Have you REGISTERED a dirt bike? Help ME!

[Tcuguy]

Just got my 2006 450 EXC, and looking to fit some sumo wheels and title it. I tried searching but I didn't get any concrete instructions – and I am SURE some of you have titled dirt bikes before!

How do I do it?

I hear that you don't need an inspection here in Texas. Of course I have a brake light and headlight and horn. I have a bill of sale. Which papers do I need and how do I do it?

ANY HELP WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED!!!!! I want to hit the road asap!

[DFW_Warrior]

If you don't have a title, here is what we did:
Bonded off-road title first,
Insurance,
Inspection w/ green sheet (Not really green anymore),
Change title to on-road title.

[jnappier]

-mirror
-horn
-insurance
-get inspected, get green sheet from inspection sticker place, do not fold.
-go to court house, show insurance, show green sheet, hand them the title and tell
them to remove the comments "For off road only" and sell you tags.

Worked for me.

[DFW_Warrior]

Don't forget about hi/lo headlight, and a brake light. Also if you get a picky inspector they can ding you for non-DOT tires, but that is rare. I just wanted to bring that up so you wouldn't be surprised.

[TwoSmokeDS]

It's going to take a while.

Bond title. You need to mail some papers to DMV to prove your eligibility (see link below). Then you wait for a letter from the DMV. After the letter arrive (4 weeks), you go to your insurance agent and buy a surety bond and liability insurance. (Mine cost $75 for surety bond from State Farm, but it took 2 weeks.) Take your bike to inspection station and ask for the VI-30 ("green form"). Take the DMV letter, the VI-30, the surety bond, and proof of insurance to your local tax office and apply for a street legal title. You pay the clerk a lot of money, and hopefully, he/she will approve your title application and give you a license plate. This process took me 2 months.

A few weeks after you get your license plate, your bond title should arrive in the mail. It looks like any other title, but it has the word "bond" on it. If it's not stolen. Else I guess the Constable would be knocking on your door to haul you to jail. Haha!

Yes, this is a complicated and expensive and time consuming process. But it beats the **** out of a factory dualsport.

http://www.txdmv.gov/vehicles/titles/bonded.htm

I heard you don't need hi beam if engine is 250cc or less.

[Monkey Wrench Cycles]

Originally Posted by TwoSmokeDS

It's going to take a while.

Bond title. You need to mail some papers to DMV to prove your eligibility (see link below). Then you wait for a letter from the DMV. After the letter arrive (4 weeks), you go to your insurance agent and buy a surety bond and liability insurance. (Mine cost $75 for surety bond from State Farm, but it took 2 weeks.) Take your bike to inspection station and ask for the VI-30 ("green form"). Take the DMV letter, the VI-30, the surety bond, and proof of insurance to your local tax office and apply for a street legal title. You pay the clerk a lot of money, and hopefully, he/she will approve your title application and give you a license plate. This process took me 2 months.

A few weeks after you get your license plate, your bond title should arrive in the mail. It looks like any other title, but it has the word "bond" on it. If it's not stolen. Else I guess the Constable would be knocking on your door to haul you to jail. Haha!

Yes, this is a complicated and expensive and time consuming process. But it beats the **** out of a factory dualsport.

http://www.txdmv.gov/vehicles/titles/bonded.htm

I heard you don't need hi beam if engine is 250cc or less.

I got a bonded title on a car not long ago and it took me about 2 hrs start to finish. I went to a place that does them. Cost me $350 on a car that was valued at $2500. They did all the paperwork, got the bond, etc. I just paid the money, got the paperwork, then went to the tag office and got the tags. Title came in the mail in about 2 weeks like any other vehicle.

They told me they do them on motorcycles as well.

[Thrasherg]

I believe you also need a speedo. I added one to every dirt bike I registered as it seemed like a good idea, but I believe it is required by law also..Mif you have a title for the bike, it will be marked not for highway use, that is all you need along with the green slip (which is actually white) and proof of insurance. If you don't have a title, then you need to get a bonded title as stated above.

Gary

[RollingJ]

Speedos are not required in Texas. But, they are a good idea!

[Butte]

I hand carried all my paperwork to the DMV and it went a lot faster. There was no line. Showed up, a nice lady typed my stuff in, stamped it, and told me to take it back to the subcourthouse. There was a bond place next door as well.

[ed29]

First thing would be to research that bike to find where the title stopped. It would have had a title issued to the first owner. Depending on how many time it has changed hands without being transferred you might be able to get the original title back together with the machine. Hopefully there is no lien hanging out there from a prior owner, and hopefully the bike is not hot.

[MotoTex]

I bought a Tusk "Enduro Kit" and a Hi/Lo headlight from RockyMounainATV.com.
The Enduro Kit included wiring harness, handlebar controls, horn, LED tail/brake light, brake switch, mirror, and turn signals for under $200.00. Best deal I could find.

If your phone has GPS, mount it where it is visible and you have a speedo. (Not required, but handy)

Turn signals are optional in Texas, but, if they are installed they must be working to pass inspection.

Got the bonded title from my insurance company. $100.00 (processed while I waited)

Inspection. with green sheet. (gotta ask for it) Don't forget DOT tires, in case they look for that.

Read all the forms and verify you have everything you need for each step of the titling and registration processes to avoid multiple trips. Texas DMV site has the various forms and instructions available for download.

Take it all to the court house (or mail it in) with proof of insurance.

Slap the plate on and go ride!

