regi for conversion

[KIM 501]

can you register and ins.a dirt bike to 3wheeler conversion

[Aulbaugh]

Yes, there are peeps that have street legal conversions.

[keister]

Yes, you can here in PA.
But every state has their own DMV and the regulations vary widely depending where you live.

[ATC King]

First, you're asking a legal question on an ATC forum. Three wheeler riders aren't known to a stable bunch to start with. :)

Second, it's a very vague question with different answers depending on location.

Last. I think the question you're really asking is can a street legal motorcycle be modified into an off-road ATV and still be within the law for highway use.


For several reasons, the short answer is usually, no. If you're intentions are to skirt the law and hope not to get dinged by a stiff officer, then possibly, yes. This would mean reg. and insurance for the bike, but actually running around in trike form, so if your state requires inspections, you'd have to put it back as a bike, get inspected, the swap everything back out.

You've really got to dig into local and state DOT regulations to find the answers. Some things are grey, others are very specific. In some states, the rear axle MUST have a differential. That totally stops any solid, off-road ATV axle from being street legal. In all state, you'll be required to use DOT approved tires. That's going to severely limit your tire choices and sizes.


If you're going to splash around in the grey water, there's a very good chance it'll leave a stink. Caught with a non road legal vehicle, could mean you're walking and it's being towed. Worst case scenario would be a crash involving another vehicle and injury/death and the lawyers picking up your scent.

I'm not saying I wouldn't like to do the same thing, but be realistic about it. Another thing is these types of conversions don't have the correct center of gravity/ride height (unless you build a custom subframe), and lack the proper steering geometry for high speed pavement riding. Even the big road bikes converted to trikes handle worse than their original form, they tend to plow in the turns and wet road riding can be terrifying, even though they have actual differentials. Best thing going is the complete conversion frames that are specifically built as a trike, but there goes the street legal VIN. At least search for companies that make proper offset triples to get the steering closer to where it needs to be.

Check you laws for OHV use on highways too. In Arkansas, there's literally hundreds of miles of pavement you can legally ride an ATV on. It's to get from trailhead to trailhead. Biggest requirement is to ALWAYS have the lights on when on pavement. They will ding a rider for that. You may not even need to bother with registration if that's the case. Insurance of some kind is a good idea regardless.


Edit: Had to come back and say it's more for not getting anyone's hopes up. The dirt bike crowd has been at this for a while, and years ago, it was something of a loophole. Some states have closed those, and not all of them grandfathered in the plates, some states recalled them. There are still many unincorporated towns that allow dirt bike and ATVs to use the streets. Other places, like Arkansas, allow for riders to use roads (with exclusions) to connect trails and land (for property owners with multiple fields). As a long time dual sport rider, having tires that wear decently on pavement, usually lessen off road enjoyment. I'd rather haul or trailer an off road vehicle to some nice trails than jump through hoops to run street biased tires just so the pavement doesn't eat them. For short distances just to connect trails, it's not worth all the taxes and hoops either.

[KIM 501]

so now i want to do somthing illegal,all i wanted to really know is if dirt bikes are registered in ny like an atv

[ponderinjunkman]

I have an atv plate on both my XR650R, and my big red 200. New York state doesn't care as long as they get $$. It is possible to get atv registration with no previous paperwork, but it's a hoop jumping ordeal.

[KIM 501]

thank you for that info

[ATC King]

I have an atv plate on both my XR650R, and my big red 200. New York state doesn't care as long as they get $$. It is possible to get atv registration with no previous paperwork, but it's a hoop jumping ordeal.

Care to elaborate?

How long ago; still possible?

Does an 'atv plate' in NY mean you can legally operate it on public roads? Do they require turn, brake, tail, and headlights, along with a horn an other road going accouterments? Inspections, initial or annual?

I've been following various processes in other states (out of curiosity) for years and it has become increasing difficult, if not outright impossible, to license an off-road vehicle for road use. I seem to remember a member on here posting their experience and in the end saying they wouldn't bother to do it again; too many hoops and expense.

This is where either the person has all the information they need going into it, or they will be saddled with time and money lost they didn't expect. Possibly not even having a tag in the end. It's akin to all those people selling vehicles without a tittle and trying to convince potential buyers it's no big deal to get a lost tittle. If it's not a big deal, why haven't they done it yet? It can actually be expensive and time consuming to replace a lost title, then there's the problem of sales tax if it's not handled properly or the previous own hid something. There can be lots of pitfalls with things like these. Even the DMV workers may not be aware of everything and fight you about something. Do it online, or in person? Police inspection? Just a whole bunch of ways for it to go sideways.

