Dirt Bike Registration

LeadHead

LeadHead

Jeff aka BOLT:
Like Dan said... if you don't have a residence in the state you get a plate from, it's just not legal. Your buddy's address doesn't qualify. PO Boxes don't qualify. And even if you lie and get a plate... here is why it just doesn't work.

You get a Nev plate on your CA dirt bike. You think you beat the system. Two scenarios exist:

1) If you never get stopped by LEO you never needed it in the first place.
2) If you do get stopped by LEO your CA ID and out of state plate is an immediate ticket requiring you to get a CA plate which will never happen... so again, you never needed the out of state plate in the first place cause it did you no good.

The out of state plate is a FALSE sense of security.

I've had guys say "Oh they'll never catch me !" If thats the answer why did he need the plate. Might as well have been trucking down the highway with a Red Sticker.

I've had guys say "I don't go to Gorman so my plate never gets scrutinized !" or "I only ride desert... no one will ever see me." OK, again, what was the value of getting the out of state plate if it can never be scrutinized or seen ?

Take it a step further... you get into an accident in CA... you will get a ticket for no CA registration... the insurance company also denies your claim cause you participated in registration fraud. If you were at fault in the accident you get to fix that guys Mercedes with your own CASH !

What if you LIED some more and get a DL from the other state too so you can pass that road side stop ? Now you gotta lie a bunch more and register all your CA cars in the other state and insure them there cause you no longer have a CA DL. Then you run the risk of any insurance claim being denied if you wreck in CA.

If you truly have a home in another state... plate away ! :cheers:
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Vermont does not require you to be a resident of the state. You can do it all in the mail with your address.
 
LeadHead

LeadHead

If I were to do it, I would get a VT plate and registration, get all that sorted out, then transfer it to a VA title and get it registered here + VA plates. I know that makes it sound easier than it is (it may be that easy). I would not recommend riding it with a VT plate, I would wait until it gets into the VA system. If it doesn't, so what? At least you tried. If it does work, you have a street legal dirt bike with a title and registration for your state.

I understand California laws may be hard to get pass (emissions, etc), but here, I would just take it to my rural DMV and they are usually much nicer people there.
 
Jeff aka BOLT

Jeff aka BOLT

Has nothing to do with Vermont. CA requires it's residents to have CA plates... period. You get stopped with any out of state plate and CA DL you get a ticket to register the bike in CA.
 
jackson409

jackson409

Jeff aka BOLT:
Has nothing to do with Vermont. CA requires it's residents to have CA plates... period. You get stopped with any out of state plate and CA DL you get a ticket to register the bike in CA.
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What if you don't own the bike? Are you saying a cali resident is not allowed to drive or ride Another persons vehicle if that person lives out of state?
 
SRAD97750

SRAD97750

Moderator
Staff member
Very interesting. Never thought about it. If a family member came to visit, could I drive their car? Could I even insure it? -BIG DAN:noidea:
 
jackson409

jackson409

SRAD97750:
Very interesting. Never thought about it. If a family member came to visit, could I drive their car? Could I even insure it? -BIG DAN:noidea:
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Why would you need to insure it? In KY if anyone is driving my car/truck and they wreck, my insurance covers it. If I were to go over to Indiana and a buddy drove my car and lived in Indiana, he wouldn't get a ticket for driving my car with KY tags. That would be nuckin futs if he did.
 
SRAD97750

SRAD97750

Moderator
Staff member
KTMRack:
Insurance follows the car, not the driver.
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While in traffic court recently, I noticed the same thing happening to 30+ defendants.
Tickets for "driving without insurance" were only waived if the defendant could provide a valid insurance card stating the vehicle vin AND the defendants name, covering the date of the traffic violation. Fines were $500 first offense without this insurance card.

To me that says, if you drive a car, your friggin name had better be on the insurance card. :noidea:-BIG DAN
 
cleonard

cleonard

Jeff aka BOLT:
Has nothing to do with Vermont. CA requires it's residents to have CA plates... period. You get stopped with any out of state plate and CA DL you get a ticket to register the bike in CA.
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This is mostly true if the vehicle is in your name. The loophole is to have the vehicle owned by a corporation in a state that that allows such an arrangement. Here in California we have this big vehicle registration fee. It can be a few thousand a year for a nice RV. Montana allows vehicles to be owned by a Montana corporation and kept an operated out of state. It's not a free or easy thing, but it can save a few thousand a year. California is upset at this setup, but as far as I know it's still legal.

