Presidents Weekend we showed up at test hill at Gordons with our four quads on the trailer two dune quads and two drag quads one drag with Lonestar chasis and one drag quad with a HS Custom chasis. As soon as the drag quads hit the sand from the trailer BLM trucked in and asked if we had paperwork on the quads and asked were the vin numbers were? We could not get it through thier heads that these custom bikes do not have vins and that started a rage in them. They cuffed us and treated us like we had stolen bikes. Bottom line after two hours of talking back and fourth they gave us tickets for no spark arrestor and Altered vin's and took the quads. Funny thing to is that they didn't even check the other two dune quads on the trailer.

So has anyone ran into this problem? We have full receipts for the quads and engines in them. We have to see a judge in Imperial to get them back any ideas? I have heard a lot bad stories on this from people that were at the hill watching us get hassled, like sand cars taken and not getting them back, because of no vin on their cars? Any ammo that you guys can give us before we go to court would be greatly appreciated.

Why didn't you register them? They had every right to take a vehicle without a vin.

Sounds like a bad deal... I took my car out the first time to test it before taking it apart to coat. When we got to Gecko the ranger was nice enough to inform me that if it came off the trailer he was gonna come get it. Needless to say we left first thing in the morning... it was legal 2 weeks later and we went back. I learned to the hard way by spendin 300 bucks in gas for nothing. Looks like you guys got it worse. Break the law, pay the price. So I learned, all it takes is a trip to highway patrol and DMV and about a hundred bucks to get it all legal. Good luck in court and better luck out there next time.

Bottom line is they should have been registered. Cant really bitch about it.

So what do you do here in Nevada where they don't reg. off road vehicles

You get the $20 annual CA out of state sticker. Most bike shops in AZ and CA as well as many of the vendors carry them. I wouldn't be surprised if there are vendors in NV with them too. Here's the official list of vendors:
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/pages/1140/files/n...rs_10-29-07.pdf

If you are from out of state, you need an out of state permit. They are $20. The dmv website has a list of places that sell them(although it is very outdated).

Hey, you beat me to it. Thats the list I was talking about. We ended up having to call about a dozen places along our route down to Glamis before we found a place that actually had them.

I have a 20 bucker, So what your saying is all the Quads needed was a 20 buck chuck? I thought they were looking for a vin# ( I also have that ) and they said something about asking for registration? Just curious.

If you're from a state that doesn't register then all you need is the sticker. Original poster gave no details about where they were from so it's pure speculation about how they would register something legally.

If you have a sticker (be it a CA reg, CA out of state or state reg from another state) they won't be taking a close enough look to try and find VIN's and such. If you don't have any kind of registration...of course they're going to take a closer look.

Now if you pull in with a CA plated trailer and all the quads have out of state stickers....I'd expect them to be taking a closer look as that's not what the out of state stickers are for. They're not a way around registering legally - they're only for people who like those in NV don't have a way to register legally.

Thanks

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What Coobie said, you broke the law! You should have known......... no excusses. Thats why I had mine was registerd before I ever planned a trip. I guess you can say you were damn lucky you didn't go to jail, count your blessings. People always want to say they were hasseled by BLM, but if you weren't breaking the law they would hassle you; RIGHT?

I'm thinking that all states have a requirement for some sort of VIN especially both street and public land vehicles.

In California, if one does - for example - replace the frame or engine id #, the CHP can and will issue a plate in lieu of the manufacture doing so.

The non resident sticker placement on the vehicle does not preclude one from having a VIN.

We were not even riding the quads never even started. I have a Sandtrix car that was sitting right next to my drag quads and I could not even tell you were the vin # is on that nor could a BLM person. How many Arizona riders and drivers carry full papers with them when they dune? We were not drinking speeding being a-holes or nothing. We were thier with are familes and friends. At no point do I feel we were breaking the law.

Without digging deep into the California Vehicle Code, I believe that in the 38000 section there is reference to vehicles needing VIN's and registration even if they are being towed.

This is where one might what to look into this.

No way of knowing exactally why the situation was handled in the manner it was. I do know that Nevada is now requiring OHV/ATV owners to register their things.
Guess the best thing is to know what the rules are regarding bikes and such for the location you are headed to. And the drags attract so many people.. They have a job to do, and it's their call on what aspect they are targeting. I know from attending a few meetings and reading posts that the BLM are trying to attend to some more specific items.. One of them being proper registration and proof of ownerships.

