300 kit and street legality
#1
06-13-2006, 08:09 AM
300 kit and street legality
I've seen a few references that taking the 250cc up to a 300cc using the 300 kit makes the bike no longer street legal. Can anyone confirm this? And if it is true - why? There are street legal KLX300's after all. What's the deal? Or is this just an ugly, baseless, rumor?
#4
06-13-2006, 07:29 PM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Technically anything you do that increases noise or emissions is illegal on a federal level, which means everything we have all done. Untill thay start emission testing bikes I wouldnt worry to much about it.
#5
06-21-2006, 04:00 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Hey Mav,
It's actually not legal in Oz. There was a piece of paper that came in my kit saying that by fitting it I understood that I am modifying the bike in such a way that it will only be able to be used for 'off road use only', i.e. you have brocken the ADR's.
As I got it fitted at the dealer as part of the delivery, I also signed something at the dealer acknowleding it. My dealer is really good though and said it is only to cover them in the 1/10000000000 chance that they needed it. Mind you, since there is absolutly no way of telling by looking, my bike is still on the road and rego'd as a KLX250, the same as all the other people who have fitted the 300 kit in Oz.
Allo good.
drof
It's actually not legal in Oz. There was a piece of paper that came in my kit saying that by fitting it I understood that I am modifying the bike in such a way that it will only be able to be used for 'off road use only', i.e. you have brocken the ADR's.
As I got it fitted at the dealer as part of the delivery, I also signed something at the dealer acknowleding it. My dealer is really good though and said it is only to cover them in the 1/10000000000 chance that they needed it. Mind you, since there is absolutly no way of telling by looking, my bike is still on the road and rego'd as a KLX250, the same as all the other people who have fitted the 300 kit in Oz.
Allo good.
drof
#6
06-21-2006, 04:55 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Let me ask you this, do you really think that they are gonna open up the engine to make sure you haven't put a larger piston in it?? I think not 
. When we modded the exhaust we already broke the laws of legality because of emmissions, and thats the most noticable. I don't think anyone is gonna know its a big bore except you and us.
. When we modded the exhaust we already broke the laws of legality because of emmissions, and thats the most noticable. I don't think anyone is gonna know its a big bore except you and us.
#7
06-21-2006, 05:14 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
I wonder where they come up with these rules. I was out jogging the other evening and a big ole Harley cruised by and I swear I couldn't even hear myself think. There are loud pipe, but those were just insane. And my 300cc KLX w/mellow Muzzy is illegal? Go figure.
#8
06-21-2006, 05:32 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Hey Brian,
There is just no simple answer for this as laws vary from place to place, but here goes, ALL aftermarket parts will have a disclaimer such as, "off road use only" because of very strict federal guidlines on vehicles sold for use on the highway(noise,emissions, lighting,brakes, weight,ect.) and the FED does not allow sale if they are not met, so using these parts will bring your vehicle outside of these guidelines. so is that illegal??....NOPE! ,because you are not a manufacturer or new vehicle dealer, you are considered a private owner by the FED, but you still have to meet certain criteria to be a registered vehicle in your state and possibly your county or city too but most municipalities just adopt state law and emissions testing generally takes place in counties with the most registered vehicles. that being said you need to look at NC law regarding the definition of a motorcycle, and if your bike meets it and it did when it was new, you are good to go!!! OH law refers only to lighting, tires,signals, horn ect. and not size, weight, horsepower, fuel economy, emissions, bore, stroke........ your getting me right? and a word on the dreaded emissions testing, modifying a 250 or 300 to the point where it would not pass would be harder than you think because most guidelines for levels of output are averages for automobiles and are not even adjusted for motorcycles, and those that are, well are again averages for motorcycles which are in general not 250-300cc but much larger so the test is allowing for that and your punched out 300 probably wont make enough stink to fail you, but even if it did fail this just a violation, NOT A CRIME and tuning for the test could get you through. a single violation in some juristictions wont even keep you from registering it. but i a betting in APEX your not being tested, so just read your definition of a motorcycle under state law and tune away!! i hope this helps
There is just no simple answer for this as laws vary from place to place, but here goes, ALL aftermarket parts will have a disclaimer such as, "off road use only" because of very strict federal guidlines on vehicles sold for use on the highway(noise,emissions, lighting,brakes, weight,ect.) and the FED does not allow sale if they are not met, so using these parts will bring your vehicle outside of these guidelines. so is that illegal??....NOPE! ,because you are not a manufacturer or new vehicle dealer, you are considered a private owner by the FED, but you still have to meet certain criteria to be a registered vehicle in your state and possibly your county or city too but most municipalities just adopt state law and emissions testing generally takes place in counties with the most registered vehicles. that being said you need to look at NC law regarding the definition of a motorcycle, and if your bike meets it and it did when it was new, you are good to go!!! OH law refers only to lighting, tires,signals, horn ect. and not size, weight, horsepower, fuel economy, emissions, bore, stroke........ your getting me right? and a word on the dreaded emissions testing, modifying a 250 or 300 to the point where it would not pass would be harder than you think because most guidelines for levels of output are averages for automobiles and are not even adjusted for motorcycles, and those that are, well are again averages for motorcycles which are in general not 250-300cc but much larger so the test is allowing for that and your punched out 300 probably wont make enough stink to fail you, but even if it did fail this just a violation, NOT A CRIME and tuning for the test could get you through. a single violation in some juristictions wont even keep you from registering it. but i a betting in APEX your not being tested, so just read your definition of a motorcycle under state law and tune away!! i hope this helps
#9
06-21-2006, 05:54 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Thanks Tom. What you say makes sense. I did do a little research for NC regarding the inspection procedure because I removed the under hanging license plat holder from under the rear fender and mounted the plate directly on the fender just below the tail light. But in the process I lost the license plate light. I needed to check whether the license plate light was mandatory for inspection. The good news is that the inspection procedure is explicit about such things. The bad news is that it is required so I'll need to make something up before next inspection.