[Tcuguy]

Originally Posted by jnappier

-mirror
-horn
-insurance
-get inspected, get green sheet from inspection sticker place, do not fold.
-go to court house, show insurance, show green sheet, hand them the title and tell
them to remove the comments "For off road only" and sell you tags.

Worked for me.

This is what I had thought – that you didn't need a headlight or turn signals if you are not going to be riding in the dark. Can someone comfirm this?

So far I have
- Brake light
- 1 Mirror
- DOT tires
- Horn

That's about it.

[MotoTex]

Originally Posted by Tcuguy

This is what I had thought – that you didn't need a headlight or turn signals if you are not going to be riding in the dark. Can someone comfirm this?

So far I have
- Brake light
- 1 Mirror
- DOT tires
- Horn

That's about it.

High/Low beam headlight is required for inspection. (Check RockyMountainATV for a wide selection, or, get one for a DS KTM). You will also need to have the switch for changing from High to Low. The one in the Tusk Enduro kit is available on its own for a fair price at RMATV.

Turn signals are not required.

I presume that your brake light is also a tail light. Both are required.

[ed29]

Not quite right. A headlight with high and low beam is required as well as a blue high beam indicator visible to the rider. The DS kits from Baja and Tusk have this all together in a nice unit.

All bikes made after 1975 have to have headlight running even during the day on the street.

[TwoSmokeDS]

FYI: Since a lot of dirtbikes are sub 250cc and come with a single beam headlight. No need to waste money on two beam head light and switch.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showpost...1&postcount=23

Texas Administrative Code
TITLE 37 PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS
PART 1 TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
CHAPTER 15 DRIVER LICENSE RULES
SUBCHAPTER C EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
RULE §15.54 Vehicle Inspection

(G) Motor-driven cycles and motorcycles. Equipment inspected on motor-driven cycles and motorcycles includes the following:
(i) horn;
(ii) rearview mirror;
(iii) one tail lamp;
(iv) one stop lamp;
(v) one rear red reflector;
(vi) head lamp--multiple beam for motorcycle and single or multiple beam for motor-driven cycle;
(vii) exhaust system;
(viii) vehicle inspection certificate;
(ix) registration.

"Motor-driven cycle" means a motorcycle equipped with a motor that has an engine piston displacement of 250 cubic centimeters or less.

[trainman]

Now that you have heard it all, if you don't have the Title or the Factory MSO, forget it. Getting a Bonded Texas Title will take a lot of time, plus you have to prove that you bought it and didn't steal it, or at least Texas will make you feel that way. Plus you are going to have to pay sales tax, transfer fees, Bonded Title fees, license fees, transfer fees, just to get it plated after you go thought all the stuff needed to get it legal. Better off buying another bike that is street legal with a title and just ride this bike off road.

John

[Monkey Wrench Cycles]

Originally Posted by trainman

Now that you have heard it all, if you don't have the Title or the Factory MSO, forget it. Getting a Bonded Texas Title will take a lot of time, plus you have to prove that you bought it and didn't steal it, or at least Texas will make you feel that way. Plus you are going to have to pay sales tax, transfer fees, Bonded Title fees, license fees, transfer fees, just to get it plated after you go thought all the stuff needed to get it legal. Better off buying another bike that is street legal with a title and just ride this bike off road.

John

If youll refer to my post above its not really much trouble getting a bonded title. It takes longer but is less expensive to do it on your own but within 3hrs i had all the paperwork, and had the title transferred and tags in my hand. Obviously the bond price varies on what the vehicle is worth considering the bond company is taking a chance on the vehicle not being stolen but i will tell you they had the vin number ran in less than 5 minutes from the time i arrived so that they knew it wasnt stolen.

[MotoTex]

+1

I did this earlier this year to a DRZ400E that I bought new in 2000, never titled and lost the MSO. The bonded title process is really just to insure that the bike isn't listed as stolen before getting it titled. Easy-peasy if you take time to read what is required and have all your ducks in a row when you go see the bonding agent.

Installing the DS kit was more time consuming.

And, the total cost of the conversion that included a new tank, seat, headlight, plastics, handlebar and riser, tires, DS kit and all the insurance, bonding, and inspection was around $1000.00. Much less than buying another already legal bike.

If you have lots of cash and are paperwork challenged it might be easier to just buy another bike. This wasn't the case for me.

(Edit: Also, I have heard that you can avoid sales tax by first titling it as off-road-only. Then, get the inspection and conversion done and have them change the title to street legal. Might want to put a few weeks between these two steps.)

[TwoSmokeDS]

Originally Posted by Tcuguy

I hear that you don't need an inspection here in Texas.

Incorrect. You do need an inspection. Texas wants that yearly revenue from you because you won't let them raise taxes. When they do your inspection, ask them to fill out a "green form" (VI-30) for you. I heard some unscrupulous inspection station charges extra for this form.

You must be thinking of the emission inspection. That is not needed. Your bike could be spewing out all kinds of bad toxic pollutant into the atmosphere, and that's perfectly okay.

[ed29]

Originally Posted by TwoSmokeDS

FYI: Since a lot of dirtbikes are sub 250cc and come with a single beam headlight. No need to waste money on two beam head light and switch.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showpost...1&postcount=23

There is more to the definition of a motor driven cycle verses a motorcycle than displacement of the engine. A motor driven cycle is basically the old moped. Irrelevant to the original question since it is a KTM 450 anyway.