Originally Posted by
B. Carfree
It may vary by state, but in OR (and, I suspect CA) it is NOT a bike. When riding it one would be a pedestrian (but a damned fast one)
Actually, just because your vehicle doesn't meet your state's definition of a bicycle, that doesn't mean you're legally a fast pedestrian.
The law could just call it a generic "vehicle".
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter. In general, the law (i.e. police, courts, etc.) treat anything that's even vaguely bike like (mostly this means it's small and human powered) as a bike, even if it's got three or four wheels, no pedals, no seat, wheels that are not tandem or too small to meet their definition, etc.) like a bike.
For example, it would really suck to get a ticket for riding your 12" tire folding bike on a bike lane and get a ticket for that. Fortunately, that almost never happens. (I think the "tires must be larger than X inches" stuff is meant to exclude children's bicycles.)