Sur-Ron-class legality across all 50 states

From January 1, 2025 an OHV decal purchase requires completing the 'Safe & Ethical Riding in Arizona' course. SB 1517 (ch. 221, Laws 2025, signed June 20, 2025) amended only § 28-2156, which applies to vehicles with four or more nonhighway tires and does not reach a two-wheeler.

CS/SB 382 (2026) as filed would have created an 'electric motorcycle' class for machines of 750W or more capable of exceeding 28 mph. That definition was stripped before passage, and the Governor vetoed the remaining bill on June 25, 2026. Florida law is unchanged; expect secondary sources to report this incorrectly.

HB 308 (2025), which would have amended § 40-3-30.1 for 'miniature on-road vehicles,' was vetoed on May 14, 2025 (Veto No. 1). HB 957 (2026), on the same subject, was tabled in the Senate on March 31, 2026. No 2022, 2025 or 2026 act amended § 40-3-30.1. Our text of subsection (f) is the 2020 enacted version; the codified O.C.G.A. sits behind a paywall we could not reach, and amendments in 2021, 2023 and 2024 have not been ruled out.

Public Act 104-0414, the Micromobility Fire Safety Act, took effect January 1, 2026 and reaches this product directly: its 'personal e-mobility device' definition expressly includes an electrically propelled off-highway motorcycle, and § 15(b) bars manufacturing, selling, leasing or renting one unless its electrical system has been tested to ANSI/CAN/UL 2272, with traction batteries required to meet UL 2271. Violations are enforceable by the Attorney General under the Consumer Fraud Act. If you are buying in Illinois, ask the seller for the UL 2272 certification before you pay.

P.L.2025, c.285, approved January 19, 2026, added an 'electric motorized bicycle' class — a two-wheeler with fully operable pedals and a motor over 750W capable of exceeding 28 mph — and folded it into the motorcycle definition. A pedal-less off-road bike is unaffected and remains a dirt bike. The change does create a dead zone for high-power pedal e-bikes, which are now motorcycles, excluded from the new e-bike registration program, and unregisterable because they are not FMVSS-compliant.

Chapter 198 of the Laws of 2024 (signed July 11, 2024) added VTL § 2261(6): every limited use motorcycle sold by a dealer must be registered at the time of sale. NY DMV applies this as of January 7, 2025. S2436A, which would ban certain NYC off-road motorcycle sales, has passed the Senate but remains in Assembly committee.

HB 847 (2025), 'Off-Road Motorcycle Registration Eligibility,' passed the House 110-0 and died in Senate Rules on May 7, 2025; its 124cc displacement test could not have been met by an electric machine in any case. S.L. 2026-46 (§ 19, effective December 1, 2026) rewrites the electric-bicycle definition into three classes but retains the operable-pedals and 750W limits, so it does not open a path for this class.

ORC 4511.01 was amended effective June 30, 2025 (HB 54) and September 30, 2025 (HB 96), but the motorcycle and electric-bicycle definitions are unchanged from the prior official text. Chapter 4519 has not been substantively amended since HB 26 (2017).

§ 3722 was added by Act 92 of 2022, effective 60 days after July 11, 2022. No 2025 or 2026 act has amended § 3722 or § 7702.

HB 3297 (88th Leg., ch. 851), effective January 1, 2025, eliminated the annual safety inspection for non-commercial vehicles. No 2025 act changed the chapter 551A, chapter 664 or § 541.201 definitions.

Verified current for the 2026 season (July 2026, via CPW's registration page): the CPW OHV registration is $26.25/year (including a $1.25 Search & Rescue surcharge), valid April 1, 2026–March 31, 2027; the non-resident OHV permit is also $26.25. No change to Colorado's OHV framework — a Sur-Ron-class bike (over 4,476 W) is still classified as a motorcycle on-road, and even a plated, street-legal bike still needs a Colorado OHV permit to ride designated OHV trails and areas.

