Ok so I wanted to try some green laning so got a CRF450X.
These don't come road registered so you have to do a few things to get it legal for the street. Many people think this is a black art, in fact its barely more work than with a pre registered bike. Although this is a rather long set of instructions in actuality it takes very little time and effort to do.
To make it as hassle free as possible do these steps in the following order:
Order a V55/5 form from the DVLA (or pop in to your local DVLA office if you can). Why? it can take a while to arrive.
Get your age of manufacture letter. Why? again, it can take a few days to arrive.
Get your MOT. Why? You dont need the above paperwork for the MOT, so by the time its prepared, booked in and MOT'd you should have received them.
Get insurance. Why? Initially you will need to get the bike insured using the frame number instead of a reg number. While many insurers are happy to do this they will only do it for 2 weeks or so before you have to contact them with the reg number. If your bike fails MOT or you can't get into a test station you don't want to be flapping in this time period.
Go to the DVLA office and get your taxdisk/reg number.
The Details:
First thing you need to do is get a letter from the manufacturer proving the date of manufacture. This isn't really required but doing so will mean you can get a reg number for the age of the bike. You can omit this step and it will get a reg number as of the date you register (so it will be something like PY12 CBR if you register it at the beginning of 2012) but I wanted it registered for the age of the bike. Not having one does not mean you will get a Q plate, you only get one of those if you have no frame number etc.
To get one contact your bike manufacturer main dealer or your local dealer and they can get you the numbers etc. Some give it you for free, others charge up to £25 or so.
You now need a V55/5 form from the DVLA. You can order one off the website or pop into your post-office/dvla office for one. I ordered mine off the site but one came with the bike when I bought it so used that. Good job really as it took 2 weeks to get to me in the post, by which time I had already done it all.
Fill out the form and make sure you put Enduro Exempt in the SVA type box.
While you wait for these to arrive get your bike ready for an MOT.
It needs to have road legal tyres (MST, DOT or E stamped). You can get these fairly cheap, (Maxxis front/rear deals are around £70-80).
Make sure its not offensively loud.
You also need a horn, there are plenty of these on eBay for less than £15 delivered and many come with their own battery, or you can wire it up to your 12v battery if you have one on the bike.
You will need a reflector on the rear of the bike, unless your going the whole hog with a reg plate holder/tidy etc just get a red mtb reflector (pennies) and stick it on.
Thats about it, it will pass like this as long as its in good order (ie brake pads ok, brakes work, nothing hanging off, no "Not for Highway Use" stamps on the exhaust or other). You don't need lights or indicators.
If you have no speedo/odometer then its a good idea to fit one - riding the thing through a speed camera without one is interesting. A simple cycle computer works as good as any of the dedicated enduro units and are £7 at ASDA. Get a wired one though, I had a wireless one that I wanted to fit but as there is much more metal in the way and the distance is longer than if fitted to a MTB it simply didn't work with the sensor tucked down near the spindle. You could try your luck with one but the £100+ Trail Tech Vector's use wired sensors. Just run it up the brake line and it will be fine.
If your bike has lights that are plugged in then they will have to work as intended with dip/main etc but if they are not permanently plugged in they are not considered in the MOT (and obviously if the bike does not have any they are not considered). I thought that you would need a brake light as a minimum but this is not the case, you don't need one. Getting caught riding at night with no lights will lead to trouble so beware.
So, with your MOT you now need to get it insured. Registering the bike involves simultaneously getting a tax disk and like any other vehicle, you need an MOT and insurance.
To insure the bike you need to find someone who will insure a vehicle on the frame number. I had to phone around a bit for this, a lot of people say Aviva are the go to guys but when I phoned them they wouldn't insure on frame numbers unless I had an existing policy with them. I didn't, so had to carry on my search eventually going with Bikesure. Use google or look on kit car forums etc.
So, you have your MOT, insurance and your V55/5 form and proof of date of manufacture has arrived.
Pop down to your local DVLA office with your paperwork (MOT, age of manufacture letter, V55/5 form) and stand in line. It will take about 10 mins for them to sort it all out then they will give you 6 months tax which you need to pay for there and then. You will be given a reg number so you can get a plate made up and thats it.
Now, this is where things might differ for you. The Enduro Exempt declaration we put on the V55/5 form means your bike does not need to meet a set of criteria. The DVLA actually have a list of enduro machines that they refer to when processing your form, if you are registering an actual Enduro machine such as the CRF450X or a KTM EXC etc then these will be on the list (most likely). If your bike is a motocross machine (CRF 450 R or KTM 250 SX for example) it might not come up. In this case you will be told you have to have it inspected. You will need to present the machine at the office for an inspector to look at. All they are interested in is the machine qualifying as an Enduro bike which is a ground clearance of 310mm (min) and a seat height of 900mm (min). Thats all he will do, measure and nod. Note that if you have fitted supermoto wheels it may not meet these requirements, so take it down with your mx wheels on.
The first time you ride a motocross bike through town will put a massive smile on your face! Being fruity with the throttle on MX tyres on tarmac will remove it but it will return :)
One thing I will say is, check your brakes on the road. I got to the end of my street and put the front brake on to stop, nearly went sailing out into the road. Maybe the bike had not been used much etc but they are not that good, certainly if your used to superbike brakes.
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