This last summer I had forgotten to put the new sticker on my bike, Rangers stopped. I had the sticker with me along with my current registration slip. Name on paperwork matched my CDL, they were kind enough to watch me apply my sticker and not give me a ticket. It was out of date by 2 days, but they had ever right to ticket me. I thanked them for allowing me the opportunity to be compilant...

Good luck, I hope you are able to get your bikes back.

With all the theft going on at glamis these days, its not suprising they acted like that. But jezuz, i sure hope you dont have kids and that they didnt have to see this!!! Sounds a little harsh from your side of the story, but there is always more than one side.

Get all your reciepts, be respectful in court. Do as much DMV home work as you can ahead of time, and get done as much as you can without the quads in your possession. Your gonna have to bone up on CA and AZ procedures as well! You might wanna contact LoneStar and HS to see what they know about this. Since they sell bare chassis on a regular basis, they might know a few things.

Good luck and keep us posted. Will be interesting to see how this turns out!

Not clear in Nevada yet.. They did pay a regulation to require stickers, yet failed to assign the job to any state department..

So if you ride your China quad out there, by law, they can cite you for no sticker, but there is nobody to issue that sticker.

I bet you were in violation of at least these two laws

NOISE RESTRICTIONS.

1. Noise emissions of off-highway vehicles shall be limited to not more than 96 dbA if manufactured on or after January 1, 1986, and not more than 101 dbA if manufactured prior to January 1, 1986. Other restrictions may apply. Please visit CA OHMVRD web site for more information.
REQUIRED EQUIPMENT. According to California State law, any off highway vehicle must be equipped with an approved muffler, brakes, and spark arrester. Headlight and taillight are required for operation at night. Tail lights must include at least one red light .

Just because you had a drag bike.........and

REGISTRATION.
1. Vehicles operated on federal and state highways, county roads, and BLM's Gecko Road, Gray's Well Road, and McCain Valley must be licensed for highway use.
2. Off highway vehicles owned by California residents must be registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and display a valid Green Sticker or Red Sticker Vehicle Identification Tag (38020,38010 C.V.C.) in a clearly visible location on the vehicle. (38170 C.V.C.) View Red Sticker riding schedule .
3. Off highway vehicles that do not have a valid registration or permit from the owners home state (incl. Mexico and Canada) will be required to purchase a California nonresident permit (sticker) through selected vendors in CA, NV, AZ ( view vendor list 10/2007). Permits may also be purchased from CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation 916 324-4442. (38020 C.V.C.

Thanks for the few last replies. I was looking for help from members I was not (b*tching) Coobie. We Are no means thiefs or big time party starters that bring beer cans and trash to the hill. I know what some people think about quads with loud pipes, and only shoot up the hills and you can easily stereo-type these groups, but we were causing no problems at the hill, we may have been a little firm with them but never in a violent manner were we needed to be hand-cuffed. who wouldn't be up-set if your property was taken. Picture BLM coming to your camp and taken your generator because you have no papers on it? It is powered on it's own and has numbers on it also right. Thanks for the help from concern members, flame starters post on other threads our family has been well educated on proper paperwork we needed at the time from the local tax collectors.

Agree 100% on noise. Registration I believe since we were not riding the quads nor did they ever start up I think they should have cut us some slack and been a little more respectful.

Doesn't matter if you didn't start them. It wasn't illegal for you to transport them but as soon as it hit the sand it wasn't being transported anymore and you were fair game for all Ca. OHV Laws.

Agree.

pres weekend = max enforcement .. we all know this.

Let us know how it turns out since it sounds like you may be the first GD.com'r this has happened too

welcome to kalifornia comrad next to come is a bar code tatooed to your friggen forhead to make sure your a registered citizen of this fine socialized state . they cant win on the enviro side to keep us out so they will just regulate it to death

If what you say is true that they did not even check the other two bikes then you were targeted. They were probably 100% sure that you had no vin on the two they checked and were just waiting for you to take them off the trailer. It is your responsibility to know the law and be prepared but none the less In my opinion you were targeted and probably for the reasons you stated --hill shooters =bad rep. Good luck with your hearing--hope you get it resolved.

Nevada is requiring registration now, but no one can tell me where to get it. The out of state sticker can be bought at Nevada Off Road Buggy, on Valley View, however this years cost is now $25..... I got 2 of them a couple weeks ago for my toys.....

Sorry to hear about the tough weekend but I have a question.

How would you have reported your bikes stolen, if they're not in any DMV system?(BTW, there's an rash of ATV/Off Road vehicle thefts in CA.)

