycle or e-bike, carries up to one year in county jail. In New York City and on Long Island, there are but 4 legal ways of getting around, and they are walking, automobile, taxi/uber, and public transportation. In New York City and on Long Island, they seriously want your money, and getting around on wheels that require no gasoline or fossil fuels is considered tantamount even to theft.

[Mercury]

No automobile = No right to be part of the community.

That is the American motto and slogan. Hinsdale is one of the richest and most wealthy suburbs in the nation. In America, bicycles and e-bikes are considered synonymous with poverty and lack of America's live-to-work boot camp regime, as well as a felony violation of the unwritten law that no person shall be outdoors except for business reasons only. And Hinsdale knows how to enforce America's boot camp regime by banning all bicycles and e-bikes, all wheeled items except for automobiles, public transit vehicles, and delivery vehicles.

[ladislav]

Can you please provide links to the ordinances?

I have done research and this is what I have come up with:

The idea that all e-bikes are banned in Hinsdale, IL, and that people can get thrown in jail just for riding one or going a little too fast on a regular bike is way off. What’s actually true is that Hinsdale only bans high-powered e-bikes—ones with motors over 750 watts that can go super fast and are more like little motorcycles. Normal e-bikes, like the kind that go up to 20 mph and either help you pedal or use a throttle, are still totally legal to ride on the streets there. You just can’t ride them on sidewalks. And no, there’s no official 8 mph speed limit for bikes, and you’re not going to get pulled over or arrested for coasting downhill a little too fast at 2 a.m.

As for nearby towns like Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, Western Springs, Elk Grove Village, Oak Park, and Schaumburg—there’s no proof that they’ve banned e-bikes either. They all follow Illinois state law, which allows slower e-bikes (Class 1 and 2), and unless there’s some brand-new, very specific local law, saying e-bikes are totally illegal there is just not true.

And those rumors about New York City and Long Island being bike-free zones where you get five years in jail just for owning a bike? Totally made up. Regular bikes and most e-bikes are 100% legal in NYC and across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are legal everywhere in the state, and New York City even allows Class 3 e-bikes that go up to 25 mph with pedal assist. You don’t need a license, registration, or insurance to ride one, and there’s no such thing as a five-year sentence for riding a bike. New York actually supports biking big time—with bike lanes, Citi Bike rentals, and rules in place to make it safe.

So yeah, these claims about total bans and crazy jail time are just scare talk. In both Illinois and New York, bikes and e-bikes are legal and totally fine to ride—as long as you're being safe and following the actual rules.