Road legalizing woes

[MWEISSEN]

After trying with Ottawa, Jenison and Walker sherriff/police, I still don't have a legalized bike. The electric requirements are spot-on, it's the darn tires that have stopped the process in all cases. Must be police agencies are cracking down a little more, or I just picked a bad place to live and get a bike legalized.

Well I've decided to get some DOT tires. The typical choice is Kenda Trakmaster, but I"ve had them on my XR250 and really didn't care for them, especially the front, which washed out unpredictably.

I've settled on the Pirelli MT83 front tire, but am still struggling with the rear. Rocky Mountain lists the MT32 rear as being legal, and confirmed it on the phone, but nobody else lists it as a DOT tire. I've also identified the Michelin AC10 and Enduro Comp III, but they're a lot of bucks, and I'm not sure about tread depth.

I'm going to see the KTM dealer here in Rochester MN tomorrow (yeah, I'm back at the Mayo Clinic this week), and see if they have any advice.

I'm sure you guys can give me some advice. Is the MT32 rear really DOT legal? Are there any other suggestions?

By the way, I rode my KTM yesterday for awhile, and lost it on our road. I went down hard and watched the KTM slide past me down the pavement. The only thing that took damage on the bike were scratches on the front fender and rear axle nut. I was very surprised. I didn't fare as well, and can't lift my right arm past straight out, and have a few good scrapes. The docs out here won't be too happy with me, because I wasn't supposed to ride a bike yet. But, I think they were talking about the bikes I owned last time I talked to them, not a new one. ;)

 

[woodsy]

GREAT SCOTT GOOD BUDDIE - BE CAREFUL!! That being said, glad to hear you are ok... Might not be a bad idea to get that rotater cuff checked out.. Not that it is necessarily a cuff tear (I still have over 85% strength loss on lifting my left arm but NO cuff tear) but it would be a good idea to know for sure!!!
Sheesh Mark, couldnt you have a least waited till one of us was with you to help you put battle scars on E.C.?? At least we could have taken some really cool pics or something.. :blah: What a waste of a perfectly good wipeout!!
On a more positive note - I always wipe out on my new bikes right away.. It lets the bike teach me some respect and this usually lasts a longggggg time!!
Again, glad your both ok champ!! Prayers are with you going back to Mayo!!! ITS SPRING - soon we ride!! :aj:
Woodsy

 

[woodsy]

Oh yea, on the tire issue.. You know you can get those Kenda's very cheap and then slip them back off and put good tires on!!
The folks up at Peacock told me 2 years ago that the coppers were getting really strict about having DOT's on for inspections.. I think you are finding this out first hand...Wish I had a set to loan you just for the cause.. Is your 450 18 or 19 inch rear?? If you want me to I will look thru my used tires and see if I have anything laying around "legal" that you could slip on.. Maybe even a street tire??
Scott

 

[70 marlin]

Mark you should of said something sooner. You could have borrowed Aaron’s tires and rims off his 400 there basically there KTM rims and hubs you'd just have to flip the rear assembly around, with my chain being on the right. Aaron’s bike came with DOT tires on it. Hope your arm feels better? Be careful man, the SOW ride is coming up!

 

[FLEM]

what does your title say?
if it doesn't say for off-road only just go into the SOS w/ your proof of insurance and get your plate. I bought my bike out of state( IL) and just took the certificate of origin to the SOS w/ my insurance and got my 450 plated. I have since added the brake lights/hi/lo etc to comply.

 

[YZMAN400]

Mark you should consider the Michillin X-11 trials tire. Lots of offroaders are switching over to them. Say that traction is unreal on lots of vonditions. And its DOT. I want one but the $112 price for the rear always holds me back.

You migt have heard this but with a carefull bit of grinding that NOT FOR HIGHWAY USE printed on the sidewall of the tire can easily be converted to FOR HIGHWAY USE.

 

[MWEISSEN]

Mark you should consider the Michillin X-11 trials tire. Lots of offroaders are switching over to them. Say that traction is unreal on lots of vonditions. And its DOT. I want one but the $112 price for the rear always holds me back.

You migt have heard this but with a carefull bit of grinding that NOT FOR HIGHWAY USE printed on the sidewall of the tire can easily be converted to FOR HIGHWAY USE.

Yeah, I heard that, and I also heard the cops are on to that. In Jenison, they only let "certified" sherriff's sign off bikes now.

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I figured I'd try to go truly and permanently legal. I plan on riding my 450 a lot on dirt roads and saving CRistie for trail work, so I don't want any grief by an ocassional stop by a cop to check to make sure I"m legal.

Woodsy, it's not a rotator cuff tear. I know it's just sore muscles, in fact today it's fine. Just my pride is hurt. Although all of you missed the get-off, my neighbor was right there to see it all - so I get "when are you going to realize you're too old for those things?" type talk. I'm a nice guy now, so I bit my tongue. :fft:

 

[MWEISSEN]

2Trakr, where are you? I know you can help me with this tire thing!

 

[morgan]

A couple years ago I looked into the the MT32 thing-----my local dealer had them in stock. What I found was the front was DOT but not the rear. A shame because I was getting them for not much more than Kenda's. Things might have change though. I guess a guy could run the MT32 up front and a Kenda out back. The Kenda isn't a bad rear. Nice tall knobs----just a little narrow for the indicated size.

Too bad we aren't closer (Coldwater here) cause I have a couple worn ones you could use to get inspected. M.

 

[MWEISSEN]

The Kenda isn't a bad rear. Nice tall knobs----just a little narrow for the indicated size.

Yeah, I agree on the Kenda. If it wasn't narrow, I'd do that.


