How to plate your dirt bike in BC

[1wd]

I really wanted a plate for my dirt bike, so I did a little reading. Here is how to do it (based on what I've read, not attempted):


1. Buy a brand new bike, but make sure the paperwork from the manufacturer says "motorcycle" on it rather than restricted use motorcycle, off-road motorcycle, closed course only, or something similar. Register and insure the bike with ICBC. It's brand new so no inspection is needed. Oh yeah, you will want to put a dual sport kit on it as well of course.


2. Check the compliance label on the bike and make sure it says "motorcycle" rather than restricted use motorcycle, off-road motorcycle, closed course only, blah blah. If it says "motorcycle" then no worries. If not, try really hard not to get pulled over and have a cop demand an inspection. If that happens the bike will fail and that is not awesome.


3. According to internet wisdom, some jurisdictions will actually check the descriptive part of a VIN number to figure out if a bike was street legal from the factory. So something to maybe look forward to?


The rules were changed in BC a few years ago, but as far as I can tell the only real change was to check compliance label(s) on the bike during an inspection (and fail restricted use bikes).


Can anyone confirm if this is all true? Also, do any off-road models have both compliance labels and original paperwork that both say "motorcycle" without restrictions? If so, it seems like it would be totally legal to dual sport those bikes.


My plan is to just replace my 250cc dirt bike with something factory street legal over winter. Damn government.

 

[kenf]

...and thread will be locked in 3...2...1...

The first rule about plating your dirt bike in BC is "don't talk about plating your dirt bike in BC"!

Incidentally, one thing to keep in the back of your mind is, just because you have a plate doesn't actually mean you have insurance. ICBC will bend over backwards trying to get out of paying out a claim. If you got your plate through a backdoor, there's a pretty good chance they would use that as grounds to invalidate your insurance if you ever find yourself on the wrong end of a liability claim, like say if you clipped a pedestrian going around a corner or something like that.

Cheers
KF

 

[tomcycle]

There are lots of good "street legal" dirt bikes entering the market every year. If you have a house with a mortgage, don't take the chance on a non complying bike. Its not worth the couple of bucks you will save buying the dirt bike you want for the street.