Cman250

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Mar 31, 2007
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Well I have been wondering about this. I know that you can slap a plate on a kdx and those are two strokes but does it differ for motor cross bikes? I live in Maine so the rules might be stricter than oh...say idaho or AZ. Some of you may be thinking it defeats the purpose to buy a MX bike and make it street legal but i love everything about the 2 stroke racers and thought it would be neat to drive to school on my bike in the summer on nice days. BTW does anyone know about motorcycle regulations? I heard that if you have your driver's licence and you wear a helmet and only ride in the day, that its perfectly legal to drive you motorcycle around on roads as long as its registered, even if you don't have your motorcycle's licence <--- that is most likely not fully true and probably depends where you live.
 
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olderndirtmom

Member
Apr 28, 2007
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hmmm. Take the word of someone a continent away... or call your local DMV....

You know what would be really cool? Call me a dreamer, but I think it would be really cool if someone would create a way to connect computers all over the globe. Then, really bright people could store all sorts of useful information, kind of like a library. And then, less bright people such as myself, could, just sitting at our computers at home, type in a few words (say "maine department of motor vehicles") and... without even leaving home... I could find out what the regulations are for motorcycles in my state. Maybe even access the Maine Exam Manual.

Golly, that would be so dang cool.

http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/licenses/MaineExamManual.pdf (see pages 85-104 for a complete answer to your question.)
http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/licenses/getlicense.html
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/29-A/title29-Asec2062.html
 
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Rich Rohrich

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olderndirtmom said:
You know what would be really cool? Call me a dreamer, but I think it would be really cool if someone would create a way to connect computers all over the globe. Then, really bright people could store all sorts of useful information, kind of like a library.

PFFFFTTT, that'll never happen. :coocoo: :coocoo: :coocoo:
 

Cman250

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Mar 31, 2007
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Hey i smell sarcasim. Sorry i probably should have researched this a little more before i started typing. :bang:
 

olderndirtmom

Member
Apr 28, 2007
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cman...

The short answer is... most everything you wrote is pretty much incorrect.
You need at least 8 hours of separate motorcycle instruction. 15 if you want the road test waived. Your bike needs lights (not real cool on an MX track, but hey... I'll leave that to the mxers to straighten you out on), plates, proper brakes, a horn, etc. etc.

You better do some reading.

and... Try GOOGLE for certified motorcycle training schools in your state. Or even the dmv site. They are listed by county right there.
 
May 10, 2007
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not real logical to race with a horn or lights or any thing you need to be road legal cuz then you will wiegh a ton more then that dude next to you who uses his bike for closed course only.

also if you fall and havent taken turn signals and mirrors off then they are gone.
 

Cman250

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Mar 31, 2007
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New Plan: Keep MX bike for MX'n and work butt off mowing alot of lawn and mixing cement to buy a car.
 

_JOE_

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May 10, 2007
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Buy a dual sport. Get it at a dealer, they will make sure its all set for you. I'm sure you need a license. :nod: At fifteen, can you even get one? Maybe by the time you get your license you will be able to buy a street legal bike, keep mowin & mixin :cool:
 

thebleakness

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Sep 19, 2006
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I guess I can't speak (I live in AZ. :nener: ) but we ride out street legal bikes on tracks all the time. Of course all we need is a headlight (not really that big anyways), a small taillight (similar to a KTM light) and a fold down mirror that Acerbis sells. The only problem that we've (I've encountered it the most often) is that sometimes larger jumps and jumping them incorrectly will drag the license plate holder on the ground and breaking it off. Other than that no problems, pretty sweet huh? :D :nener:
 

rmc_olderthandirt

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Apr 18, 2006
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There are some laws that are federal and a lot that are state. Then there is what you can get away with.....

To be legal on the road (Any road in the USA) you need to run DOT approved tires. Big knobbies are NOT approved tires! The tires that are legal on the street are pretty much worthless on a MX track. For short runs down a public road you can usually get away with running a dirt tire, unless you pass a local law officer who is just looking for a reason to pull you over. But the bottom line is that a decent off road tire will rubbed to nothing real quick running on asphalt.

Mirrors, turn signals, head light and tail/brake light is also a federally mandated requirement. Head and tail lights are not so easy to install, and if you don't have a lighting coil (most MX bikes don't come with one) it is a non trivial installation. Getting a proper brake light can be real bitch. Some states require that you have a battery so the headlight can operate without the engine running.

I didn't think that any state allows two strokes to become street legal.

A true MX bike has one purpose: racing. It is made as light as possible to serve that purpose. Uncessary weight, such as headlights, and the loss of horsepower to run the lighting coil is just not acceptable to a MX bike. Many racing organizations don't allow "accessory" appendages on the race bikes such as kickstands as they don't want to run the risk of it coming off and creating a track hazard.

If you want a dual sport bike there are plenty on the market. The Yamaha WR-450 is a great example of a "MX quality" bike that can be made street legal in many states. KTM makes street legal dual sport bikes that are quite good off road.

If you really want to ride your dirt bike to school, first get the proper license endorsment, then buy a bike that is street legal.

Rod
 

Steve St.Laurent

Mi. Trail Riders
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Feb 6, 2006
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Well, at least here in Michigan a lot of that isn't true. We don't need turn signals to be legal here. Only one mirror is required and they don't have any requirements as to how big, etc. 2 strokes can definitely be made street legal. A lot depends on how you want to use your bike as to how much it will cost, etc. I made my CR250 2 stroke street legal here for short runs up roads between trails (less than 2 miles) and being able to run from a campground to the trail head (again a couple of miles) and to be legal to run in enduros. It cost me a grand total of $200 to make it street legal. I have the advantage of having a tig welder here at home so I was able to do it the way I did it cheaper than someone having to pay some to do some fabricating but you could do it close to the same way using off the shelf components. Here is the thread I posted on here about my conversion - http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=143608 . I use a rechargable 10 pack AA battery pack to power my lights and horn. I only have about 45 minutes of headlight use so it wouldn't work as a daily driver but for my use works perfectly. The taillight/brake light was real easy, just bought a taillight/fender package from Baja Designs and a replacement banjo bolt that has a built in switch for the rear brake. I also didn't put DOT tires on it and lucked out that the cop doing the inspection didn't check. I did see where someone here recently got warned by the DNR about not having DOT tires so that problem may come up but thus far hasn't - it was just a warning too.

It all depends on the laws in your state. I looked around on Maine's SOS site and couldn't find anything on there. It was pretty easy to find on the Michigan SOS site. Here is a link to the form I had to use here in Michigan - http://www.michigan.gov/documents/TR-54_38480_7.pdf . What you want to do is call in and ask about a home built bike. Get the requirements for that and you should be able to fulfill all those and get it inspected and tagged.
 

Cman250

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Mar 31, 2007
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Alright thanks for the information. I wasn't planning on using the bike as a full fledge road machine, more of a couple mile commuter to go in and out of town and over to near by friends houses, trails, etc. I won't be riding MX tracks anyways so the tires don't have to be top notch either, just capable of tooling around off road and such.
 
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