There are more questions than answers but the gist of it is if you own a bike without a license plate in Illinois, it needs to have this ORV sticker. It is illegal to ride an unregistered bike, even on private property. Any law enforcement agency can enforce this law, including checking orv's in transport for compliance. So, the cops can finally pull you over just for having a dirtbike in your truck. They could pull you over and check your roadrace bike. DNR has the power to enter private property to check for compliance. The DNR will now have the authority to mosey on into the riding parks and tracks to write tickets, maybe even field a few complaints about noise, or note erosion problems while they're there. They are not people we want around.

My understanding is that the implementation hasn't been written yet. This law was passed to fund the IDNR and to my understanding was supported by ABATE. The fucking money from the stickers, is going to fund the enforcement.

ABATE shit the bed by supporting this bill. Nobody even knew about it until it had already passed. Out of one side of their mouths the "We are against big government and their laws" i.e. there stance on helmet laws, and the other support this piece of shit legislation granting sweeping interference and revenue generation without saying a word.

Again, the money from this program is going fund its enforcement. In most states, registration funds go to trail system funding. Not here. We're gonna use the money strictly from ORV's to fund ticket writing. Fucking great.

I suggest you politely call and write some people, I'll copy and paste some of info on who to contact.

Oh, btw. If you don't have a title for your off road bike, prepare to be fucked in the ass. If the sticker is registered to the VIN on the orv, you better have paperwork in order, and taxes paid in full, or shit is gonna get real.




Copy/Paste Info From AMA D17 site:

Subject is:


Sb1566: Is a very unpopular and unfair bill for all off-road enthusiasts.

As always be very polite and respectful with your phone calls

There is a very unpopular bill for off-road users that was passed in the veto session and it was the 2nd House Amendment of SB1566. The link below will give you that info.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/full...D=11&Session=0

We have a sit down meeting with the IDNR (Illinois Dept. Natural Resources) Director, Marc Miller.

He wanted this meeting in January before the rules are written for it and we would like to have it before the State Seminar so that we can inform you of the results.

At this meeting for ABATE will be "Hunter" John Harris, Stacey Rigsby, who are both very ardent members do the off-road community and Jay Hall who is into racing and off-road riding and will be there to give a businessman's point of view, Todd Vandermyde,and myself (if 5 are allowed in).

Those that are offended and opposed to this bill are asked to call Jay Curtis, Chief of Staff for Marc Miller IDNR Director and ask him to support the changes and fixes that Hunter, Stacey, and Jay have for this bill

Below are the ph #s for the office and staff as you asked for but I highly recommend the # that you use would be for for Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative Affairs, Jay Curtis (217) 785-0075.

You don't want the Director being upset with the amount of ph.calls he would be getting as he does make the decisions on the RULES and the Chief of Staff is more in tune with legislation.

John Rogner

Assistant Director
217-785-0075

Jay Curtis

Chief of Staff & Director of Legislative Affairs
217-785-0075

Travis Loyd

Deputy Director
217-782-2191

Beth Penesis

Deputy Director
217-785-0075

Todd Main

Acting Deputy Director
312-814-2751


Bob Myers

BOB MYERS

LEGISLATIVE COORDINATOR

ABATE OF ILLINOIS

# 618-885-5769

Cell# 618-917-4919

[email protected]

peachy.

I should say, ABATE support of the bill is just a rumor that I heard.

I read about this when Wardy posted it on KTM talk. I'm beyond pissed if I have to buy a sticker to ride on private property. Especially since Illinois will not use the money to do anything ORV related.

I have no problem buying a michigan ORV sticker when i go up there. They actually use the money to create and maintain trails on state lands. Illinois will do nothing but pilfer the money and use it for who knows what.

Its bullshit

So, will my Sumo on the back of my SUV as I head to Wisc to ride be affected? - Technicaly we do not ride "off road" as it is a Tarmac Track

That part is lined out in the bill. The cash is funding the IDNR, which was out of money. You know, the friendly assholes in the green trucks.

The way the bill is written, they could ticket your mountain bike.

Illinois found another tax, WTF?!?

I guess skateboards, razor scooters, and unicycles are included.

How much is this sticker?

I think its lime $15 or something. I think it's under $20.

Great, mtn bike for sale...

