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Requirements for Street Legal Motorcycles

228K views 108 replies 84 participants last post by  KRFTW95 
#1 ·
What up guys, I always see a lot of post for people wanting to title their bikes and make them street legal, Iran across this site from the AMA that list all the requirements for different states, Hope it help some of y'all getting your bike legal.

http://www.amadirectlink.com/legisltn/laws.asp
 
#3 ·
This is awesome for South Carolina!

Radar Detector---------No Restriction
Turn Signals------------Not Required
Muffler-----------------No acoustical criteria.
Maximum Sound Level---No acoustical criteria.
 
#7 ·
Id like to add Ontario

If you live here: You can get your Off Road bike on the street these ways.

If the bike was Blue Plated (street plate) before Novemeber 2007 then your bike is forever street plated.

If your bike is offroad only, you can take a chance, you say you have a 'custom motorcycle' try and go that route, I dont know if it works but someone on here said they put all the stuff on the bike that is required (lights,horn,etc) Took it to Crappy Tire and they saftied it for the road because they basically check to make sure your blinkers and brake lights work. And then apparently you get them to sign a affidavit saying it has all the street legal requirements like lights and such, take that to the DMV or MTO whoever: I dont know if this works but I heard it could.

The other way is to buy a bike that is sold has road legal from a dealer like a EXC KTM, or WR250X/R
 
#26 ·
im going through that trouble now. im in kitchener ontario. i have a 2001 yamaha wr250f. and i found out today its only meant for offroad, i was tryin to think of ways to get it on road and dealerships said no.
i think im gunna do that though and try it.
if anyone wants to by my bike to kick around on or make it street legal in your counrty ill sell it. its a mint condition bike, really fast lots of upgrades. have all stock parts still.











 
#10 ·
Hawaii has a catch-22 that sounds similar to PA.
I'm a cop, so I know the traffic code pretty well here, and have al the copies of the various laws easily accessible. Hawaii itself does not require turn signals unless the vehicle in question is over 24" fromthe center of the steering column to the outside edge of the vehicle. Unless you've got REALLY wide handlebars, motorcycles aren't this wide. In the Honolulu city ordinances, it states motorcycles MAY be equipped with turn signals, clearance lights, etc. The word MAY means optional.
Here's the weird part - in order for you to register your vehicle every year, you must pass what's called a "safety inspection". If you don't have the safety inspection, you can't renew your registration - period. Now, the screwed up thing, which is what might be happening in PA, is that instead of following state law, the inspection stations are given a copy of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards ( FMVSS) to use to determine if a vehicle pases inspection. The FMVSS state all motorcycles must have turn signals. What most people don't realize is the FMVSS are federal laws that ONLY apply to manufactures and dealers as far as how a vehicle must be SOLD in the United States. What makes a vehicle legal for use on a public roadway is the domain of each individual state. Unfortunately, trying to convince the brainwashed inspection people of this, even when showing them the laws in black and white, is a total waste of time.
So the solution in Hawaii, and maybe in PA, is to mount turn signals (i use an led setup powered by AA batteries) temporarily to get your inspection, then just take them off afterwards. As long as your state law doesn't require them, you can't get a ticket for not having them. Actually you might get a ticket if the officer isn't familiar with how this works. It may be a good idea to print out a copy of your state law showing turn signals aren't required, in case you get stopped, because there are actually many police officers out there that don't know turn signals aren't required in every state. But even if you get a ticket, you should be able to win in court easily.
 
#11 ·
Not exactly,, Pa has its own regs and regulations and is rather tight on the inspection and PA vehicle code laws.. Yes you DO need turn signals if your bike was made since 1974.. The no signal falls under the harley clauses.. It was "if the vehicle was not manufactured with turn signals it does not need them".. The issue here is that applies to vehicle that were built FOR the road.. not converting TO the road.. I'm also an insp tech and have been dealing with this for years..Not hard to do just more than a simple headlight taillight thing.. I've DS several bikes,, KTM 300exc, KDX 200's(4 of them) 3 GasGas 250ec's and helped several others.. And just because you need them on for insp. does not mean you have to keep them on,, but remember johnny law might come knocking on your door if you dont have them..
They are there to protect the helmet-less(read organ donor)
 
#12 ·
They are required for a modified title. I used the tag setup from Motosport Outlet.
By law they are supposed to be 14 inches apart. But I havent had any problems with the cops. The LED signals are very bright even in daylight. The tail light is from Baja Designs also LED.
 
#13 ·
Hell, I have e-marked LED mini stalk signals mounted in the stock locations and they're only about 12" apart.
 
