13 replies to this topic

[The Pogg]

Just had a quick question.

i have often seen road converted motorcross bikes riding about (few and far between) like Rm450s and cr450Fs ect riding on the road. I was following one through town the other day and it had no lights on it what so ever just a rear plate. Now how do these get mot'ed and put on the road.

Surley when that goes into a MOT station it will get failed on having no turning signals, no headlights no brake lights ect ect so how on earth do these become road legal?

And also surley they wll have to be SVA'ed as they are sold as off road competition bikes? I have a motorcorss bike sat in the garage and a 450F will be a lot cheaper to run and maintain than a car and will also be a ton quicker. so how do they go about it?

can any one tell me how and why they are allowed on the road?

[koss]

Just had a quick question.

i have often seen road converted motorcross bikes riding about (few and far between) like Rm450s and cr450Fs ect riding on the road. I was following one through town the other day and it had no lights on it what so ever just a rear plate. Now how do these get mot'ed and put on the road.

Surley when that goes into a MOT station it will get failed on having no turning signals, no headlights no brake lights ect ect so how on earth do these become road legal?

And also surley they wll have to be SVA'ed as they are sold as off road competition bikes? I have a motorcorss bike sat in the garage and a 450F will be a lot cheaper to run and maintain than a car and will also be a ton quicker. so how do they go about it?

can any one tell me how and why they are allowed on the road?

Quad bikes require indicators for the sva test bikes don't its optional.

Original purchase receipt, road legal tyres, speedo, rear reflector, rubber bulb type horn and an mot before you register it.
I used to do lots in the 90s but things may of changed.

[daveholman]

Not entirely convinced I'd enjoy driving around with no indicators or brake lights though, think of the swearing and hand signals you'd recieve continuously, not to mention that it could be slightly dangerous.

[Dan]

if it wasnt manufactured with it... its not needed just like vintage bikes

That's not quite it. Vintage vehicles don't need updating to comply with the current law no but newly made vehicles must comply with the regs in place when they are registered. The regs are currently that two wheeled vehicles of the class Enduro (this is defined by certain chassis dimensions that I'm not sure of) are exempt from the MSVA test for the purposes of registration. That means they can get a registration without being fitted out to the current lighting standard provided they have the minimal equipment required. They can then get a daylight MOT, this means that these vehicles can only be legally used on the road during daylight so you have to be off the road before lighting up time (I think that is 20 minutes before sunset but I'm not sure). Currently the only new vehicles that can get a daylight MOT are Enduro motorcyles because all other vehicles will be required to pass some form of SVA or type test which means lights will be needed. The equipment required is a kickstand or other means of support, E marked tyres, road legal exhaust and other parts marked 'not for road use' replaced with road legal versions, an electric single tone horn (a rubber bulb is not allowed) and a speedo. Then you need proof of the age of the bike, proof that VAT has been paid on it, insurance and your MOT, fill in the form and buy some tax and it's fully legal for daytime use.

[pogie]

A few friends have turned MXers into road legal(ish) Supermotos and they reckon the trickiest part of registering a dirt bike is getting a certificate of newness from the manufacturer to prove the bikes age. Some makers will issue these fairly easily whilst others will have you back-flipping through hoops. Luckily my KTM Supermoto is enduro rather than crosser based so it was already road registered. You could get a daytime only MOT so you wouldn't have to have working lights but I'm pretty sure you will need a brake light of some sort which means that you will need to convert the ignition stator over to one that has a lighting circuit.

If you do plan to go ahead with this, go to a dirtbike friendly MOT centre as a places that only tests road bikes will probably have less knowledge of the rules for dirt bikes than you do.

Have a quick search on these sites as the subject has been done to death.

http://www.visordown...d...amp;V=2&SP=

http://www.seventeeninches.co.uk/

Here's my bike in dirt trim and then with it's Supermoto setup.

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Edited by pogie, 30 June 2008 - 11:28 AM.

[sweetser]

thats one sexy bike pogie

Edited by sweetser, 30 June 2008 - 12:08 PM.

[Retro_10s]

Not entirely convinced I'd enjoy driving around with no indicators or brake lights though, think of the swearing and hand signals you'd recieve continuously, not to mention that it could be slightly dangerous.

But don't forget there is a full selection of offical hand signals to indicate all these things. Other drivers will proabbly get annoyed,.. but only becuase they probably wouldn't take the time to learn what the signals are and what they mean. infact often hand signals are better thean indicators in my opinion,.. ever not been sure if someone's indicating or not on a sunny day? indicators suffer greatly from being drowned out by normal good old sunlight.

[The Pogg]

thanks for this, i have heard of daytime and standard MOT's and i thought the day time is what i would have to get due to no lights ect.

Thanks a lot, i think i will be giving a few mot stations a visit!

[mini93]

"day time" is that decided by shipping forcast or somthing? ie day brake at such n such set at such n such changes daily by minuets
it might also be set time, 8am-6pm

[koss]

Pleased to here things are the same as the 90s. I had a couple of pit bikes last year with the certificate of newness.
I was going to register them but was told they needed an sva test due to ground clearance.

[Dan]

That's exactly why only Enduro class bikes can now realisitically be put through a daytime MOT and be registered new without having lights. All other types of bike not complying with the official Enduro dimensions must take an MSVA test which means they need lights. It's about frame ground clearance, seat height and other dimensions.

"day time" is that decided by shipping forcast or somthing?

The official times of sunrise and sunset are published every day, you can get them from the Met office and other places. At dusk 'lighting up time' is a certain period before sunset and from then on you must have your lamps lit or not be on the road, I believe it's 20 minutes. I imagine there is a similar period after dawn during which lights are required.

[nurseholliday]

Sensiblest option really is to just get a supermoto to start with?

[The Pogg]

only reason i was asking was becauase i have one sat in the garage doing nothing, it would be rather nice to be able to ride it on the road. If i wanted a road bike i would have gone out and bought an already road registered bike in the first place.

[pogie]

Sensiblest option really is to just get a supermoto to start with?

Basially yes, Supermotos and Enduro bikes will probably be registered by the dealer when they are first sold. Another thing is that Enduro bikes will have a wide ratio gearbox when compared to their MX counterpart which makes for a much nicer road bike. My friend has a Yamaha YZ426 MXer converted to Supermoto and has had problems getting sprockets to gear it correct for the road and has ended up with a really tall first gear, while a Yamaha WR426 has no such problems and comes with a lighting stator and has a lighting/brake loom as standard.

It's by no means impossible to road register a motocrosser but as they are sold as off-road only it means you have to deal with the UK importer for proof of age and then the DVLA to get a registration number, which can be a lesson in frustration.