I've never seen a Michelin Enduro Comp III rear. Has anyone seen or used one?

 

[2TrakR]

Mark -
Rocky Mountain MC has a number of tires listed in their printed catalog as DOT.
I run the TrackMasters, generally.
Have a set of MT21s and TrackMasters I can loan or make you a deal on. Like Shannon said, the MT32 rear is NOT a DOT approved tire; RM must have just updated their site as they list only the front as being DOT now.
What about the Dunlops? D907, D606, more I think.
Those Michelin AC10s look nice, not too bad on price.
Heard lots of good things on the trials tires like YZMan mentions, have not heard anything about their longevity when used on the pavement. What little I've read, is causing me to shy away from that type of tire unless it'll never see more than 1/2 mile of pavement (heat/sidewall flex). No actual experience with 'em though.
What I see at our events are either TrackMasters, MT21s, D606s or non-DOT rubber.

 

[YZMAN400]

I have heard of people getting really good milage outta those X-11's on the street, like 1000 miles or more. The trick is air pressure. You need to run higher air pressure for on road use vs offroad use. Offroad folks run like 6 lbs. On road is more like 20 due to sidewall flex.

 

[TCTrailrider]

I have a set of Dunlop 606. 21 front and 18 rear. Great shape, at least 90% left. Your welcome to them, located in Traverse City.

 

[2TrakR]

I have heard of people getting really good milage outta those X-11's on the street, like 1000 miles or more. The trick is air pressure. You need to run higher air pressure for on road use vs offroad use. Offroad folks run like 6 lbs. On road is more like 20 due to sidewall flex.

He he. That's what I had read too. Defeats the purpose of having a DS bike if you have to stop and make some modification when jumping on the pavement off of a trail and vice versa... One of our typical DS event rides will have 15 miles of pavement on an 130 mile course. Either have comfortable performance on road and so-so off-road or spooky on road and excellent off-road..
Better to just get a tire that's crap all the time :-)

 

[BadgerMan]

By the way, I rode my KTM yesterday for awhile, and lost it on our road. I went down hard and watched the KTM slide past me down the pavement.

:yikes:

Man, glad to hear you did not hurt yourself seriously. Pavement is not very forgiving. I can really identify in this case, being a guy who broke his collar bone riding in the back yard!

I can't wait to hear Marie's accounting of your incident. You did tell Marie about it.......didn't you? You better let me know before it gets brought up during a campfire discussion some night, :ohmy:

 

[MWEISSEN]

:yikes:

I can't wait to hear Marie's accounting of your incident. You did tell Marie about it.......didn't you? You better let me know before it gets brought up during a campfire discussion some night, :ohmy:

Uhhh, let's not talk about it....can you keep SweepRider off-line for a couple days until this message gets down the list a bit? I've already in hot water :bang:

 

[MWEISSEN]

I have a set of Dunlop 606. 21 front and 18 rear. Great shape, at least 90% left. Your welcome to them, located in Traverse City.

Thanks! I'll PM you.

 

[MWEISSEN]

I ordered a Pirelli MT44 front, a Michelin AC10 rear. We'll see, and I definately want to check out TC's tires too.


Thank you everyone for your help. I got a lot of information out of this, I think I"m going to generate a list of DOT front and rear tires. If the MCCCT doesn't have one, I'll pass it on to them as well.

I hope the rest of you don't have the issues with cops I've had. :( But then, it IS the law. :nod:

 

[Smit-Dog]

Maybe if the bike would've had DOT tires you wouldn't have wiped out on the pavement!

:rotfl:

 

[MWEISSEN]

Maybe if the bike would've had DOT tires you wouldn't have wiped out on the pavement!

:rotfl:

Oh, did I mention that I just came out of a pile of snow, then hit the pavement? I was just asking for problems by doing something dumb like that. :nod:

 

[woodsy]

Maybe if the bike would've had DOT tires you wouldn't have wiped out on the pavement!

:rotfl:

I knew, I just KNEW some smart puppy was going to mention that!! You are getting WAYYYYY to predictable Smartdog :aj:

 

[bbarel]

what does your title say?
if it doesn't say for off-road only just go into the SOS w/ your proof of insurance and get your plate. I bought my bike out of state( IL) and just took the certificate of origin to the SOS w/ my insurance and got my 450 plated. I have since added the brake lights/hi/lo etc to comply.

Meee tooo. Just plated my bike yesterday. Na-na-na-na-na! :nener: I only had the Cert of Origin and it said 'motorcycle' on it, so the SOS did not even ask for the inspection form. I made a nice ktm license plate holder with a $5 mud flap from Murrays. It was the perfect width, so I just needed to make one cut with a stanley knife and drill holes.

Oh, and I used YZMANs insurance co www.bike-line.com and got a great rate. Thanks YZMAN you the man!

Good luck with your struggle and recovery...

 

[Smit-Dog]

... Oh, and I used YZMANs insurance co www.bike-line.com and got a great rate.

And Bike-Line / Markel is one of the very few (perhaps only?) insurance companies that doesn't assess the MCCA surcharge when insuring your dirtbike bike.... and for 2005 that fee is $140 per bike... on top of the premium!

... Now if you do have a street legal bike, you should really be paying this, but I'll stop now...

 

[2TrakR]

And Bike-Line / Markel is one of the very few (perhaps only?) insurance companies that doesn't assess the MCCA surcharge ... Now if you do have a street legal bike, you should really be paying this, but I'll stop now...

My insurance company does the same (no MCCA) and these bikes ARE insured as street legal. But I'm not going to bring this to their attention..

 

[Smit-Dog]

Curious 2TrakR... what other companies out there don't assess the MCCA?