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Are dirt bikes street legal in Montana?

Montana's law on plating and riding a dirt bike on public roads, quoted from its own page, with the equipment and license rule.

The law in Montana

Yes, with a plate. Montana lets you register a dirt bike for public roads if it meets the state's rules.

"(c) A motorcycle designed for off-road recreational use is an off-highway vehicle unless it has been modified to meet the equipment standards specified in chapter 9 and has been registered for highway use."

61-1-101. Definitions, MCA, checked November 2026.

Street Legal Dirt Bike Check

Dirt bike · Montana. Yes, with a plate. Montana lets you register a dirt bike for public roads if it meets the state's rules.

Dirt bike · Montana

Street legal with a plate

Yes, with a plate. Montana lets you register a dirt bike for public roads if it meets the state's rules.

"(c) A motorcycle designed for off-road recreational use is an off-highway vehicle unless it has been modified to meet the equipment standards specified in chapter 9 and has been registered for highway use."

Conditions

  • "OHVs must be street legal to be ridden on roads. To be street legal, vehicles must be registered for on-highway (paved roads only) use."
  • "(2) Off-highway vehicle operation is permitted on the roadway or shoulder of any public road or highway, state highway, county road, or city street located within the boundaries of any municipality only if: (a) the operator has received permission or is otherwise authorized for that travel by the municipality in the case of town or city streets, the board of county commissioners for county roads, or the state highway patrol for all other highways; or (b) operation is authorized on municipal streets by municipal ordinance."
  • "(5) A person under 12 years of age may operate a motorcycle or quadricycle on unpaved roads or highways if the person is accompanied by an adult and the motorcycle or quadricycle is operated in a reasonable and prudent manner."

Registration and plates

"If you wish to ride your OHV on paved highways, it must be street legal and have a license plate. The license plate must be attached to the rear of your OHV."
Required equipment (4)
  • These vehicles must have specific equipment (functioning headlamp, stop lamp, brakes, electric horn, rearview mirror, exhaust muffler, and spark arrestor) and a license plate on the rear of the machine.
  • Motorcycles must be operated with lights on at all times when operated on any paved public roadway
  • All motorcycles or quadricycles operated on the streets and highways must be equipped at all times with noise suppression devices, including an exhaust muffler, in good working order and in constant operation.
  • All OHVs must be equipped with at least one properly functioning stop lamp while being operated on a paved highway

Driver's license

"To legally operate on roads (including roads on Public Land), operators of motorcycles must have a motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license"
More from Montana's law
"(50) (a) "Off-highway vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle designed for recreation or cross-country travel on public lands, trails, easements, lakes, rivers, or streams. The term includes but is not limited to motorcycles, quadricycles, dune buggies, amphibious vehicles, air cushion vehicles, and any other means of land transportation deriving motive power from any source other than muscle or wind."
"the one-time registration fee for motorcycles and quadricycles registered for both off-road use and for use on the public highways is $114.50."

Source: 61-1-101. Definitions, MCA, checked November 2026.

Also read on: Montana FWP: Off-Highway Vehicles · 23-2-824. Operation on public roads, streets, and highways, MCA · 61-3-321. Registration fees of vehicles and vessels, MCA

Find off-road parks to ride without the road questionRiding a side-by-side or an ATV? Check its road law

A guide to each state's published law, not legal advice. City and county ordinances and posted signs decide which roads are open; the linked law is the authority.

  • Each state's own law, quoted
  • Plate, equipment and license
  • Free, no account

Riding in Montana

35 off-road parks listed in Montana. National forest roads open to your vehicle today.

See Montana off-road parks

Other states

Dirt bike road laws in other states

Compare every state's law

Common questions

Street legal dirt bike questions

Yes, with a plate. Montana lets you register a dirt bike for public roads if it meets the state's rules. Source: 61-1-101. Definitions, MCA.

Montana's law says: "If you wish to ride your OHV on paved highways, it must be street legal and have a license plate. The license plate must be attached to the rear of your OHV."

Montana's law says: "To legally operate on roads (including roads on Public Land), operators of motorcycles must have a motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license"

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