I'll just out-ride the fat, donut eating fat asses..

just wait i bet chicago tries to find away to dip into this and require a city sticker or something

Don't jump to conclusions or act on rumors here folks. As stated, implementation has not yet been formulated, so how can it be concluded that the revenue generated will be spent on enforcement or that enforcement will lead to track racing bikes being cited? I spoke with an AMA District 17 director about this several times and the sad fact is that even though he opposed this he said himself that fighting this bill was futile.
It really came down to picking your battles! When I spoke to A.B.A.T.E personel, I was told that they were supporting the bill to get money into the IDNR to provide more riding opportunities that would NOT be coming from the IDNR without them raising cash. Their strategy also included the idea that if they went along they might get a seat at the table when it came to deciding how the cash will be spent. Political horse trading is in A.B.A.T.E's wheel house!
This has to be monitored closely and drawing a line in the sand over it now could hamper efforts at negotiations that would end up being to our advantage.
I will gather as much info as I can and I will keep you posted. Stay tuned.
EDIT: The copy/paste info from the District 17 site came from the A.B.A.T.E Legislative coordinator. Kind of confirms how they were looking to get a seat at the table to have a say in implementation. Jay, John and Stacey are all good men and if they get Todd in there too we will have a first rate team going to bat for us.

yep... pick your battles...

godforbid you gotta wear a helmet and not look tough on your harleys, but hey an extra 15-20 tax on my bike that will never see use on public land is peachy

Obviously, you don't see the bigger picture. Would it be better to have gone all out to oppose the bill knowing you had no chance of defeating it and then NOT have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the opportunity to have input with the IDNR director on HOW it gets implemented? The very fact that Jay Hall, Stacy Rigsby, John Harris and possibly Todd Vandermyde will have that input is very much to the advantage of the off road community. That's what chosing your battles WISELY means!

I've read the law as amended. I'm no legal scholar but, if you think this applies to road bikes... I would say it does not AND it also seems to exempt racing vehicles that are used on closed course race tracks. I'm pretty sure that should mean MX bikes and Hare Scrambles machines as well as flat trackers and road racers.

I've got to ask...If you have an off road motorcycle why wouldn't it ever see use on public land? Would you REALLY pass up a chance to ride on public land over $15?

Why not ride on public land for free like people have been doing for decades? That's right, because Illinois wastes taxpayers money so they need to find a way to get more.

[QUOTE=Dave13;2087130] Why not ride on public land for free like people have been doing for decades? ... [QUOTE]

They weren't doing it legally...The only public land that has been open to off road recreation in Illinois since the early 90's has been the IDNR parks like Rocky Glen in Rockford and Little Egypt in Marion as examples (there are 3 or 4 other parks). Since their inception there has been a battery of fees that have gone into the IDNR fund. It started with the legislation that created the IDNR parks with a transition from selling OHV cycles and ATV's with a title instead of a Certificate of origin. The title fee money went into a dedicated fund that was the seed money added with federal trail funds that started the grant program to obtain land and open IDNR OHV parks for cycles and ATV's. In addition to that money a daily fee is charged for the operators expenses and all vehicles were required to buy a sticker to use the parks at $11 per year. Basically, all this is doing is raising the sticker fee $3 and expanding the sticker requirement. One way to look at it that makes it a little easier to take is it doesn't even come close to what it cost boat enthusiasts!
You are correct that this bill had a componant about raising more money for the state, the idea was for the major portion of it to fund the IDNR AND expand the OHV trail system. Read the bill as amended and passed.
Yes, I agree...It was not well thought out and it leaves alot of room for abuse and for the state to misuse funds but the IDNR is broke and the state was going to pass this come hell or high water. I did not favor this and many others didn't for various reasons but, the opportunity to have funds to continue and possibly expand the IDNR trail parks and grant system combined with the opportunity to have input on the administering and implementation of the law gives a bit of a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud.
I'm not defending the state here or trying to justify the new law. All I'm doing in this post is giving some background and perspective of the facts as they are.
The bag of fruit we got stuck with was all lemons...the only option is to make lemonade!

Reading the bill and the definition of "off-highway motorcycle" in the Ill Vehicle code, it's very questionable if motorcycles used for track days or racing on paved tracks will be included in the requirement for a sticker.

It will be up to the folks that write the implementation to determine. Hopefully ABATE and the AMA will remember us track junkies when they work on this.

And in any case, $15 won't kill me.

Unless you need to show a title to buy the sticker.

$15 will be $50 in a few short years, and add in some BS compliance tickets and you have another hundo tacked on to a relatively cheap sport that will keep more people out of it now.

