trail bike thats country road legal | GTAMotorcycle.com

trail bike thats country road legal

EaZ8

Well-known member
ive been toying with the idea of getting a dirt bike for up at the cottage, only problem is there is a no atv/dirt bike bylaw in wmu53a so i would need some sort of street legal ability. its all dirt roads with small sections of pavement here and there but not much....full knobby tires will do the trick.

last summer my buddy brought up a honda 150 and a KTM 560 (i think it was a 560 or 530...someting like that) the KTM is 100% street legal, the honda not so much.
after riding both the KTM felt a little big and heavy and the honda felt like a mini bike.

so, what bikes should i be looking at, what does it take to have plates so i wont get a ticket going to and from the trails, and what do i need for insurance if anything? i really dont want insurance on it if i can avoid it legally... not worried about theft, my cottage has a monitored alarm on it and the garage.

for the amount im going to have time to ride the thing im trying to get something used...which is also why i want to keep it on the cheaper end... ill probably use it 3x a summer.
 
From what I know, there is no difference between a country road and any other public road. The bike will need to be street legal, be insured, and ridden by a properly licensed adult rider.

Even a properly insured and (green) licensed trail bike is not permitted on public roads.
 
so even for trails i need plates and insurance?

and are we talking maintained trails or crown land that loggers have made cuts in?
ill be on loggers abandoned cuts through the bush, all crown land.
 
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I don't know about crown land. You asked about "country roads getting to the trails".
 
to and from the trails was the primary concern, but now im wondering about what i legally need when im not on roads and im on crown land.
 
so even for trails i need plates and insurance?

and are we talking maintained trails or crown land that loggers have made cuts in?
ill be on loggers abandoned cuts through the bush, all crown land.

You need plates and insurance to ride anywhere but your own property or events that carry their own insurance on private land. (EX: mx racing.)

The green plate is a one time fee of $30 iirc. Insurance will run you about $100-150/yr. Even with a green plate if you get caught on a road you can get the same fines as driving any automobile on the road without street license and insurance. I was at court and saw a guy get $2000 in fines for crossing a road on his dirtbike.

You'll need a blue plated (street licensed) and insured bike if you want to do any trail linkage unfortunately.
 
Perhaps a Yamaha WR250R?

On a legality-related note, we were riding our green-plated dirtbikes up in Madawaska and had to hop from trail to trail by taking to the public roads, maybe less than a km in total. On the way we passed by an OPP cruiser who stopped us to check our documentation (license and green-plate insurance). We were crapping bricks. They knew and we knew we weren't supposed to be riding on the street, but when the papers checked out, they let us go with an "Enjoy your ride", and didn't say anything about the green-plates.

We also wanted to take part in the EOAR dual-sport ride one year on our dirtbikes. The person we talked to said officially we had to have a blue plate, but the cops in the area turn a blind eye. Ultimately we would have to bear the responsibility if they did decide to ticket us.

Seems like it really depends on where you are and whether you're acting like a jerk or not.

Not recommending you ride without a blue-plated bike, just giving you some anecdotal information.
 
The Oftr in conjunction with the ofatv and ofsc, have recently gotten together and submitted a proposed change to the HTA to allow dirt bikes (ie green plate) to travel the shoulders for trail linkage. Not approved yet, but it's gonna happen. That will really change the game.


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The Oftr in conjunction with the ofatv and ofsc, have recently gotten together and submitted a proposed change to the HTA to allow dirt bikes (ie green plate) to travel the shoulders for trail linkage. Not approved yet, but it's gonna happen. That will really change the game.


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It may or may not happen, I wouldn'tcount the chickens until the egg has hatched..lol Minister Murray, appears VERY reluctant to make any changes involving off road vehicles be it ATV's, SxS's or dirt bikes. Our ATV clubs have "finally" began to work together, but are still being met with considerable opposition from the ministry and Mr Murray has basically stated that he has NO interest in the changes being proposed and it isn't a priority for him or the ministry.

To the OP, "normally" Crown land is ok, Unless it is listed as non motorized. Having said that you stated about using "loggers cuts" you need to check with the local ministry office. If an area is being "actively" logged, then the logging company actually holds a "lease" on that tract of land and for the period of that lease it is no longer "crown land" but is "owned", (in the eyes of the law), by the logging company, and they "can" have you charged for trespassing. The ATV club I am on the executive of uses a large tract of crown land but we have to keep abreast of what areas are being actively logged. Generally the loggers don't both with our members as the trails were there LONG before logging was done, so they "expect" us to use the trails. Thankfully do to hard volunteer work we get along well with them.
 
You need plates and insurance to ride anywhere but your own property or events that carry their own insurance on private land. (EX: mx racing.)

The green plate is a one time fee of $30 iirc. Insurance will run you about $100-150/yr. Even with a green plate if you get caught on a road you can get the same fines as driving any automobile on the road without street license and insurance. I was at court and saw a guy get $2000 in fines for crossing a road on his dirtbike.

You'll need a blue plated (street licensed) and insured bike if you want to do any trail linkage unfortunately.
what insurance companies are good for dirt bikes? minimum coverage...avoid fines basically

It may or may not happen, I wouldn'tcount the chickens until the egg has hatched..lol Minister Murray, appears VERY reluctant to make any changes involving off road vehicles be it ATV's, SxS's or dirt bikes. Our ATV clubs have "finally" began to work together, but are still being met with considerable opposition from the ministry and Mr Murray has basically stated that he has NO interest in the changes being proposed and it isn't a priority for him or the ministry.

To the OP, "normally" Crown land is ok, Unless it is listed as non motorized. Having said that you stated about using "loggers cuts" you need to check with the local ministry office. If an area is being "actively" logged, then the logging company actually holds a "lease" on that tract of land and for the period of that lease it is no longer "crown land" but is "owned", (in the eyes of the law), by the logging company, and they "can" have you charged for trespassing. The ATV club I am on the executive of uses a large tract of crown land but we have to keep abreast of what areas are being actively logged. Generally the loggers don't both with our members as the trails were there LONG before logging was done, so they "expect" us to use the trails. Thankfully do to hard volunteer work we get along well with them.

the old loggers cuts ill be riding on are abandoned they were only permitted to cut certain amounts of trees down in each area then they move further down the fire access road... they have moved at least 1hr north now but still use the same fire access road. ive been using them as hunting trails for years now and so have a few other groups, also a few others take their quads through them.
they are tough trails for dirt bikes, 20ft long puddles about 1ft deep...some have hidden rocks, 1 way in, 2 ways out one is 10km to the exit the other is probably double....my buddy says they would be better suited for a quad, and he thought about taking his offroad truck through them but we had to find a spot where he could turn around...maybe next summer.
 
what insurance companies are good for dirt bikes? minimum coverage...avoid fines basically

I use State Farm. They are one of the only companies that write off road policies for dirtbikes.

I pay about $70/yr per bike but I have a lot insured with them. You can expect to pay between $100-150 if you have no other policies through them.



Tapatalkin'
 
Also State Farm. But they were much higher than aviva for my street bike.
 
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ill ask my broker, they are much cheaper for my car but if i have just my bike with SF the price goes up and i loose the savings...
 
You gotta shop around for insurance. I have 4 policies with 4 different companies. House, condo, car/bikes & sled. Everybody says "give me everything and I'll get you a better price" but so far no company has been able to match the price I get by splitting it up. Part of the problem is lots of companies don't want to touch a bike or a sled.
 
Exc 530 and 450 are both road legal from the dealer. That does not mean they are good road bikes. Lol


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