"Street legal" or plated EC250 in Wisconsin
 

So I bought an EC250 that was plated in Michigan and when I transferred the plate the friendly folks at the dmv put the brakes on. I'm well versed in the whole 8th digit of the vin, etc etc. here's my question- I know an EC will never be street "legal". I need to connect trails and get to trails and I ride a lot of forest/logging roads (not sure if these are considered "roads" or not) I have gotten a few non-legal bikes plated without fuss, the only hurdle was giving my word and checking the box that states "manufactured for highway use/has federal certification label". This time around they told me I need to snap a photo of this sticker- which of course doesn't exist.

So my options for a bike that will never really be "street ridden" but is required (in Wisconsin) to be plated most places I'll be riding it: A- a fed certification label magically appears somewhere on the frame. B- I put the plate from another bike on it. C- I try again at another dmv.

I'm not looking for anyone to encourage law breaking (if you can really consider it breaking the law) it just seems I'm in a catch 22 here and I can't be the only one. What have others done? If this has been beat to death here just ignore me. There's pages and pages over on TT and the supermoto forums but it's mostly related to California and the red/green sticker. I can almost 100% assure you that nobody is going to give my EC a second look up in northern wisconsin.

Thanks-

My 01 300 is plated & titled "cycle" from original purchase. Is it street legal? Heck no. Even on USDA Forest Service roads, it is not legal. Even with headlight, taillight, brakelight it doesn't meet the state requirements for "on road" use. It's really not worth the trouble to us to bother meeting any "on road" requirements. As such, it's getting ORV tags. It gets hauled with the rest of the bikes. If a plate is a must have...maybe you bought the wrong bike. Maybe your only option is unloading the Gasser, & purchase a bike you ride on the road...legally. Just my 2 cents.

I was able to contact a dealer and get one of those stickers for my 09 KTM 450EXC and they sent me one for $10. This bike was a Euro version that never came with a sticker. But it worked in California.....

I apologize- a little searching turned up a ton of posts on this. And bowhunter007- I understand where you're coming from (and own some legit plated dual sport bikes) but the issue that's unique (maybe?) to Wisconsin and I'm sure other states is that without a plate, an "off-road only" motorcycle is restricted to very few areas of riding (none of which are close to me). We don't have ORV tags for bikes or Red/green stickers. Plated and non plated are the options. What I do have immediate access too are hundreds of miles of logging/forest/fire roads and 2 track that sometimes require a few miles of pavement to connect (for sure if I hit the gas station). The place is loaded with 4 wheelers of all types (2 strokes included) riding all over town (side of the road, sidewalks if there is one, "trails" on the sides of the highway). I'm only trying to get kind of legal so I can blend in and get to my trails. Once I'm out there I usually don't see another person all damn day.

Also- I'm guessing your 300 isn't any more "legal" than my 250 right? My bike IS currently plated in Michigan... So it must be legal-ish there. I'm going to try a place that does title transfers but isn't the DMV. The nearest town (to my cabin and where I ride) has 2 places that do it- a car dealer and the police dept. No harm in trying.

My GG 200 was plated in WA when I bought it, but our wonderful state of OR has the same issue - just plain stoopid (though I know there's a percentage of the population would abuse plating a dirt bike).

Anyway, for the responsible folks simply looking to get from point A to point B, a plate can be needed (I know I've wished for one several times).

I bet if you contacted Paul from County Cycles he might be able to point you in the right direction or get something that would work - he's in WI too.

On a completely unrelated note, when you first posted about your bike, you mentioned possibly getting rid of the steering damper. Are you still thinking about doing that? If so, let me know the brand as I'm thinking about getting one.

We're very lucky in the PNW. I only have to travel anywhere from 40 min - 2 hrs, and disappear for days(in some cases, literally).

I'm fine with that as well (although we don't have all THAT many "destinations" for riding). When I'm up at my cabin I'm on the trails in literally 1/4 mile from my front door. I'd likely never have an issue. But it's become routine at about the halfway point to hit the highway and gas up on some non-ethanol 93 octane, then hit my favorite bar that sits right on the wolf river for some lunch (just don't have the hot wings if you're headed back out to the woods- ask how I know!)

Liv2day- it's a WER dampener- let me give it a go with and without it on the bike and see what I think. Never had one on an off-road bike so I'm curious- I get into a load of deep gravel and sugar sand and if it helps me not feel quite as out of control in that crap (the gravel I've come to terms with, sand not so much) then it'll be a welcome addition.

Where in Northern Wisconsin Are you? My cabin is in Webster and my 250 EC has a dual registration plate from Minnesota. I hear Wisconsin is tough to plate, if you have any family or good friend in MN you could have them title it and ride with a MN Plate like I do.