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MrClean67 · 02-23-2017, 11:10 AM

I retired a year ago after being a police officer for 26 years working patrol and traffic my entire career. One thing I wouldn't want to do or be is a hypocrite. With that being said, the enforcement of motor vehicle laws are discretionary upon police officers. It's their call whether they want to issue a summons or a warming, written or verbal. Being that I grew up riding off-road bikes, I've always been 'extremely' generous and understanding when stopping bikers for motor vehicle violations. NJ motor vehicle law requires that once you are a state resident, you have 60 days to transfer your out of state registration over to NJ. In 2010, NJ got rid of the state inspection for motorcycles and it's now "self inspection". The state also put into law that all dirt bikes must be registered and insured also surprisingly. (My guess is they wanted to collect the sales tax on ATV's and off-road vehicles). When I received the MSO for my bike, it is listed as a MOTORCYCLE and states that it meets National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as the Environmental Protection Agency for Off-Road Motorcycles. I took it to two different DMV offices and was told the same thing each time: "Your manufacturer is not on our approved list and we can't issue you a registration". I explained that my bike was the first one in NJ and that the MSO was clear that it met the requirements but they weren't budging. Instead of getting all pissed off, I'd already done my research and figured I would probably get denied and knew about the South Dakota loophole. I sent my documents off to S.D. and eleven days later I had my registration and plate. Two months later I received my title.
My situation is something that shows that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in NJ. Technically, I can't even ride my bike on private property in the state even though it has EVERYTHING required for a motorcycle to be street legal. It's a Chinese knockoff of the KTM EXC-F series at about a third of the price. Speaking from my perspective and knowing what the laws are here in this state, I would never issue a summons to a rider in my situation when my hands are tied from doing it "the right way". Even getting it insured was a little bit of a concern. I called six insurance companies about insurance and all six said that they had to get back to me because it wasn't in their system. Three called back and said they could and gave the same price quote, $80/yr for minimum coverage. The other three called back saying that they couldn't insure off-road motorcycles. No big deal.

02-23-2017, 11:10 AM	#6
MrClean67 Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: New Jersey Posts: 8	I retired a year ago after being a police officer for 26 years working patrol and traffic my entire career. One thing I wouldn't want to do or be is a hypocrite. With that being said, the enforcement of motor vehicle laws are discretionary upon police officers. It's their call whether they want to issue a summons or a warming, written or verbal. Being that I grew up riding off-road bikes, I've always been 'extremely' generous and understanding when stopping bikers for motor vehicle violations. NJ motor vehicle law requires that once you are a state resident, you have 60 days to transfer your out of state registration over to NJ. In 2010, NJ got rid of the state inspection for motorcycles and it's now "self inspection". The state also put into law that all dirt bikes must be registered and insured also surprisingly. (My guess is they wanted to collect the sales tax on ATV's and off-road vehicles). When I received the MSO for my bike, it is listed as a MOTORCYCLE and states that it meets National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as the Environmental Protection Agency for Off-Road Motorcycles. I took it to two different DMV offices and was told the same thing each time: "Your manufacturer is not on our approved list and we can't issue you a registration". I explained that my bike was the first one in NJ and that the MSO was clear that it met the requirements but they weren't budging. Instead of getting all pissed off, I'd already done my research and figured I would probably get denied and knew about the South Dakota loophole. I sent my documents off to S.D. and eleven days later I had my registration and plate. Two months later I received my title. My situation is something that shows that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in NJ. Technically, I can't even ride my bike on private property in the state even though it has EVERYTHING required for a motorcycle to be street legal. It's a Chinese knockoff of the KTM EXC-F series at about a third of the price. Speaking from my perspective and knowing what the laws are here in this state, I would never issue a summons to a rider in my situation when my hands are tied from doing it "the right way". Even getting it insured was a little bit of a concern. I called six insurance companies about insurance and all six said that they had to get back to me because it wasn't in their system. Three called back and said they could and gave the same price quote, $80/yr for minimum coverage. The other three called back saying that they couldn't insure off-road motorcycles. No big deal.
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