We don't rate bikes. We register them, measure them, and tell you who they fit. This page is the rulebook: what gets published, how each claim is labeled, and what we won't say.
More access means more we can publish. It never means a better conclusion about the bike.
| What we have | Label | What we publish | What we don't |
|---|---|---|---|
| We own it and registered it in Utah | Owned and registered | Specs, fit notes, a full registration file with forms, fees, timeline, surprises, and next-owner advice. | Any claim that your registration will be as easy, cheap, or fast. |
| We own it, but haven't registered it | Owned | Specs, fit notes, and any measurements we made. | A registration file, or observed DMV outcomes. |
| A maker or dealer loaned it to us | Loaned | Specs and first-ride notes, with the loan disclosed and dated. | A registration file, an ownership claim, or a long-term reliability claim. |
| Someone who registered one told us about it | Owner report | A labeled third-party report, with consent, redactions, and how much we checked. | Presenting their account as our first-party file, or publishing a VIN, plate, or address. |
| We only have the manufacturer's page | Manufacturer specs only | Manufacturer specs, clearly labeled, with the check date and source. | Fit claims we can't support, or any registration outcome. |
Every value in a spec table carries one of these labels. A value marked unknown stays unknown. We never fill a gap with a guess, and we never copy a manufacturer claim into a measured field.
| Label | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The maker's published claim, with the date we checked it. | Seat height, battery voltage, claimed top speed. |
| Calculated | Arithmetic on published numbers, with the formula stated. | 72 V × 35 Ah = 2.52 kWh. |
| Measured by us | We used a scale or a tape, and say how. | The weight of our own bike with accessories fitted. |
| Observed | We saw it happen and can describe the event. | A title issued, a fee paid, a form accepted at the counter. |
| Owner report | Someone else's account, labeled as theirs and limited to what they told us. | A registration cost from an owner who kept the receipt. |
| Unknown | We don't know. It is not zero and not a guess. | A rider height band we haven't measured, or a VIN length we couldn't confirm. |
Our positioning map plots seat height against peak power, colors by class, and sizes each circle by net weight. All four are observable numbers. A quality axis would smuggle a verdict into a chart, so there isn't one. The table next to the map carries the same values for anyone who can't read the chart.
A registration file is a factual record of one title and registration event in Utah. It is not legal advice, and it is not a prediction.
We take reports from owners who actually registered the bike, not from people repeating a forum post. A report needs consent and redactions before it can be published.
A relationship can get a bike documented. It cannot get a conclusion. The free guide has no ads or affiliate links; when a bike page or the gear page has a paid link, it's disclosed there, and partner arrangements live on their own partner arrangements page.
Every bike and partner entry has a last-checked date and at least one source. When a source changes, the page may lag; we say so rather than implying it is current.
The data files are checked at build time: missing sources, mismatched spec labels, fee arithmetic, loaner registration files, and undisclosed partner links stop the build.
If a fact is wrong, we want the document, the page, or the receipt that shows it. We correct the record and note the change. A correction is not editorial approval, and it doesn't remove a documented outcome.
Email corrections@utahemotoguide.com with the document, page, or receipt that shows the error. Every page also shows what we checked and when.