[ponderinjunkman]

Here in the great state of NY, an ATV plate gives you the means to pay nystate 15 dollars (may have gone up) per year. There is no equipment requirements. It is not street legal, off road only. You need insurance too. Once it has been registered as an ATV, it's not possible to register for street use, at least I was told that by DMV about my 650.

I have gotten an ATV plate with no previous paperwork. Theres a form, you need a vin tracing or a good picture. As long as the vin is good, not stolen, and you own it more than a year, you get an ATV plate. It is a transferable registration, which means there is no title, just the registration card.

On road use is a whole other mess. But I did get a street registration for a willys pickup many years ago- it was basically the same, because it was older than '72?? I may look into that for my '70 Rokon trailbreaker project...

Edit: insurance isn't required if you are on your own land, but technically you need registration. No inspection for an ATV plate. You can get an ATV plate without proof of insurance.

The ATV plate situation is current, I have a couple to be renewed in April

[ATC King]

Thanks ponderinjunkman, that checked off a lot of boxes.

The vehicle year is also a thing in other states. At a point, the older vehicles become easier to acquire certain registrations for, and even titles.

Not that you're looking, but Rokon now offers a street legal version.
https://rokon.com/product/ranger/

[jasong_10]

Ditto to what ponderinjunkman said. Basically, the most significant purpose of NYS atv registration is proof of ownership. When my father-in-law passed down his R to me we went to the DMV and got it registered in my name and got a plate, but I'll probably never renew it. Same thing with my X, once I get my first regi and plate that'll be the last time I do it, lol.

In regards to street use the only thing I'll add is that, at least where I am in NY, roads are either open or closed to atvs (and I haven't figured out how they decide the status). Not sure if this true for the whole state or not, I guess it could go county by county . . .

[ponderinjunkman]

Jason - and anyone else with a New York registration that is transferable - if you sign it over to anyone, ONLY the person it is signed to can reregister it. If the person you sign it over to then sells to someone else and just hands them the card, it becomes null and void, just like there was no registration to begin with. Ran into that a while back - really frustrating. Also watch for that when you go to buy something. If the registration card has been signed over to someone other than you, it's worthless.

Here in Greene County there are no atv roads. Up in northern NY where we camp often in Clinton County there's a bunch of roads that we ride on. Still unnerving to pass a state trooper going the other way, and have him wave!

[jasong_10]

Jason - and anyone else with a New York registration that is transferable - if you sign it over to anyone, ONLY the person it is signed to can reregister it. If the person you sign it over to then sells to someone else and just hands them the card, it becomes null and void, just like there was no registration to begin with. Ran into that a while back - really frustrating. Also watch for that when you go to buy something. If the registration card has been signed over to someone other than you, it's worthless.

Here in Greene County there are no atv roads. Up in northern NY where we camp often in Clinton County there's a bunch of roads that we ride on. Still unnerving to pass a state trooper going the other way, and have him wave!

Yup, if someone else's name is on it you're better off holding off for a year and going the VIN pencil tracing route and leaving the regi home, haha.

There aren't a ton of open roads around here (and most of them aren't connected) but there are some.

[fabiodriven]

can you register and ins.a dirt bike to 3wheeler conversion

Yes absolutely. If you start out with a street legal dirt bike you simply convert to three wheeler. It's now a three wheeled motorcycle. You register and insure it as such. It's no different than a three wheeled Harley Davidson and shouldn't ever be treated any differently from a registration and legitimacy standpoint. Yes it looks different, but when you get pulled over (which you will, a lot) just have your registration handy and if they give you a hard time ask them if they pull over three wheeled Harleys and Goldwings too. Watch their brains start smoking when you present them with that.

My XR650L street legal conversion was built and rode legally on the road in NY, and I rode the hell out of it in Massachusetts.

What is much more difficult is getting a true Honda ATC street legal. There are local backwoods areas you can get away with it I'm sure and certain places in Arizona. The "legit" way is to start out with a street legal bike that's already titled for the road.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210111/f7e690718d042ea114bc2438c9b7d75e.jpg

[atc300r]

I live in ny and I have several of my trikes registered and insured.My registrations are for offroad. But in town I can ride on town roads and from trailhead to trailhead on the shoulder of state roads.It is strange to to meet police on the road and they wave.The reason in ny you cant registure an atc for highway use is they have an offroad vin number.The best way to get the atc/trike daily rider is like Fabio has.