The state of NY will not register the RPS Hawk 250!
 

Just tried to register my Hawk at the DMV in New York and was told by the supervisor verifying the bikes title that as of recently the bike is no longer street legal in most states. I just got off the phone with killermotorsports who sold me the bike and have it advertised as street legal and I was informed by Robyn from the titling department that about a week ago they learned that the manufacturer had been falsely advertising the Hawk as street legal. The plus side is that killermotorsports agreed to give me a full refund or replace it with a Roketa at no extra charge. The negative side is all the money and time I put into this bike (replacing plastics, putting on street tires, hand guards,etc.). This was an overall disappointing experience. I never thought I would say this about such a great bike but BUYER BEWARE. I want to thank Adam again. Despite the outcome, I still feel he was a great help.

Does anyone know why this is happening? Does the bike not qualify under some EPA testing or something? Clearly it has all the necessary equipment to be street legal.


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its a state bureaucracy issue, its not that states have been deregistering the bike, its that they havent registered it yet -- some states are very quick and reasonable about it, others drag it out... >:( new york and california are particularly annoying (lazy)... these states create excessive regulations and then don't hire enough staff to review the voluminous paperwork... we are trying to get away from internet vendors and establishing local dealers who are actually familiar with the local legal situation... we have never claimed the bike was street legal in all 50 states, this issue comes up everyday here and we are constantly telling people that every state has a different situation, establishing local dealers should help the process as we can then begin applying more pressure to hasten the paperwork processing... if the bike didn't qualify under EPA testing we wouldn't be able to sell it at all, it wouldn't even get past customs, so its not a federal problem

Usually, from what I have seen, the US DOT/EPA certify a whole slew of bikes every year. There is a PDF that comes out once a year with hundreds of models and the engines they have, as well as multiple number of other models that share the same engine (usually in name, but like in the case of scooters, entirely other models) that are certified.

They even list bikes certified as CARB certified or 49-state (Californians need not apply) legal. To be honest, I do not remember seeing the Hawk as certified, but if it is, it would be legal for 49 states. Sometimes the problem comes from the names these come under, as sometimes they are certified under a certain name straight after the Chinese factory, while distributors slap other names on them.

That is probably the case here.

When I titled and registered my Bashan bike here in Florida there were no checks done whatsoever. They looked at my certificate of origin and the MCO or whatever its called and my purchase invoice and issued me a tile and registration. There was no question in regards to if the bike was legal or the name of the manufacturer or anything like that.


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Florida is the most lenient state with importing with texas not far behind. Florida is the only state you can bring jdm cars like supra Silvia nsx and newer skylines that are not 25 years old into and legally title them. Florida is an import paradise. Here in texas I had a temporary license plate before I left the store.

That's just it. The only reason they even did a check of any kind was because the MCO that was sent to me by KSM apparently had security issues which raised a red flag at the DMV hence why they called. I also had the invoice with me but since the MCO seemed suspicious, they called to verify I did purchase the bike from them so I'm guessing when the call was placed, the dmv was informed about its street legal status or lack there of. This whole process of owning the hawk turned out to be bittersweet. I was actually planning on buying a backup one just cuz. Tomorrow, I'm gonna go look at Yamaha and Kawasaki dual sports. Wish me luck!

X2. My temporary plate is still valid and currently on bike.

If you can wait until next year, you might also consider the Zongshen TT Special, which will be sold by CSC. You won't have any problems getting the CSC bike registered. :)

Florida can't be any easier than Idaho. In Idaho, I can practically get a license plate for a riding lawn mower. :D

When I bought my used, Honda CRF250X, I easily got a license plate for it. I filled out a form promising I would add the necessary equipment to make the bike street legal. No inspection was required. I paid my taxes and fees, and walked out of the DMV with a license plate in ten minutes. :)

Arizona, too! As long as it has a minimum of street equipment, it's good to go!

I was looking to purchase this bike when I came upon this thread. Whew! That was a close one. There is a person you need to talk to. Contact information is as follows:

Technical Services Bureau
Tom Noonan/Mark Engle (Director)
NYS DMV Technical Services Bureau
6 Empire State Plaza
Room 220
Albany, NY 12228

Phone: 1-518-474-5282 (select option # 4)
Fax: 1-518-473-9903

From my conversation over the phone with Tom Noonan (a while back, a few years ago), there are three (3) criteria that need to be met for the motorcycle to get plated in New York:

1 - Motorcycle needs to be able to go over 25 mph.
2 - EPA Certification/Approval metal plate riveted to frame of motorcycle.
3 - DOT Certification/Approval metal plate riveted to frame of motorcycle.

If all criteria are met, then you get a plate. I believe the first two (2) are met. The third one has to be verified by Adam Rinkleff. Hope he chimes in here.

Welcome; we are glad you joined us. :hi:

Thank you for posting the excellent information regarding the licensing process in New York state. :tup:

If you can open this file (I cannot on this computer!!??) it should have the Hawk somewhere in there--

http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/cert/docume...15-mc-ctrr.xls

I have seen these before on a different computer and the lists are kind of difficult to navigate through at first, but it does list every motorcycle certified by the DOT/EPA for on-road use year by year (the above file being 2015). Some of the columns have to be widened to read--for instance, one of the columns has all the model names the main certified bike comes as.

Here is the page where the XLS files can be found. if you scroll down, they have 2014 and 2016 as well. Also, the off-road bikes (besides cars and trucks)

http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/crttst.htm