Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
What the hells going on over there... same country but you can't
rego the same bike everywhere...
seems bloody mad to me...
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You are correct, but the reality is, those who CAN register the bikes live in states that allow 'off-road' bikes to be street registered. The Hawk is not a 49 or 50 state 'on-highway' bike and certified as such by the federal agencies, the EPA/DOT (EPA=Environmental Protection Agency and DOT=Dept. of Transportation) as many bikes are. California has its own, additional agency called CARB=California Air Resource Board which has additional and costly regulations above and beyond the federal EPA/DOT, which is why most vehicles are '49-state' legal. Californians need not apply...
Many rural states will skip the federal regulations and issue plates based on a minimum of street-legal equipment--some states will even issue plates to ATVs and UTVs provided they have a minimum of equipment, which usually consist of (and depending on individual states), one mirror, one brake (I am going off of Arizona's list), a headlight, taillight, and that is it (don't quote me as they might have added a couple things the past few years here).
The bottom line is that Haosen and/or their importer Ricky Power Sports, at this time, have not gone the extra certification route, and have only obtained the 'off-highway' EPA certificate which essentially means these bikes are federally recognized as dirt bikes. The fact that many states will issue plates is a 'bonus' but while the legality is sorted out, those states that will not issue plates will leave people with a 'dirt-bike' rather than what they were planning to have--a street-registered enduro bike.
I am surprised that a state like New York will issue plates for the Hawk seeing at how socialist its government is (vs. most other states), but I guess in this case, the technicalities are overlooked and the rural parts of the state win out here vs. New York City's harsh socialist agenda. And equally surprised that a traditionally rural state like Alabama is giving a hard time and NOT issuing plates, as well as New York's neighboring states like Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Confusing trying to think of the logic...