Ontario Dirt Bike Laws and Regulations | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ontario Dirt Bike Laws and Regulations

RodneyBR

RodneyBR

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The wife and I are thinking about getting into off-roading, with a couple of dirt bikes. Maybe a Honda 100 for her and a 150R for myself. Although, there are so many laws and regulations, it makes my head spin.

My question is, do you need to licence plate, motorcycle licence, permit and insure it?

Is there anything else we should be aware of before getting into off-road dirt biking?
 
Unless you're REALLY small, the 150R is a bad idea.

first, its a full on race bike designed for kids under 16, it does not make a very good trail bike.

If you're concerned about power, with the weight of this bike, they're actually as fast, if not faster than the 250cc MX racer.

You're better off with the more trail friendly CRF250x, it has larger wheels, E-Start and is not nearly as high strung as the 150R.
 
Depends what you wanna do.. If you are looking to ride on trails ONLY:
Green plate for the bike is $35 one time fee for the bike, You'll have to get off-road liability insurance (Was about 80$/year for me this year), Then, depending on where you ride, you may need trail permits. (I.e. Simcoe county forests), but, if riding on crownland, no trail permit required.

That should be all you need to get on the trails.

Oop.. forgot to add.. for a trail bike, no licence required, must be over 12 years of age i believe, not allowed to ride intoxicated,.
 
You don't need to register it or insure it if you're using it on your own property. Using it ANYWHERE else requires insurance even if it's neighbour's property.

The Offroad Vehicles Act puts the onus on you to know where you are and to ensure that you have explicit permission from landowners before you enter on their land. Riding on land that is cultivated carries some additional penalties over and above simply riding where you are not invited.

Landowners have the legal authority to stop you on their land and demand you identify yourself to them. The Trespass to Property Act gives landowners or their agents the legal authority to arrest you and hold you for police. There is no requirement for them to first ask you to leave before doing so.

The only safe place to ride are unimproved or unopened public road allowances if you are blue-plated, and public trail networks that do not use public road allowances if you are blue- or green-plated. Insurance is a legal must.

Crown Land may or may not be open for off-road vehicle use, as different areas of Crown Land may have varying usage restrictions. The onus is on you to determine and be aware of those restrictions, and the onus is also on you to not infringe on private lands adjoining Crown Land. You must be insured and have at least a green plate.

If you are not plated or insured, your only legal alternative is your own property or a private closed-course dirtbike facility that has blanket venue insurance that covers participants.
 
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I believe for trails you need to have it green plated (off-road plates) and insurance (not 100% though, but some places require it such as Ganaraska forest require your bike to be insured along with a day pass or you can buy a year membership (around $130 if I remember correctly and you can ride all the time) There are speed limits, sometimes STOP signs and yield signs from merging trails. Restrictions of how lould the bike is, unless there is an after market exhaust on it you'll be fine.

If you ave your own property land, and if you have trails no plates or insurance needed.

For trail bikes look into - Yamaha TT-R230 for yourself and a CRF 150F for you wife.
 
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Thanks. You mentioned insurance, what Insurance company do you have because my vehicle insurance doesn't insure these type of bikes.

2smokewilleh said:
Depends what you wanna do.. If you are looking to ride on trails ONLY:
Green plate for the bike is $35 one time fee for the bike, You'll have to get off-road liability insurance (Was about 80$/year for me this year), Then, depending on where you ride, you may need trail permits. (I.e. Simcoe county forests), but, if riding on crownland, no trail permit required.

That should be all you need to get on the trails.

Oop.. forgot to add.. for a trail bike, no licence required, must be over 12 years of age i believe, not allowed to ride intoxicated,.
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RodneyBR said:
Yea, the 150r is a little small for me, although I'm only 5.5-5.6. What I'm thinking now is get the 150r to start, give to wife and then get a 250 for myself, although I find the 250 a little to large :/
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I'm 5'3 and have raced the 250 and 450 for a few years.

Set up properly, suspension sag will allow you to manage.

Again, I'll caution you on the "R" models, they are not beginner bikes, nor do they make great trail bikes(your intended use).