If my stuff ever get's stolen I'd love to see 100% VIN checks in ORVA's.

move to a better state...and NOT Az

From DMVNV.COM - Nevada DMV



Any motorized vehicle which does not have the normal safety equipment such as lights and mirrors or is not built to federal vehicle standards is an off-highway vehicle and is restricted to off-road use only. This includes all-terrain vehicles, pocket bikes, motorized scooters and snowmobiles. There are no driver license or minimum age requirements for off-highway vehicles. City and county governments may designate small portions of public streets for access to or from off-road areas only. (NRS Chapter 490)

Nevada does not issue or require titles on these vehicles. The DMV issued titles on ATVs and similar vehicles up until August 15, 2005. We will honor requests for duplicates and issue a new Nevada title to the buyer of an ATV or similar vehicle that was previously titled in Nevada. Snowmobiles have never been registered or titled in Nevada.

You stuck out like a sore thumb by taking a hill shooter to GW, only 400's and 450's race there, the fast bikes go to Glamis.

No kidding. This was our first time to Gordons in five-years. We went there to not get harrased and have a good safe weekend.

Being handcuffed is just over the top... Registration or not...

i never really combined shooting the hill with a bad rep probably because i dont frequent the hill much the majority of those drag quads have a butt load of money in them and usually the same amount of talent on them as well. burn your gas as you see fit imho, farmdog.

Then where were your stickers? Why haven't you taken it to the DMV to get VIN #'s?

You can take it to the DMV in AZ, you can try your regular DMV office and tell them that it is a new build and provide receipts, you might get lucky and they will issue you your plates/VIN, but I doubt it. More than likely they will send you to another place (Broadway and the 10 in Phoenix) and they will do a Level 4 inspection (more intense inspection). Bring all reciepts, and pray to God that your motors were not reported stolen at some time. If they were by the #'s on the engines, then you can wave good bye to your bikes. Hell they might of already ran them for you at impound. If they are stolen motors (not saying that you stole them, maybe 4 owners ago of the original bike that the motor came from got it stolen from him 8 years ago, has nothing to do with you) then you are probably going to be effed. If they are not stolen, the inspector (who carrys a weapon just like a cop so don't piss him off) will issue you a VIN #. They do the inspection in a closed garage and yoou are not allowed to be present. Once you have said VIN # you go back to the DMV office and register it. You will get a small RV plate and registration papers, WHICH YOU KEEP WITH THE BIKE AT ALL TIMES. You can also insure them once you have this VIN # to cover your ass in case they are ever stolen. There is your REAL lesson on how to handle this when you get your bikes back.

And since these frames were from a builder, why didn't they put a VIN or some kind of ID # on there?

Are the bikes still there? How long until you get them if they are? And do you have to pay impound fees?

And BTW, I know if the Rangers were trying to take my buggy away I'd probably end up handcuffed too. Remember that these guys are out there ENFORCING the laws that are already there. It is not an easy job, and you were probably coming across as more harsh to the cops than you may have realized.

Did they bring a trailer in to haul them out?

Sorry your stuff got impounded. They handcuffed you for their protection. You knew that you weren't a danger to them, but they can't read your mind. Unfortunatly, ignorance of the law is not a defence. There are a lot of stolen and/or unregistered toys out there.

You will have an up hill battle to get your toys back. Hopefully you have all your recipts.

Good luck and keep us posted.

good point!!!!!

Sucks that it happened.



But thanks for posting this information.

Somebody might learn from your experiance.

Hope you get it worked out soon.

Let's try this...................your beloved hill shooter gets stolen and you report it to COP A from where ever you live/it was stolen from. You don't have a VIN so he can't enter it into the stolen vehicle system (Computer).

Two weeks later CROOK shows up at the hill with "Your" hill shooter. COP B (Doesn't know COP A), from wherever he might might work out of, lets say BLM to make things easy, contacts CROOK and asks for reg or at least a VIN to show proof of ownership. CROOK and his buddies spin a big story explaining why they don't have either (and might even sound convincing). COP B has no way to verify the hill shooter is "Yours" and/or stolen because it wasn't entered into the system.

COP B should;

A: Tell CROOK he can't ride here without reg and VIN and send him on his way. (With "Your" hill shooter)

B: Cite CROOK for no reg or VIN and again, send him on his way. (With "Your" hill shooter)

or

C: Cite CROOK and impound "Your" hill shooter. That way he forces CROOK to show up and prove "Your" hill shooter is his (Which he won't) and he gives the detectives a chance to figure out the bike is "Yours" and get it back to you.

