Legal Quad Biking On The Roads
Four-wheeled all terrain vehicles with low pressure tyres, quad-bikes have seats and handlebars which resemble those found on motorcycles. Quad-bikes were originally created for the field, not the road. Developed for use in agriculture, these bikes are well suited to riding over open country, fields and rough tracks. Engine sizes on these bikes can be as small as 49cc and larger than 700cc. The high end quad-bikes can reach speeds of over 80 mph.
Because they are designed for use off-road, many quad-bikes are not road legal. Before any vehicle can be driven on a public road in the UK it must comply with specific legal requirements. Before they can be used on a road quad-bikes need to be fitted with items such as headlights, a horn and speedometer that reads in MPH. Riders need to have the correct insurance and the quad needs to have a tax disc and number plate.
Quad-bike riders must also carry insurance and the bike has to have a number plate and tax disc. Many quad-bike manufacturers produce lines of both off-road quad-bikes and quad-bikes which have been designed to be road legal. An off-road quad-bike can be converted to a road legal one, though the expense of adding the necessary equipment and full regulatory compliance can be taxing.
It’s a more complicated matter than simply attaching some indicator lights to your quad-bike. There are strict requirements as to where these lights must be placed and as to their color and flash intervals. Road legal quad-bike conversion kits are available from many suppliers, including the required lamps, reflectors and comprehensive instructions for their proper installation.
Quad-bikes which are road legal fall into the classification of quadricycles and as such are to be registered as Private Goods Light Vehicles. Riders must hold valid motorcycle or car driving licenses issued prior to February 2001. There are no specific instructional requirements for quad-bike riders and helmet use is not required by law, though it is of course recommended.
The smallest quad-bikes, with engine sizes under 100cc, are usually designed for children or young people to ride. This means that they are rarely built as road-legal because the riders will usually be aged under 17.
The low end of road-legal quad-bikes are models such as the Apache RLX 200S, with a 180cc engine and automatic transmission. An alternative is the e-ton Viper EXL 150 ST with a smaller 150cc engine.
On the other end are far more powerful road legal quad-bikes, with models being able to achieve speeds of more than 80 mph; though it should be noted that the maximum speed permitted for use on roads is 20 mph. The Yamaha Raptor YFM700R is one such model with a high performance, lightweight aluminum frame and impressive 686cc piston. There are also slightly smaller sport quads for road use including the Quadzilla 450, with a 448cc engine.
The quad-bike may have started off as an off-road vehicle, but the fun of these bikes made it inevitable that they would find their way onto the roads eventually. Riders should keep in mind that not every quad-bike is road legal. Motorists should choose either road bikes which are designed for on-road use or make sure to convert their off-road quads to fully comply with the regulatory requirements before they set off down the road on their quad-bikes.
Tagged with: Health • Law • Quad Bike • riding • sport
Filed under: Law
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