DMV sent me notification I need insurance on the SV, WTF???


LTJ

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California
As the title says, DMV says it will pull my registration unless I get liability insurance. I’ve never heard of a dirt bike requiring liability insurance. I googled this and the internets say dirt bikes don’t require liability insurance.

Anybody else get this notification in CA?
 

Philip

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Lake Havasu City, AZ
Going to the dmv to get this sorted. If I have to pay liability, then they need to give me a license plate.
Exactly.

All road-going vehicles need registration and insurance. AFAIK, only Montana would give you a plate but not require insurance for a dirt bike.

But if they want you to pay annual registration, then they have to give you a plate. Else, what's the point of having a registration?

A title is all you want to have for simpler resale, but even that is only a nice-to-have.
 

Upinsmoke57

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Something doesn't sound right. How did you register the bike? Did you do it yourself or though a dealer? Part of the reason I spent a little more through a dealer was so I didn't have to deal with any of the BS on getting a green sticker. It came in a week. I did get insurance through Progressive as an offroad bike. Maybe if you insured it as street legal there's some loop back to the DMV?
 

LTJ

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California
I called ekhodealer and they agree the DMV is screwed up. They are looking into this for me. I'll update as I learn more.
 

Dirt-E

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King George, VA
Could be DMV put it in the system as motorcycle which is what you need to plate it.

If they put it in as dirt bike, then it shouldn't come up in the system as needing insurance.
 

Chadx

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SW Montana
Each State is different. Typically, Title if for ownership. Registration is for decal or license plate. In my State, you need one or the other unless your are only riding on private land. Then no registration needed. Registration will be for onroad, offroad or both. I only registrered my Varg for offroad, which comes with a permanent offroad registration decal. (there is also an annual trail pass sticker). We can also fill out a form stating that all the necessary things have been added to make it DOT street legal (DOT tires, head/tail/brake lights, and horn. Do not need turn signals). With that, you can also pay and receive registration/plate for onroad use. Anything that rides the "trails" needs to be offroad registered. Anything driven on the mountain forest service roads technically is supposed to be registered as onroad, but Fish and Game typically don't care as long as you have one or the other and pay your annual trail sticker. Our dual sports and ATVs, we always register as both, but the Varg I only did as offroad. If I bought an EX, I'd do both registrations.

I looked at the checkout page for the EX and there was an estimated fee for Ekho to do the registration and it was silly expensive. Did not see a way to make that go away and have my dealer send the MOC to my county Title and Registration like usual. Here, it only costs about $150 to do Title, offroad and onroad permanent registration. The Stark checkout page said it was going to charge almost $600 for Ekho to do "street registration". They gave an option for offroad-only that was $40. But I'd do both onroad and offroad and, of course, it doesn't seem to account for that. But that price can't be right or they are charging a silly amount of convenience fee. That option was mandatory and didn't change when I changed it from home delivery to dealership delivery. I assume their order page is just messed up, but who knows.

No clue if insurance is required in my State based on registration since I always insure stuff like this. It was $40 a year to add Full Coverage (not just liability) to my Progressive ATV policy. That covers me if it's stolen, I wreck it, I am at fault for a wreck that hurts someone or property damage, etc. Well worth it at two or three times that annual cost, much less $40. Costs that much in gas for one round trip to the trailhead. Ha.

Glad to hear Ekho is working on sorting it.
 

LTJ

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California
I haven't heard back from ekho yet. After thinking about it, I really should have liability incase I run over somebody and some greedy lawyer sues the crap out of me. I got a lot to loose. For $30 a year, I decided to just insure it. I'll post an updated of what becomes of ekho when I get an update.
 

Chadx

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SW Montana
I haven't heard back from ekho yet. After thinking about it, I really should have liability incase I run over somebody and some greedy lawyer sues the crap out of me. I got a lot to loose. For $30 a year, I decided to just insure it. I'll post an updated of what becomes of ekho when I get an update.

Greedy lawyers are always a possibility, but a more likely situation is a legitimate claim against us. I try not to ride recklessly, but anyone can have an accident (be that riding too fast, a mechanical failure, losing control due to terrain, a second of inattention, etc.
Coming around a trail corner too fast and hitting a stopped vehicle and causing property damage, hitting a pedestrian or bicyclist on a trail causing valid medical bills, going to pick up the bike after it tips over and grabbing a handful of electric throttle and the bike smashes into your buddy that was helping you, their vehicle/trailer at the trailhead, etc. All those seem more likely than getting falsely fleeced by a lawyer. To me, worth having coverage. I'd rather pay insurance and a deducible than be left holding the bag for a legitimate claim. I'd be even more happy to pay it and never need it.

The onroad stuff gets even more complicated. And insurance requirements have not kept up with vehicle costs/values. Even before the vehicle price hike of the last few years our State's minimum hadn't kept up. Now they are even further behind.

Minimums, in my State, for onroad vehicle liability insurance:
  • Bodily Injury Liability: $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident
  • Property Damage Liability: $20,000 per accident

$20,000 property damage? That will barely cover a 12 year old, 150k mile pickup. Ha. A new "work truck" trim pickup is $50k and a mid-trim Ford or Chevy pickup is $70,000 and there are sooooo many $100k high trim level pickups, EVs, etc. driving around. There are too many people that have only the required $20k of coverage, hence why we all have to have "underinsured" coverage on our policies; because you can't count on the other person having reasonable insurance since most people will only get the minimum required. And, note that is per accident not per vehicle involved, meaning if they hit you and one other car, your share of $20k is only $10k. Four cars, and your share is $5k. That won't pay for the wheels and tires on most pickups. Ha. $10k won't cover replacing a rear bumper and quarter panels, or SUV lift gate from a 15mph fender bender.

And this works the other way, too. If I have only $20k of coverage and do $100k of damage and it was my fault, that person's insurance company, or they personally, can come after me for the rest. That would be devastating. It isn't that much more to get a reasonable policy rather than the minimum so I feel better doing that.

In my opinion, States should require a minimum of $50k property damage (and maybe more if vehicles costs keep going up). And the Bodily Injury Liability minimum needs to quadrupled to minimum of $100k. Heck, $25k is about the price tag for an ambulance ride to the emergency room, xrays and setting some broken bones. Forget any resulting/associated surgery, etc.

I think you went the best route by insuring it, especially considering the low cost. But Ekho/Stark still should figure out what triggered it. Why are they trying to re-invent title and registration? And how much are they charging, for a "convenience fee", above and beyond the actual costs? That should be itemized and made clear.
 

Chaconne

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Location
Massachusetts
I haven't heard back from ekho yet. After thinking about it, I really should have liability incase I run over somebody and some greedy lawyer sues the crap out of me. I got a lot to loose. For $30 a year, I decided to just insure it. I'll post an updated of what becomes of ekho when I get an update.
Good idea.
 

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