No, MotoGP bikes are not street legal since they are not customised production bikes. Instead, they are built from scratch specifically for racing and don’t have indicators, mirrors or headlights that you need on a street-legal motorcycle.
Overview
In this article, we look at why MotoGP motorcycles are not street legal. We also look at street-legal motorcycles that are based on MotoGP bikes as an alternative.
We will discuss the following:
- Why are MotoGP bikes not street legal?
- What street-legal motorcycles are like MotoGP bikes?
Why are MotoGP bikes not street legal?
Unlike many other FIM racing series, MotoGP motorcycles are not modified (or customised) production motorcycles. They are built from the ground up for racing and are engineered very differently in the sense that each one is tailored for a specific rider.
Even though MotoGP bikes might look similar to production motorcycles, there are a lot of differences. For example, MotoGP bikes don’t have electric starters built into (or onto) the engine.
But there are many other differences that you might not have noticed, like the missing headlights, mirrors and indicators. Without these, a motorcycle would not be street legal.
Besides that, MotoGP bikes are much louder than street-legal motorcycles. Most countries require the noise to be under 95 decibels. MotoGP bikes, on the other hand, are required to be under 130 decibels at all times.
So even if you did fit indicators, headlights and mirrors to a MotoGP bike, it would still not be street legal in most countries.
Also, if you wanted to make a MotoGP bike street legal, you would have to replace the slick tires, that they usually run on, with street tires. Luckily these tire sizes are standardised so that should be the least of your troubles.
What street-legal motorcycles are like MotoGP bikes?
There aren’t really any production motorcycles that are built in the same way MotoGP bikes are built, but here are some street-legal bikes that bear the most resemblance to them:
Final words
While MotoGP bikes might not be street legal, you can still own a street-legal motorcycle that comes pretty close to them. I hope this article answers all or most of your questions. If you found this article useful, you might consider signing up for my monthly newsletter below.
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