Pulled over in NC

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

Well, looks like my days of riding my bikes around town may be over, at least for now. I certainly knew they were numbered from the start. Finally got pulled over today on my 66cc OCC Stingray. I was about 100 feet from my house and had been riding for about 20 seconds and looked behind me to see flashing lights. Cop was nice about it and said he thought it was really cool, but he also told me I have to get it plated as a moped. After calling the liscence plate agency, dmv, and dot for about a week (apparently they are only open from 8am to 10am monday, wednesday, and Thursday.... -_-), I was finally able to talk to someone who told me that they don't do bicycles with engines on them, but that mine sounded like it was powerful enough to consider helping me out. He told me to bring him pictures of the bike before going any further so here I am. Not sure what I need to do to the bike before I take these pictures since I want to have the best shot at him giving me the green light. So just a heads up to anyone in NC. Also make sure you tell em its 48cc. Anything over is a motorcycle in North Carolina. Also no gears allowed, or clutch - although clutch is not as noticeable. If anyone knows anything about what I should to I'd really appreciate it! I'll be sure to keep yall updated when I find out more. For now, I've gotta stick to riding on a dirt road located 20 minutes from my house. Sucks because I have to borrow my buddy's truck just to get the bikes out there. With my luck I'll probably get told the dirt road is still a road and my vehicle still has to be plated and I need a spark arrestor to drive in the woods haha. But at the end of the day I guess it could always be worse! For now I'll stick to trying the figure out what parts I need to put this shift kit together.

 

[Barnfresh]

I'd skip the whole picture thing and just submit an application for registration. I don't see anywhere that says a vehicle inspection is required so it should just be a complete forms, pay your monies and you should walk away with a plate and registration. You will be required to show a valid driver license which seems strange since it's not required to operate a moped.

Since your bike never had a certificate of origin you'll need to complete a MVR58 form. http://www.ncdot.gov/download/dmv/VR_MVR58.pdf

For a receipt just make your purchase from a family member, remember you are just grandfathering in a used moped to comply with a change in law, not trying to register some contraption that you built by adding a motor to your bicycle. http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/PDF/H1145v8.pdf

The serial number on your frame most likely doesn't have 17 digits so you may want to list the year model as 1980 or earlier, however if that doesn't fly you may be required to get a new VIN assigned by the state.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

Once you get the registration and plate you'll need to add all the stuff to make your bike look like it's a road legal moped such as lights, mirror, horn etc. Oh and a 49cc sticker for your engine might be a good idea. Also don't worry about your clutch, the law simply says no external shifting device.

After July 1st liability insurance will be required.

http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/vehicle/title/vehicles/mopedfaq.html

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

Awesome! Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate the help!!! Only thing I'm worried about is what brand/make to say the bike is and what to do if confronted/questioned about the make/model and year when submitting the form.

 

[Barnfresh]

I understand your concern however i dont think make and model will come into question. To my knowlege NC doesn't go by a published list of approved models like some other states, Texas for example: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/msb/documents/CurrentMopedList.pdf

Where make and model may come into play is when you start shopping for liability insurance, but my guess is once you have a registration with license plate number it will be a non-issue.

Personally I'd be more concerned about the VIN being questioned and being referred to the license & theft department to have one assigned. They might go over your rig with a fine tooth comb looking for a reason not to assign you an I.D. number, but maybe not.

DMV folks these days are programmed to process 17 digit VINs and when faced with anything less they automatically go into meltdown. Normally once they get a supervisor involved and determine your ped was made before VINs became standardized ('81) they can usually override the system and continue processing....or not.

If I were you I'd just get my application forms in order and do a trial run. At least you'll know where you stand. As long as you haven't invested any money in the process you can politely thank them and leave to ponder your next move. As far as that goes same can be said for the assigned VIN. All they can say is no right, then you switch gears and try another approach, maybe try a different DMV office for example.

Remember the folks at the the DMV are not trying to weed out what qualifies as a moped rather just the opposite, they are there to get your moped into the NC system so they can collect annual fees, which is what this is really all about, money right? Money and Government Control.

Good luck CT and keep us posted here on how things worked out and lessons learned so it may help others in your state ride legal!

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

I will do some research regarding the format of vin #s and once I decide what year and vin # (using bikes existing serial #) to use I'll be sure to run it by you guys before I go to turn in my forms!

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

You'll probably have to find out exactly what will qualify it as a moped. Much like what Florida requires with RS-68. I imagine you'll need all your required lighting and control gauges and it may even have too be inspected by the DMV

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

So, I decided to use my bike serial # to register the bike frame online with nationalbikeregisty (I think that's it's called). After I do that, I will use a small metal vin plate and metal stamps to put my own new vin on the bike, since the bike's serial number contains 1s and 0s which aren't used in vins because they can be confused with letters l and 0, so it probably wouldn't make sense to the dmv guy looking over my form if my vin wasn't the proper length or format. What do you guys think of this? Is it a good idea? I was going to use the 13 digit serial on the frame as the vin and say its a 1978 bike but the 1s and 0s made me question whether it would work or not.

 

[Barnfresh]

Looks like you got it figured out CT but I'm not sure about the whole national bike registry thing since you'll no longer have a bicycle once you register as a moped with the state. BTW it's the letter i & o that are not used,1 (one) and 0 (zero) are quite common in VINs.

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

Oh, I gotcha, thanks! Will post pictures of the vin plate I make and will keep you guys updated with how it goes!

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

So I just got back from the lisence plate agency. I filled out the MVR58 form using the bike's 13-digit serial/vin number. I listed the year as 1978 and the make as OCC. I stated that I purchased the "moped" from my brother. So everything went smooth as butter until she saw the make, OCC. She said she didn't recognize the make and proceeded to ask a co worker and scan through lists of makes and also searched on the computer. She said that she needs the make so that some code will match or something. not sure if she was referring to the vin. So anyway, if getting a vin assigned involves inspection then that is out of the question. FML. Back to the drawing board, AGAIN. Not sure if I should even try anymore. I even rigged up functioning brake lights and everything. =/

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

She looked over the vin and it was fine until she couldnt find the make. I feel like if I look up a similar looking moped with the same year and say its one of those, the vin might not work because I think the format of the vin is specific to different makes models and years, color and displacement etc. Also, even if that works out and the vin is fine, I could still have my plate pulled and get a ticket if my plate appears to be from a different kind of moped (the one i list it as)

 

[Compulsive Tinkerer]

So frustrated with my state at the moment. Plus IF I can even get it plated and registered, I will have to pay $80 a year for insurance starting July 1st.