I was also checking on gas tank material. Some states apparently require steel gas tanks. I could not find anything in the NC inspection document stating any restrictions about plastic gas tanks.
There is nothing in there that I could find about the loudness of the pipe or even emissions testing for motorcycles. However, there is some disturbing wording regarding the bypassing of emissions stuff such as catalytic converter. Do we have a catalytic converter on the stock bike? Is it in the tail pipe? If so, would swapping the pipe with an aftermarket pipe be considered "bypassing" it? I don't think so - I think the spirit of that wording is you can't drill it out or make it non-functional through "tampering". I don't think installing a whole new pipe falls into that category.
Anyway - probably a big to-do about nothing. My inspection doesn't up until next January. Hopefully it'll be quick and painless.
I was also checking on gas tank material. Some states apparently require steel gas tanks. I could not find anything in the NC inspection document stating any restrictions about plastic gas tanks.
There is nothing in there that I could find about the loudness of the pipe or even emissions testing for motorcycles. However, there is some disturbing wording regarding the bypassing of emissions stuff such as catalytic converter. Do we have a catalytic converter on the stock bike? Is it in the tail pipe? If so, would swapping the pipe with an aftermarket pipe be considered "bypassing" it? I don't think so - I think the spirit of that wording is you can't drill it out or make it non-functional through "tampering". I don't think installing a whole new pipe falls into that category.
Anyway - probably a big to-do about nothing. My inspection doesn't up until next January. Hopefully it'll be quick and painless.
#10
06-21-2006, 06:23 AM
RE: 300 kit and street legality
Hey Brian,
Yes there is a CAT in the stock exhaust, and tampering with it under OH law only applies to dealers or commercial shops in general,again read NC law carefully, but by simply removing or rendering innoperative it could cause failure of a emissions test by it being out of tune and it could still pass if carefully tuned, depending on the parameters of test as stated earlier, but if your not being emissions tested, i have never seen a visual test nor seen it referenced in the definition. also gas tank material will have to be stated in the "definition" or it is not a factor for legality. as far as exhaust noise level is concerned, this will allways come down to an individual officers discretion, some town leaders want it WHISPERING, others "reasonably muffled" what does that mean? it is what that individual officer thought when you went by!! so be nice and professional during that traffic stop it is your best bet to avoid the ticket anyway, and i know of no state that does not require a illuminated licence tag and i have never seen a definition of how you light it , so if it has a light shining on it, you pass!!
Yes there is a CAT in the stock exhaust, and tampering with it under OH law only applies to dealers or commercial shops in general,again read NC law carefully, but by simply removing or rendering innoperative it could cause failure of a emissions test by it being out of tune and it could still pass if carefully tuned, depending on the parameters of test as stated earlier, but if your not being emissions tested, i have never seen a visual test nor seen it referenced in the definition. also gas tank material will have to be stated in the "definition" or it is not a factor for legality. as far as exhaust noise level is concerned, this will allways come down to an individual officers discretion, some town leaders want it WHISPERING, others "reasonably muffled" what does that mean? it is what that individual officer thought when you went by!! so be nice and professional during that traffic stop it is your best bet to avoid the ticket anyway, and i know of no state that does not require a illuminated licence tag and i have never seen a definition of how you light it , so if it has a light shining on it, you pass!!