Parents be warned: e-dirt bikes are not e-bicycles. And they are not legal on city streets.

San Diego police Traffic Officer Nick Tamagni was writing a ticket to a man for riding an electric off-highway motorcycle on a Rancho Bernardo street a couple of weeks ago when he spotted an even more urgent concern. Two young teens whizzed past him on the same kind of vehicle — an e-motorcycle, the kind not legal for the streets.

Tamagni headed off after them. The teen driver got a ticket. The e-motorcycle got towed.

It’s a ticket he’s writing more frequently.

San Diego police say they have seen more people on city streets riding e-motorcycles designed only for off-highway use, including teens not old enough to drive. The e-motorcycles in question are generally known as dirt bikes, off-highway vehicles that are now also offered in an electric version. Don’t confuse them for full-size, street-legal motorcycles, which are also now offered in an electric version.

Kids are drawn to the electric dirt bikes. But parents beware: They are not street legal in California. Period. No bike lanes, no sidewalks. Off-road use only.

“They don’t need to run a red light. They don’t need to run a stop sign. It doesn’t need to be a moving violation of any sort. Simply having one even on a sidewalk — the sidewalk counts as a roadway — or on the roadway itself can be an immediate stop and tow and citation,” Tamagni said.

He cautions that in the city of San Diego, they also cannot be used on public hiking or horse trails.

And if a 14-year-old gets pulled over riding one on the street? The teen may be looking at a very real traffic ticket. Underage unlicensed drivers face the same penalties as adults.

Off-highway e-motorcycles are different from e-bikes, which operate under an assist from pedal power. There are no pedals on e-motorcycles.

“If it doesn’t have pedals, it’s not a bicycle. That’s the very, very most basic, straightforward thing,” says Devin Raymond, co-owner of Electric Bike Super Shop in San Diego, also known as OB eBikes.

He calls the electric dirt bikes “e-motos” for short. And he says he has seen plenty of excited middle-schoolers point mom and dad toward them in his shop.

“I’ve had to explain to multiple parents that it’s no different than throwing your 12-year-old behind the wheel of your car,” he said.

E-dirt bikes are faster, too. They reach speeds of 50, maybe 60 mph and have so much power they are “not even close to being a legal electric bike,” Raymond said.

He said his shop notifies customers of the difference between the two types of vehicles and makes buyers sign a waiver acknowledging that notification.

Tamagni suspects that some parents know there is a difference. But most, he said, might not be aware of it and are likely not researching the products.

Sheriff’s Deputy David Drake said he “regularly” spots the e-dirt bikes on the road. “I’m just seeing them more and more each day,” said Drake, a motor deputy. And, he says, many drivers appear to be minors.

“In fact, most of my contacts or observations of people that are riding the off-road e-bikes typically appear to me to be under 16,” Drake said.

Drake also recommends that parents looking into buying an e-bicycle “visit local bike shops that sell both the off-road-type bikes and e-bikes, so you know what you’re getting into.”

Adding lights and mirrors won’t make these electric dirt bikes street legal, experts warn.

Your classic e-bikes, on the other hand, are legal on roads and bike lanes.

What California defines as a “class 3” e-bike reaches up to 28 mph and requires the driver to be at least 16 years old. The “class 1” e-bikes go 20 mph with pedal assist, and “class 2” e-bikes go 20 mph with a throttle assist.

Helmets are required for e-bikes. A driver’s license, insurance or registration are not.