By the way, in scenario A and B neither you nor the cops will ever see "Your" hill shooter again.

Now before everyone starts jumping on me, I understand the first reason for verifying registration is so the state gets their money. I get pissed everytime my registration comes due but that's the price I pay to live and play in California.

But if it was your toy (And there are more than a few people on here missing toys) I would think you would be happy to get it back after a "BS Registration contact" and cite.

It sucks when it is "Your" stuff getting taken away from you and impounded but that is the reason!

should have told them you were just there to take pictures for a mag or something.

The sticker from Nevada was created by SB400. It had nothing to do with OHV registration, but had everything to do with paying taxes on your OHV, or at least that's the way it was initiated. NV dealers were upset that folks were going to CA and UT to buy and they got away with not paying taxes. You can only get one when you purchase a new bike at the dealer. They tried last year to get something together, but I have heard nothing to date. There was some chatter about who to enforce it and where the funds would go. but I don't believe anything has happened yet. Like JD was saying they don't have their chit together yet....so at this point there still is no way to register your toys in NV.


YFZ4KT......take your receipt back to Nevada Off Road and get your $5 back for every pass. I was at a TRT meeting for Dumont and they said Nevada Off Road decided to no longer sell the pass because BLM smacked them down for over charging. The pass is $20....not $25. FYI - Nevada Off Road has been ripping folks off and handing out a BS attitude to others.........

That was the problem both quads have billet engine cases, Built by a company in Michigan. They do keep track of the run numbers so that will help. One quad we have the papers on and the frame does have a manufacture number on it. Don't think myself nor did the powder-coat person see it, so it's under paint. The other is a custom one-off chasis that's going to be a little tough getting that one sqaure, but we do have all recipts and pictures of the quad and proof from the fabricator that built it.

Sure this is a lesson learned about getting assigned vin's put on your things asap, but we are no means theifs or trouble makers. I have a Attorney working out of Lake Havasu right now that is working with his other office out of San Diego since he does not have jurstiction in Cali. BLM has not been coroptive at all and has forced me to take action against them. Not for just the quads but the lack of information they have given us. They will not tell us were the quads are they will not let us talk to the Chief Ranger and just the fact that we targted in a such a huge gathering. I feel we were set as an example at our expense, which dam the bad luck, but come on we didn't have five kilo's of coke on us we didn't have any criminal records, we sure as heck didn't have any weapons? So I hope some good comes of this and I can share our experince with you guys and hope you never have to go through it, I'll keep you updated.

YEP!

They are probably sitting in some guys back yard that has contract with BLM. A friend got his impounded and couldnt believe where his quad was sent. It was missing seat by the time he got it back. They have some white trash dude with a rugged yard who holds them for BLM. The whole situation was a pain in the ass since they made him drive back for court then drive back 2 days later to get quad released to him. He had to pay over $200 just for impound fee. You would think BLM would use an official impound yard but its probably one of there cousins whos yard they are stored at. Good luck and hope you get them back.

STOP YOUR WHINING YOU BROKE THE LAW NOW FACE THE CONSEQUENCES AND DO THE RIGHT THING....STOP TRYING TO PLACE BLAME ELSEWHERE WHEN IT LANDS SQUARELY ON YOUR SHOULDERS TO DO IT RIGHT AND LEGAL.....BEFORE YOU GO TO THE DESERT! I HAVE ZERO PITY FOR YOU!

Like other's said, hopefully people will learn from what happened to you and make sure they have all their stuff in order before bringing any custom stuff that sticks out to the BLM.

As far as the noise thing goes..... who doesn't have an aftermarket pipe that would never meet the 96db requirement? At least 75% of the 450 quads out there are running an Alba kit like me or some other aftermarket kit and all of them are way louder than 96db. However, I've yet to see the BLM pull someone over just because of loud exhaust. Most of the sand rails couldn't meet the 96db either.

I do hope you get your toys back tho, regardless of breaking the rules. You don't seem to me like someone that intentionally was there to break the law so everyone deserves to learn from their mistakes but not at the price of never seeing your toys again. Next time make sure you have all the correct paperwork with you. I'm sure you will after all this.

It's funny how when a story like this comes out on this site, you get a bunch of "holier than now" peeps who have nothing better to post than to tell you how you fricked up. Anyways, sorry to hear of your misfortunes at Gordon's and hopefully everything works out.

Good story, thanks

No S**t. Agreed