ENACTED July 15, 2026: Governor Green signed HB2021 as Act 259, effective immediately upon signature. It creates a 'high-speed electric device' (e-Moto) category — anything exceeding 750 watts or 28 mph — and BANS those devices from any public roadway, bicycle lane, travel path, bicycle facility, or other public area statewide. A Sur-Ron-class electric dirt bike lands squarely in that category: as of July 15, 2026 it is explicitly barred from all public areas in Hawaii, one of the strictest treatments in the country. The act also bans mopeds/electric motorcycles from bike-only facilities, raises the scooter/micromobility helmet age from under-16 to under-18, and requires proper registration with penalties. Legal riding for a Sur-Ron-class bike is now effectively private property and the DLNR OHV areas only.

A January 2026 Kansas Legislative Research Department memo summarizes the Kansas e-bike boundary: an e-bike is a pedal bicycle with an electric motor under the statutory limits and is excluded from the motor-vehicle definition. A Sur-Ron-class pedal-free/high-power dirt bike falls outside that e-bike treatment and should be handled as an off-road dirt bike or motorcycle-class vehicle.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey filed Senate Bill 3077, the 'Ride Safe Act,' on May 4, 2026; it is in committee (a hearing was held May 28, 2026) and would set a first-in-the-nation speed-based framework for e-bikes, mopeds, and scooters — four tiers by top speed — Tier 0 (20 mph or less), Tier 1 (21–30), Tier 2 (31–40), Tier 3 (over 40 mph) — with registration, insurance, and visible plates required for Tier 2/3, plus a ban from bike lanes, shared-use paths, and sidewalks. A Sur-Ron-class bike would land in Tier 3, the most-regulated tier. It remains pending (amendments expected) — the current framework (motor-driven-cycle/motorcycle classification, plus Massachusetts Environmental Police registration for off-road recreation vehicles) remains in effect.

Verified current for the 2026 season (July 2026): the $26.25 DNR ORV license and $10 trail permit ($36.25 total) are unchanged and valid April 1, 2026–March 31, 2027. The 2026 DNR fee increase that made news applied only to snowmobile trail permits (a required five-year CPI adjustment, $52→$65), not to ORV licensing. Michigan also runs two Free ORV Weekends in 2026 — June 13–14 and August 15–16 — when no ORV license or trail permit is required to ride the state's ~4,000 miles of designated ORV trails/routes and six scramble areas; all other ORV rules still apply.

In 2025, Reno/Sparks-area officials publicly warned of and stepped up enforcement against illegal electric dirt bike use, citing a rise in citations, crashes, and complaints. Clark County's comprehensive e-bike/e-scooter/motorcycle ordinance took effect May 21, 2025, barring motorcycles and all-terrain motorcycles (electric or not) from parks, trails, and recreational facilities unless designated, with escalating fines ($150 → $300 → $600, guardians liable for minors). Southern Nevada enforcement — stops, citations, and impounds of illegal or unregistered e-motorcycles — has continued into 2026. The ordinance covers unincorporated Clark County; cities such as Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas may differ, so confirm local rules.

Utah's HB 381 ('Electric Bike Amendments,' Rep. Paul Cutler) was signed March 24, 2026 and took effect May 6, 2026. It writes electric power into the motorcycle definition — an e-moto exceeding e-bike limits is a motorcycle, full stop, needing licensing and registration — and creates a new 'high-power electric device' category to catch machines marketed as e-bikes that exceed the legal e-bike limits (a Sur-Ron-class bike lands squarely in it). Throttle bikes capable of over 20 mph now require a rider who is 16+ with a motorcycle endorsement; riders under 21 must wear a helmet on any e-bike. Jurisdictions such as Summit County (Park City) have paired the law with stepped-up enforcement against illegal e-moto riding.

Verified current (July 2026): a >750W electric dirt bike remains an off-road/motorcycle-class vehicle in Virginia (not an e-bike), with no off-road registration required (§46.2-915.1). Concrete local road-access exception worth knowing: in Buchanan and Tazewell Counties, ATVs/off-road motorcycles may run designated highways (posted with warning signs, daylight only, ≤1 mile between off-road trails). Separately, Virginia Beach amended its city code in October 2025 to let compliant e-bikes use the roadway year-round like bicycles — but that is a ≤750W e-bike rule, not a street path for a Sur-Ron-class dirt bike.

