[laghee-nj]

Hi everyone! My dad and grandad’s 1973 Yamaha RD 250 has been sitting unused in the back of my parents’ garage for nearly 40 years now. My boyfriend can’t wait to get it up and running and back on the road when we head back to NJ for a visit next month. My dad is thrilled that someone wants to resuscitate his old baby and give it some TLC but doesn’t know what the next steps are bureaucratically speaking. I’ve been out of the US for nearly 20 years and have no idea about current environmental regulations and inspections for older vehicles (things have become pretty strict here in Italy regarding emissions and older vehicles).

Would any of you NJ residents be able to clue us in on what we will have to do to make the bike legal to use on the streets once it’s running again? Do we have to register it as a historical vehicle?

Any and all input most appreciated!

 

[cmonSTART]

In general things are a bit more relaxed here in the US - lots of folks own and ride vintage bikes. It might be best calling a local dealer and asking their service department what's required to make a vehicle road legal again mechanically.

Does the bike have a title?

 

[laghee-nj]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, my dad should have the title somewhere – we’ll go hunting for it once we get back. Encouraging to hear that things are more flexible with vintage bikes in the US – what we are hoping is that we’ll really be able to use it to get around and not just be limited by the “only for exhibition and educational purposes” kind of restrictions for historically registered vehicles.

 

[Offcenter]

Any vehicle over 25 years old can be registered "Historic" in New Jersey.
I have two bikes registered that way myself.
But you have to do the registration by mail with the main office in Trenton.
You pay a one-time fee of $24. After that, registration is free.
YES, FREE!
But you MUST have that title.

 

[laghee-nj]

Thanks for the info, Offcenter!! What are your two historical bikes? Does the historical registration make a big difference to your insurance bill? And do you have to observe restrictions as to how much/how often/where/when you ride them? Hope you don’t mind the barrage of questions...!

 

[Offcenter]

I have a '76 Goldwing and a '77 Honda Trail 90.
Insurance company never asked about the registration. I only have basic liability and it doesn't cost much at all.
I believe the rule is that you can only ride them 3000 miles a year. I'm well within that since most of my miles are ridden on my '99 Goldwing.

 

[Unkle Krusty]

In BC for Vintage bikes. They must be for pleasure use only, not to or from work. Owner must be the principal operator.
An old bike like the 250 will have the usual issues with wheel bearings and such. The piston, rings and cylinder are easy enough to work on. What will stop your progress, could be the big end and crank bearings. If they need replacing, you will need two things. New bearings and someone who knows how to press apart a 2 stroke crank, and put it back together.

UK

 

[SemiFast]

In BC for Vintage bikes. They must be for pleasure use only, not to or from work. Owner must be the principal operator.
An old bike like the 250 will have the usual issues with wheel bearings and such. The piston, rings and cylinder are easy enough to work on. What will stop your progress, could be the big end and crank bearings. If they need replacing, you will need two things. New bearings and someone who knows how to press apart a 2 stroke crank, and put it back together.

UK

A good local mechanic should be able to do a single cylinder crank, but for a twin like the RD.....
Falicon in Clearwater, FL :thumbsup:

They call old bikes like that "antique" for licensing in my area. (If you apply for it).
It's my understanding that you can only ride your antique to a show or for testing and such. Never heard of anybody being checked though.

 

[hogcowboy]

A good local mechanic should be able to do a single cylinder crank, but for a twin like the RD.....
Falicon in Clearwater, FL :thumbsup:

They call old bikes like that "antique" for licensing in my area. (If you apply for it).
It's my understanding that you can only ride your antique to a show or for testing and such. Never heard of anybody being checked though.

You are always on a test ride. ALWAYS.

 

[laghee-nj]

Wow, hey night owls and good morning from sunny Italy. Thanks, everyone, for all the input... As far as the historical/antique status is concerned, the impression I’m getting is that the historical status will spare us future annual registration fees and put some limitation of how much we can ride it ...which probably no one will ever check (?).

But if I’m understanding this right, there’s nothing really preventing us from registering the bike and using it like any other? No prohibitions related to emissions/environmental stuff.