Topic: Making a dirbike street legal?

[snoop]

Can I make a dirt bike street legal just by adding a head light, brake light, turnsignals and making it pass emissions? Is that all that is involved or is there serious title work?

[bill440cars]

         Never done it myself, even though I have thought about it. I would imagine that the main things would be getting lights (might not have to do turn signals, unless you just want to), quieten down the exhaust some, provide a place for the tag and, maybe, work on emissions. Some places might require a mirror. A lot probably depends on where you live. Hope that helps. Also, some place might require a tire change, if you're running anything more than a universal (or trials type tire). Hope that helps.

                                                    Later on, Bill    

[tmht]

Check the laws in your state. Some states do not allow this no matter what you do to the bike.

[dusterdude]

well,if they let them dadblasted scooters with lites and such on the streets a dirtbike with lites and such should be no problem.

[bill440cars]

well,if they let them dadblasted scooters with lites and such on the streets a dirtbike with lites and such should be no problem.

        Yeah duster,
                   One would think so and a dirt bike would be much better suited also.

                                                       Later on, Bill  

[Uncle Ernie]

I varies from state to state.  Here in NC, they don't yet care about MC emissions.  You have to have lights, brakes, horn, mirror.  They don't require turn signals unless the bike came stock that way ( ? ).  BUT- you also need a title and insurance.  In NC you CAN NOT register a bike without having proof of insurance first, and you can't get insurance OR register the bike without a title. 
Dirtbikes are not sold with a title.

[DarkRider]

Best way to go about it would be converting said dirtbike into a Super Moto.

[333]

Why?  Dual purpose bikes that are street legal don't perform well in either arena.  The dual purpose tires aren't that sticky on the street, and the knobs aren't big enough to bite in the dirt.  So a real offroad tire(which is also not DOT approved) would have less traction on the street than a dual purpose tire.  Sure , you could change tires, but you might very well have to change wheels too.  It would probably cheaper just to find a dual purpose bike and suffer the shortcomings(less traction on the street/dirt than the dirt and street bikes).

[bill440cars]

          I was thinking something like this set of tires. Actually these are similar to what I was thinking about. I think they were called "Trials Tires" back in the 60's.

                                               Later on, Bill


             

[okie]

Check out this site:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=22


If you look through their archives, you will see that it is becoming a lot more difficult to get past the state Department of Motor Vehicles with anything not originally made for street use.  Having had an off-road bike that was titled, licensed and street legal, I can tell you it wasn't worth the trouble. 

[333]

Trials tire,dual purpose-same thing.  Not enough knob to be good in the dirt, not enough smooth rubber to grip well on the street.  A race vehicle uses slicks because totally smooth rubber gives the most traction on dry pavement.  They're not allowed on the street because of things like road debris and mostly because of rain.  In auto and some M/C  racing they change to treaded tires when it rains.  In GP racing in Europe, they change whole bikes!

[mrbreeze]

I don't think emissions play into it at all.Calif. is the toughest state and they aren't smogging bikes(yet!!!). I would say that you can upgrade a dirtbike for street riding if you have all the ingredients that your state requires......turn signals would be according to when the bike was supposed to have them(I'm thinking 73'-74'). I would for sure think you should have front & rear lights,horn,mirror(S),etc.
If you really want to do this.....I would suggest checking with your local DMV and following everything they require to the TEE!!! Then you should have no probs!!!...Good luck with that!!

[oconnor]

Our local DMV inspecotr (Iowa) said no "just because" and he also said it would need a steel tank anyway to which I pointed out that many street bikes come with non-steel tanks these days, still no deal. No real reason but still no deal.

[bill440cars]

Trials tire,dual purpose-same thing.  Not enough knob to be good in the dirt, not enough smooth rubber to grip well on the street.  A race vehicle uses slicks because totally smooth rubber gives the most traction on dry pavement.  They're not allowed on the street because of things like road debris and mostly because of rain.  In auto and some M/C  racing they change to treaded tires when it rains.  In GP racing in Europe, they change whole bikes!

         Maybe now but, back in the 60's type trials tires was what I was talking about and they were more like a little "rougher" looking tire than a street tire and (back then) the "Dual Purpose" term hadn't been connected with motorcycles at that time. Just a bit of "Vintage" info there.

                                                          Later on, Bill

[CharlieT]

Like others have pointed out, its going to vary tremendously by the individual state.

Some states title, some register and some do neither with pure off-road bikes. One even has green sticker/red sticker bikes. Specific vehicle requirements for road legal vary from state to state.

I took a CRF450 rolling chassis I had sitting around and dropped an XR200R motor into it for a trail bike. I'm almost done making it street legal this year finally. In MI, it needs headlight, tail light, brake light speedo, mirror and horn. Have even used a clamp on the handle bar rubber bulb ya squeeze by hand horn befoer nad that passed inspection.

Why do it when there are DS bikes out there? DS are typically a compromise bike. Some more off road worthy than others. Basically the reason I'm going to finish making this street-legal is the state trail system. While there are lots of ORV trails that do not require a license, there are many many more that do require a license, primarily because some of the connectors in the trail system used county roads, etc. to connect from one trail section to another. Also a lot of the events here in Michigan are more focused on the DS rides.

Has nothing to do to make it a "street" bike for daily riding or serious highway riding. Most of these roads are dirt back-country county roads, etc......but they requier a license to travel down them.  SO you may spend 90+% of the time off-road, but its that 5-10% of the time on one of these country roads that gets you. So to be able to ride any of the trails in the state system, I'm going to make the bike street-legal.

Now if you intend to ride  more like 75/25 or 66/33 % off-road/street, then I would agree that you would be better off just getting a DS bike.

Personally, I always wished Honda had made more of their bikes street legal, like most of their XR line.

[bill440cars]

         Yeah, pretty much depends on just what the person has in mind.

                                                     Later on, Bill

[Cowboy]

I've been going through the process of getting a title for a former dirt-only bike.  In Wyoming, it's not very tough, but I suspect in part that the process is a bit easier for me because of a particularly helpful clerk at the local County Clerk's office.

All I need to do is this: Provide a notarized bill of sale for the bike. Add the necessary lights, mirrors and DOT approved tires. Have the VIN number on the bike inspected by a sheriff's deputy, along with the lights, mirrors and tires. Provide an affidavit that I added the lights, mirrors and tires to the bike to make it street legal.  In the end, I get a title and a license plate.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy in other states, and like I suggested, it probably should not be so easy here. In fact, when I first read the statutes on vehicle titles, I concluded that it was not only difficult, but impossible to do this in Wyoming.

That said, I've read about title services in other states where a somewhat shady service thrives, providing titles for cars and motorcycles that lack them in their home states. I don't remember which states have the lax laws that facilitate this process, though. Do a Google search for "replacement car title" and you should find a few of these services.

[LoopsAndLogic]

It's harder to get a title in Ohio for a dirtbike. Much harder!!!

They pretty much require every single thing that an enduro has.

I was fortunate, my friend asked his boss of this huge motorcycle shop to get him a title for his 1986 XR600R, and have it stated on the title "converted" so it's ridable on the street. Took him just 1 week to get it.

I bought it off him

It says, in Ohio, you cannot title any dirtbike that is older than 90'. If I remember right. But you can convert any dirtbike that has a title after you have it inspected.

Best of luck

LL