Don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with a dirtbike.

EDIT: It's not actually legal. Basically if you register out of state, just don't ride it where you will interact with the man. Kind of defeats the purpose of a dual sport though.
 
Jeff aka BOLT

Jeff aka BOLT

If you are willing to buy a bike... register out of state in someone else's name... and insure it in their name to get past CA green sticker laws you are beyond any legal reasonableness that I would consider. I won't even get into a what if discussion on that level.

And as a person that has used and set up corps... I cannot imagine setting up an LLC to illegally register a dirt bike.

You guys are really grasping at straws with some of these ideas. Just go buy a KTM. :thumb:
 
M

MikeinFresno

I thought about even pushing the post reply button after writing this, but here it is.

There is nothing illegal about having a residence or place of business in a different state from where your DL is from and having a vehicle registered to that address in the other state. The government cant regulate that. It is also not illegal to bring an out of state vehicle to CA...doesn't matter who it is registered to. The "illegal" part is if any of it is untrue and not factual. But, what law enforcement agency is gonna take time to "prove" it? If you get stopped, say the wrong thing, go to court and change the story, etc, then you may have a problem.

You are a resident of one state at a time. Its OK to have a vehicle registered at your other states vacation home or business and then drive that vehicle here for a temporary visit or stay, or to work on it and you out for a test ride, or here for a special occasion. Doesn't matter where your drivers license is from. You also do not have to show insurance for an out of state registered vehicle in CA unless involved in a collision.

States also have the law to honor each other's laws. So, if a vehicle's equipment is legal in another state it is then legal here as well. Like if no turn signals are required in AZ then a vehicle registered in AZ is OK here as well. Another example is that CA requires a front and rear plate, but many states do not. You cant get legally cited for not having a front plate in that situation. Now you throw in Federal law which mandates manufacturers put on certain equipment stock. Like a KTM with the gas overflow canister that has a problem with filling up and stopping the bike if you leave it upside down for sometime. Its not legal to remove it by fed law. But for instance in CA there is no CARB testing for motorcycles. There are CARB rules, but no testing. So, if it gets removed few LEO are gonna know and all you can get is an equip cite. You just put it back on, get it signed off and back to it.

Now lets say I don't know the law as I stated about above. I do not know it all, but Ive been a cop for almost 30 yrs and was a motor cop enforcing the CA vehicle code for 15 yrs, CARB trained and tested, etc. So, I have no problem with my explanation of the laws here in CA. I know some will disagree as always.

I have a vacation home in Yuma, AZ ............... I have not had a problem even after my wife being stopped by CHP near Bass Lake for speeding on her AZ plated bike. We were both there on our AZ plated KTM bikes. No cite or questions when the CA mc DL was presented.
 
PALMER84ONE

PALMER84ONE

LeadHead:
:lol: It could contribute. If we are talking about getting an off-road bike street legal in your state.

I will tell you if you tell me this...is divorce spelled differently and do state abbreviations end in a period in Cali? :wink:


Or are y'all talking about some different law that your communist state has?
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Y'all got me on dat'n.
But Commi State? If we could cut this bish in halves dat north be the commi halves!
 
PALMER84ONE

PALMER84ONE

SRAD97750:
While in traffic court recently, I noticed the same thing happening to 30+ defendants.
Tickets for "driving without insurance" were only waived if the defendant could provide a valid insurance card stating the vehicle vin AND the defendants name, covering the date of the traffic violation. Fines were $500 first offense without this insurance card.

To me that says, if you drive a car, your friggin name had better be on the insurance card. :noidea:-BIG DAN
Click to expand...

WRONG! All of my insurance cards have my ladies name. All my kids cars that are insured under my umbrella have my ladies name. The care "MUST" be insured but the name means nothing. Been pulled over a couple times and they always ask, "who is Elke Palmer?" "Dumb asses, that would be my wife!" Never, ever had a ticket for it. It is just the way Wawanesa sends out the cards, she is the one that called and set it up many, many moons ago.
So the technicality is: At least your last name better be on the insurance card! :thumb:
 
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