These things are street legal in California, for goodness sakes! The are listed on the 2017 EPA certification list as being 50-state street legal 'on-highway'
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production...17-mc-ctrr.xls
Open the link and scroll down to near the bottom. There is also an EPA/DOT link in which you put in your VIN # and it will give the same information; some states use the federal site--if your bike pops up as being EPA/DOT compliant, you are good to go (New Jersey comes to mind). I wonder if they are confusing the brand Taotao overall with the actual model 'Hellcat' since Taotao has a couple 125cc off-road pit bikes out there vs, the 50 state legal Hellcat. That wouldn't make sense, either, since they have several EPA/DOT legal scooters, but it is a newer offering from Taotao.