motox bikes on streets/highway

[#brady]

Hey, I was wondering what might happen in our situation.
I have this piece of crap truck that usually gets me around but it's just dyin at the moment.
We also have these motocross bikes that aren't as much junk but not state of the art. Their real purpose is to get us around the ranch.
Recently, when there hasn't been a truck or anything handy, me and sometimes my brother have been using the motox bikes to get around. We can get around pretty good off road but sometimes jump on streets or highways for a bit - and I admit sometimes the street is just faster.
My question is - if we got stopped would the regular outcome in this scenario be that they got confiscated on the spot?
They aren't registered/insured. We do have drivers licenses, regular ones...not motorcycle ones since we usually use them just on the ranch...
I'm thinking more and more that it's a bad idea (mostly because a cop passed me yesterday and sort of looked at me but maybe he was busy already...) - but are we risking the bikes aswell?

[Jim1348]

Like most things in law enforcement, it will depend on the totality of the circumstances. For example, where is this? It could literally go from one extreme to the other depending on where and when. I know of some areas near me where the deputies could care less. In fact, with ATVs in some areas near me, the city is pretty liberal on what they allow. On the other hand, in many areas a person on an unregistered/uninsured motorcycle will earn a tow bill on a flatbed truck and get booked in the county jail. Why not just get legal. Getting a motorcycle endorsement is not that expensive or difficult in most states. Getting a motorcycle registered and insured just makes sense to me. That way, if you have an on road/off road bike you won't have to worry since you will be legal. Plus, it is a whole lot less hassle than getting your motorcycle out of impound and getting released from jail!

[greg72982]

The state you're in would help also...

[#brady]

This is about KY.
Thing with getting legal is, I think the bike's meant to have a mirror/s, a horn even I think - so I'm not really sure where we stand. Which is why i'm wondering if they'd just take them. (and you know, we need them, and our dad probably wouldn't be real happy). We're probably getting a new truck to replace RIP next month so this is really a temporary thing. It's probably just really lazy to not sort out my license, it would be useful to have anyway. And would mean 1 less problem -hmm am I risking having my drivers license suspended?

[retdetsgt]

Here, you probably wouldn't get the bikes towed, but you would get a least a couple of tickets, if not a handful.

[mcsap]

Unregistered , uninspected , uninsured , unlicensed for MC .....would get expensive and cause a license suspension in PA.

[#brady]

Here, you probably wouldn't get the bikes towed, but you would get a least a couple of tickets, if not a handful.

In a situation where you didn't tow the bikes, would we just be told not to ride them any further? Get stranded pretty much?

Unregistered , uninspected , uninsured , unlicensed for MC .....would get expensive and cause a license suspension in PA.

You're right, we're being dumb.

So it would cause a license suspension there...I haven't been able to find any information about possible license suspensions here. Or if motox bikes are the same as 'motorcycles'. Obviously looking in the wrong place.

Most of the info I found was about helmet requirements. So we're unregistered, uninspected, uninsured, unlicensed, potentially not even legally allowed to have the motox on the highway. But. Our helmets are GOOD.

[greg72982]

Unfortunately I don't know of any officers on here from Kentucky...

[#brady]

I found a KSP drivers manual that has the sentence: "Trail bikes or all-terrain vehicles are designed for off-road use, and their use on streets or highways is illegal."

But that's the only time it ever mentions motox bikes, and it doesn't actually reference any laws. So still not real sure what might happen (about risking the bikes). I suppose it's safer to just not do it...That one cop just drove past me and looked at me so maybe they not that worried. Do you think that could be a sign of the attitude of the cops around here towards it? (I know you can't say anything for sure about them) We ain't doing anything stupid on them...but I was really clearly doing something illegal and he just kept driving...?

[DeltaV]

Motorcycles are motor vehicles just like cars and must be registered if they're operated on public roadways. Operating them without registration would be just like operating a car without registration, which is a criminal offense. Also, not having a motorcycle endorsement is another criminal offense here but I'm not sure if it is in Kentucky. Either way, an officer would be justified in having the bikes towed if they were being operated on the roadway without the proper registration. If he just let you drive them away and something happened such as getting into a crash with another vehicle, then he would have to explain why he allowed bikes that were not street legal to remain on the road.