These are specifically designed as competition level MX bikes that require much maintenance to run properly(valves should be inspected after each ride, oil changes after each ride)

The X model 250 is a better choice, the CRF230 would be a good choice for your wife.
 
turbodish said:
Landowners have the legal authority to stop you on their land and demand you identify yourself to them. The Trespass to Property Act gives landowners or their agents the legal authority to arrest you and hold you for police. There is no requirement for them to first ask you to leave before doing so.
Click to expand...

Good luck.
 
eastcoast_gsx said:
Good luck.
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You'll need some luck if you come across a determined and ******-off property owner who knows his legal rights and powers, and who has a plan to make use of them. Seen it happen at Mosport more than once.

On one occasion apparently all it took was the element of surprise. While the offroaders were stopped along the back-straight fence watching the on-track activities, staff came up behind them and chained them up before they had a chance to do a thing. Funny as hell to watch. Not so funny for the offroaders when the cops arrived. On another occasion one of their trucks chased an ATV into one of the tunnels that go under the track. The other end of the tunnel was already blocked by another of their trucks. That ATV got towed to a "waiting area" until the cops came.

In any case all this is easily enough avoided if you just have some respect for other people's property rights. Why should anyone here expect that they should be able to run their dirt bikes or anything else on someone else's property without permission?
 
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hey everyone,
i bought a kids Yamaha PW50 last year for my kids, currently we had just been riding it on private property, but want to get a Green Plate so they can ride on crown land or trails, but i understand i need to get Off Road Insurance on the Bike before i can apply for the Green Plate. When i spoke with an agent at State Farm, she asked who the driver would be, and once i told her it would be my kids (4 & 7) , she said that underwriter would not cover them.
How am i supposed to get insurance on it, say i am the rider?
There must be other underage kids who got Off Road Insurance & Green Plates for the bikes or quads.
Any help is appreciated if you can point me in the right direction.
I really hate dealing with insurance.

regards,
jason
 
Punisher said:
hey everyone,
i bought a kids Yamaha PW50 last year for my kids, currently we had just been riding it on private property, but want to get a Green Plate so they can ride on crown land or trails, but i understand i need to get Off Road Insurance on the Bike before i can apply for the Green Plate. When i spoke with an agent at State Farm, she asked who the driver would be, and once i told her it would be my kids (4 & 7) , she said that underwriter would not cover them.
How am i supposed to get insurance on it, say i am the rider?
There must be other underage kids who got Off Road Insurance & Green Plates for the bikes or quads.
Any help is appreciated if you can point me in the right direction.
I really hate dealing with insurance.

regards,
jason
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Unless, your kids are riding on PRIVATE property, (yours or someone who gives you written permission to do so), your kids can't be legally riding on crown or maintained trails. The off road vehicle act states that they MUST be at least 12 years of age. It is the same with ATV's. Sleds also have a minimum age for a person to operate them.

Yes you can get insurance stating your the rider, BUT if your kids are riding and crash the insurer will void the policy and not cover anything, plus then you will have to answer yes whenever buying insurance and get asked have you ever had a policy canceled before. If they get stopped on crown land, (OPP S.A.V.E. team and conservation officers patrol areas on ATV's, then you will get ticketed, and depending upon the circumstances they can even seize the bike.

Not saying your kids can't shouldn't ride, just advising of the potential issues. Might want to rethink the idea unless you have a few acres for them to ride on. It gets really boring riding around a 1 acre loop.
 
Thank you very much I appreciate it.
I have not heard about the "12 Year Old" age limit, would have been nice if the Insurance Agent could have passed that on.
I agree with not lying on the Insurance policy, would just cause problems down the road, i just thought other young kids were doing this legally and wanted to follow that route.
anyway I guess they are going to be stuck on private property for a few years.

thanks again,
jason
 
Thank you very much, I just bookmarked them and will definitely look into taking my boys there.
Cheers!
 
yes i heard of them to, a lot closer for me, and for their Motorcycle Training they supply the bikes to.
i called last year and left a few messages, but never got a callback. definitely going to try again this year.
 
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