SB-586 (signed October 2025, effective January 1, 2026) formally classifies Sur-Ron-class bikes as off-highway electric motorcycles requiring a Green Sticker — not electric bicycles or mopeds. A separate 2024 law, SB-1271, bars selling or labeling a vehicle as an 'electric bicycle' unless it meets Vehicle Code 312.5. SB-1167 (introduced February 2026) has since advanced through the legislature: it passed the Senate, moved to the Assembly, was amended in Assembly on June 22 and July 1, 2026, and as of the July 1 official status is in Assembly Appropriations (not yet signed). The latest bill text broadens the prohibition on advertising, selling, offering for sale, or labeling motor-driven cycles, mopeds, and similar vehicles as electric bicycles; adds disclosure, labeling, battery-safety, incident-reporting, and definition changes; and still includes a proposed highway/public-right-of-way operating prohibition/removal authority for 2- or 3-wheel electric devices capable of more than 20 mph on motor power alone unless the device is Vehicle-Code-authorized. The current governing law remains SB-586 until any pending bill is enacted.

Effective October 1, 2025, Washington raised the annual Discover Pass — required to park at the DNR, State Parks, and WDFW lands where most public ORV riding happens (Capitol Forest, Walker Valley, Reiter Foothills) — from $30 to $45 ($51.50 with the online/dealer processing fee; $10/$11.50 per day). It is the first increase since the pass launched in 2011 (the Legislature passed it in April 2025; Gov. Ferguson signed it May 17, 2025). ORV registration and the dual-registration road path (ORV decal + motorcycle plate) are unchanged.

Public Act 25-65 changes Connecticut's motorcycle and motor-driven-cycle helmet threshold from under 18 to under 21 effective October 1, 2025. Older summaries may still describe the on-road helmet rule as under-18 only, so verify current DMV/CGA text before relying on old motorcycle-helmet guidance.

Idaho Code 49-666 was amended in 2025, but the current official text still sets the motorcycle/motorbike/UTV/ATV helmet threshold at under 18 with listed exceptions. Older secondary summaries may miss the 2025 amendment history, so rely on the current Idaho Code text.

Nebraska's official minibike definition now explicitly includes a two-wheel vehicle primarily designed by the manufacturer for off-road use. Combined with DMV's title-only Not to Be Registered For Road Use language and the motorcycle-title MSO/MCO requirements, that makes older generic conversion summaries unreliable for Sur-Ron-class bikes.

Beginning January 1, 2026, Alabama Code Section 32-8-30 requires a certificate-of-title application for 2026-and-newer off-road vehicles unless an exemption applies. That title rule helps ownership tracking, but it is separate from highway registration and does not make an off-road-only dirt bike street-legal.

Iowa Administrative Code 571-46.25, effective June 18, 2025, confirms that designated riding areas require helmets for all operators and passengers and adds under-12 supervision rules. That correction matters because Iowa's lack of a universal on-road motorcycle helmet law does not mean there is no OHV helmet rule.

KRS 189.281's local OHV roadway pilot was extended in 2024; the current statute says it sunsets July 1, 2027. As of this verification date, that program is still local-ordinance based and defines eligible OHVs around four-to-six tires, so it is not a blanket two-wheel dirt-bike road path.

The Mississippi DOR FAQ now says ATVs and utility vehicles manufactured after July 1, 2025 must be titled. The same FAQ treats dirt bikes differently: voluntary title only, no license plate, and highway/city operation only if local law authorizes it.

Tennessee is unusually OHV-friendly. Beyond a full motorcycle conversion, state law lets a registered off-highway vehicle carrying a Class I or II OHV plate and proper lighting operate on county roads (not state highways or interstates) in daylight — roughly a half-hour after sunrise to a half-hour before sunset — and cross a state highway only at about a 90-degree angle after a complete stop, per Tenn. Code 55-8-185 and 55-8-203. A Sur-Ron-class bike would need OHV registration and the required equipment (including headlights) to use that path, so verify eligibility for your specific bike before relying on it.