I do think that the attitudes of your local police play a big role here. If you're in a rural area and they're used to non street legal vehicles driving around the roads then they might not care as much. Who knows. I work in a large metropolitan area and we would have a problem with it.

[#brady]

Yeah, rural. I've seen other people riding motox and even atvs on the streets - only now & then. Not the most common thing. Me and my brother aren't tryin to make a habit of it, and we don't go really long distances.

...I have never seen a cop and a motox rider stopped together at the side of the road...so maybe that's a sign of how it works round here.

And yeah, the bit about not being allowed to drive away if we do get stopped makes sense.

[Legoate]

You are using the fact that one cop ignored your behavior and turning that into "that's a sign of how it works round here.".

I would be very cautious with that line of thinking.

I am forced to ignore illegal behavior on a daily basis because I am on a higher priority call, have to pee really bad, or am on my way back to the station at the end of the day. This doesn't mean that on a different day I wouldn't take action against the same offense.

I frequently run into people who complain when I take enforcement action against them who state things like this- "I've been driving like this for two years and passed a bunch of cops and you're the first one who has ever given me a ticket".

As long as you realize the risk that you are taking if you are stopped- the cites for driving an unregistered, uninsured motorcycle without the proper license would add up to a couple of thousand dollars worth of fines in CA. That's not counting the fees for the tow, and whether or not you are booked into jail.

You may not see very many "motox" riders pulled over because most of them follow the law and don't drive on public roadways. I've stopped literally dozen of those mini-bikes in my area that people ride on the road. Very odd site to see a tiny motorcycle pulled over in front of a full sized police vehicle.

[#brady]

You are using the fact that one cop ignored your behavior and turning that into "that's a sign of how it works round here.".

I would be very cautious with that line of thinking.

Yeah....it sure ain't foolproof. Maybe he just didn't have time, he sort of slowed down to look at me a bit.

As long as you realize the risk that you are taking if you are stopped- the cites for driving an unregistered, uninsured motorcycle without the proper license would add up to a couple of thousand dollars worth of fines in CA. That's not counting the fees for the tow, and whether or not you are booked into jail.

$#!*. A couple thousand....I'll check my wallet but I don't think I got that. They don't take many kids to juvy round here, not unless you kick the Sheriff's cat. (juvy's too far away - seriously. we don't even have one, they use someone else's) I really hope they wouldn't too, our mom says we can walk home (ugh child abuse). Every part of this motoxing is a bad idea - maybe I'll start paying people to go out of their way to give me rides.

I've stopped literally dozen of those mini-bikes in my area that people ride on the road. Very odd site to see a tiny motorcycle pulled over in front of a full sized police vehicle.

Haha, that would look kinda weird. Though not as ridiculous as adults look riding mini-bikes to start with. Dude, get a proper bike.

[QldCop]

I recently had to deal with a 20yr old off road motor bike rider that failed to take a corner in his lane and went head on with an on coming 4wd...
Granted he was speeding, but the off road tyres he had did not help him make the turn.
He lost his right leg.
Even though the poor bugger lost his leg, I still ended up charging him with riding an Unregistered and Uninsured motorbike along with being unlicensed for that motor bike.
Off road bikes need to stay off road IMO...

With that said, Stay safe on 2 wheels folks!!!

[#brady]

I recently had to deal with a 20yr old off road motor bike rider that failed to take a corner in his lane and went head on with an on coming 4wd...
Granted he was speeding, but the off road tyres he had did not help him make the turn.
He lost his right leg.
Even though the poor bugger lost his leg, I still ended up charging him with riding an Unregistered and Uninsured motorbike along with being unlicensed for that motor bike.
Off road bikes need to stay off road IMO...

With that said, Stay safe on 2 wheels folks!!!

S***. That's nasty. Yeah, the tyres aren't the best on the road. This time of year ain't the best for it either. Sort of cold too...
We had another cop go past us, he didn't stop either. We probably looked like we were just using the road to get between off-road tracks. We weren't going very fast at the time.
Bring on the truck. It's coming in a week. I bet I get stopped by a cop in 6 days. And get thousands of dollars in fines. And have to sell the truck to help pay them.