E-bike is the only thing you can ride without insurance etc. Don't know much about them, but I've heard that a good one is well over $1000. If this is the way you want to go, you will be hated by everyone who you are sharing the road / sidewalk / bike path with. They go about 30 km / hr, so will not keep up with traffic. The tires are really skinny and will actively look for street car tracks to get caught in. For about the same price you can get a 50cc scooter. The Yamaha Vino is probably the cheapest of the Jap scoots at about or sub $1000 for a good condition bike, which are all really high quality, but Kymco and SYM make good quality PRC scoots, and there are also good ones from Aprilia and Piaggio (Vespa) at a bit of a premium. 50cc scoots will bounce off 60 km / hr downhill with a good tail wind, but in an urban area are sufficient to keep up with traffic. The tires are fatter than e-bikes, so they can handle road conditions better, and they often get in the 100 mpg range. You also only need a "ML" license (limited speed). Insurance is really cheap on these, and they cost very little to maintain. From there you get into 125 cc scoots, which you can get either a full M or an ML license with and cost only minimally more to buy. Insurance is more on them, but they are way more capable and feel more substantial. My wife rides a SYM HD200, which is 173 cc, will do 110 km / h pretty easily, is liquid cooled, and has 16" tires, which is rare on a scoot.