#14 ·
You are lucky,, and the leo's down by you have more important work to do than vehicle code crap.. up by me they are bored,, they even pull me over for no doors on my jeep wrangler.. which is a grey area at best.. I saw some very small led turn signals a while back on a buddies bike.. They had like 3 led's in them, shaped like a small triangle scoop.. fit perfect on the side of the taillight holder on his ktm 450.. and in fact looked almost factory as that year had the funky shaped taillight..
I'll see if I can find a picture..
But,, in the end you do need turn signals,, even if they arent quite up to code as long as they are there and work from what I've found.. I dont do inspections anylonger as I dont work in a shop that does bikes... I miss spring bike inspection time.. got to ride so many different bikes.. and not have to pay for any of them....
My favorite customer had a Canadian version of the RZ 500,, 2stroke 3cyl, street bike.. least favorite was this old 70's something norton.. looked cool as hell.. but the foot controls were on the wrong sides?? I almost crashed it trying to leave the parking lot..
 
#16 ·
I don't think I've had the doors on my Wrangler in years, and I don't get a passing glance from cops here. I did get a woman in the drive thru at McDonald's ask me if I was worried about falling out though.:lol:
 
#17 ·
Cruisin - I amtotally unfamiliar with Pa laws, so I will defer to you. However, my point I gues I was trying to make was that some inspectors will try to tell people that there is a Federal Law that requires motorcycles in all states to have turn signals since a certain date. This is not true, and they are misinformed if they think so. Sometmes with the various goverment entities, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, etc.
 
#29 ·
As also stated, not "yet", maybe in around 2012. The bill will have to pass the Govonator, if he is still in office. He is a bike owner, but I don't think he will be on our side as motorcyclist.

I have never taken my CBR(currently SMless) in for "inspection", right now they only care about your license endorsment. Although I just took the MSF Course so DMV has never seen my bike.
 
#24 ·
Cali doesn't check motorcycles "yet" for emission stuff. The things that they check for are: If you Know where the front break lever is, rear break, if you have all the proper lights, horn, ignition and kill switch. The guy at DMV didn't say a thing when I told him my horn didn't work. Hope this helped.
 
#25 ·
I converted a CR480 for the street. Texas laws are pretty relaxed, if it has all the equipment to pass the state inspection, it can be licensed for the street.
The problem I ran into was insurance. I have liability on 3 other bikes, totalling about $120 per year. Dairyland wouldn't insure the CR 'cause it's an off road competition model. I could have taken the "off road only" policy, but it wouldn't cover my a$$ if I caused an accident (or ran over the top of someone's car).
I went through Progressive, which ended up under a speciality policy, costing $120-ish.
I needed it, I purchased it, I'm legal and I don't have to worry about it for another year.

 
#27 ·
VIN Check.

If the VIN# on the bike in question has a "C" or "3" in the 8th position of the VIN number this normally flags the bike as a competition only model. Almost impossible to register for the street. Some folks get it done but it's a lot of work.

If the VIN does not have this "C" or "3" in the 8th position then it's easier to get it registered for the street.

Different jurisdictions have different rules.
 
#49 ·
Is that just Cali, or the nation? I want to motard a crf450, which the seller told me has been street legal in TX, but he got rid of the lights and registered or titled it as off road... makes me wonder if it was ever street legal, or he's saying it to sell since he knows I want something for the street. It has a "3" in the 8th place. Any help? thanks.
 
#31 ·
that website said nothing about a horn in texas... does that mean i don't need a horn? cause that would be great, one less thing i have to put on a street sumo
 
#32 ·
anyone live in indiana

i live in indianapolis in. i'm converting my crf450 to motard. i want to get
it plated to ride on the street. i'm looking into whats going to be involved in this. i have the MSO from the honda dealer. i went to the AMA web link in this thread but there's not a lot of info there. there are several drz400's hear motarded riding on the streets, they had no problems, but they have out of state dealer plates. i know i will need headlight,tail/brake light, mirrors, the AMA link for indiana says you must have speedo also, but the two drz's don't have them. also it says nothing about turn sig, the drz don't have any. thinks for any info anyone can offer. i want to have all my ducks in a row before i go to the DMV. also my brother is a cop hear, he also wants to get his crf450 on the road & motarded so we can ride togother.
thinks,josh
 
#33 ·
Not converting, but, just bought a WR250X yesterday and could someone post a good link for mirrors? I'm looking for something streamlined, lower to the bars and a wider horizontal view. Not sure about these lollypops.....hope this is the right posting area...or should i post in parts for sale?
 
#34 ·
Horn, mirror and brake light for Montana, that is all.
CR's, KX's and RM's with plates all around where I live, and all of the ranchers have plates on their four-wheelers, you oughta see the local cafe in the mornings on the weekends when all the ranchers meet up to have coffee.
 
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