So OTB you are telling me ABATE approved this so everyone in the state could pay $15 to ride 3 locations in the whole state? Am I hearing this correctly?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Motorcycle.com Free App

One word answer...No... and let me make it perfectly clear...I am not authorized to nor am I speaking for A.B.A.T.E in any way. Nor do I have inside knowledge of what their actions or strategy was during the introduction, debate and passing of this bill. What I do know is what I was told... A.B.A.T.E supported the bill because it put money into a broke system and so motorcyclists could have a voice in its implementation and administration. AND... for the record, That may not be entirely accurate either but I trust the person who told it to me. What I am saying is knowing their track record I give them the benefit of the doubt that their intentions are good.
In addition, I have given you all some background about the whole system going back to the beginning over 20 years ago and I'm asking you all not to jump to conclusions. With good people going in to work with the IDNR Director on our behalf, support them in the way thay ask (see the Copy & Paste from the District 17 website in post # 1) and let this play out.

Let's review some facts...There has been an off road sticker requirement for MC's and ATV's in Illinois for over 20 years that was required if you rode in one of the IDNR parks or any state funded area. Since the fee was $11 for all of that time I don't see it jumping to $50 in a "few short years."
This new law has raised that fee $3 and expanded who is required to have one AND it also provides that at least 2/3 of the money raised will go to the IDNR to help fund the IDNR and off road riding opportunities in Illinois.

Based on how that IDNR sticker was sold in the past (I bought a few over the years) all you will need to do is purchase one either by mail or at an IDNR facility and display it. They didn't ask any questions about the vehicle for that 20+ years and I don't see anything in the new law requiring them to now.

Michigans trail sticker was mentioned. Wisconsin also requires a sticker for things like the cheese trail. Stickers are traditionally the way off road recreation opportunities get funded. Instead of assuming that Illinois is just shamming us and ripping us off, why not get involved and support those who are supporting us and putting an effort into keeping the state honest? It might actually make a difference. In any case it beats getting worked up over things on a discussion forum before there really is anything to get worked up about! There'll be plenty of time for that later.

No Problem. All my vehicles are properly titled to me. I have a policy not to buy "bill of sale only" bikes. Too easy for them to be stolen, in whole or in part. And trying to avoid the title transfer fee is, IMO foolish.

And as far as I can read the law (spent about 45 min this morning looking at it and the vehicle code), there's no requirement to show a title currently, so I doubt that there will be such a requirement anytime soon.

Ding Ding Ding

So long as

1. I'm only checked for or required to have a sticker when I'm riding on state funded land
2. No title check is involved
3. Money goes to expanding IL off road trails and parks available to ride on

then I'm okay with this. Hey, IL has a STELLAR reputation for honest politics and appropriate use of revenue. This will work out great for us

So why don't they charge the people who ride in IDNR parks or any state funded areas which are far a few between. Hike up the cost of the sticker for them and not the people who go no where near them.

This is not funding riding areas. Its funding IDNR....boat launches, state parks, campgrounds, etc, etc

I don't think I read anywhere that money was being put into off road parks.

The offroad parks program is part of the IDNR and thus are going to benefit. This is not the sole funding of the IDNR. If you hunt, fish, boat, camp etc. all of the fees for that activity is going up as well.
I don't have answers as to why the legislature passed this other than they need the money. The Illinois state legislature has the authority to tax as they deem fit or necessary. They saw a way to enact a new fee to benefit an agency that was totally broke and they enacted it. Let's face it, there are alot of off road bikes and ATV's in Illinois that pay no fees of any kind since they're not registered and someone saw an opportunity to extract revenue from us!
As I said, I'm not their advocate...I don't like this anymore than you do but I also think it's minimal compared to some of the other taxes and fees being slapped on us by the the State, County and the City! For instance, If you live in Cook County and you buy a 10 year old motorcycle from a private party for $300, when you tranfer the title the county will, as of March 2012, tax you $179 over and above the fees and taxes you have to pay the state and local authority. If the bike is newer than 9 years old the tax gets progressively higher. All I've been trying to do here is give you some background on the history of program and I'm also saying we need to let the meeting with the IDNR and the A.B.A.T.E and AMA District 17 guys play out without jumping to conclusions. Support them as asked in the copy & paste in Dirtbiker's first post.

x2. I would have no issues with paying for a sticker if I knew that the funds were going to improve the trails and facilities.

The issue that I have is requiring a sticker for use on private land. Illinois doesn't have much public riding land to speak of (at least up North). Every place that I know of is a state park first that allows limited offroad riding. We don't have dedicated riding areas like Wisconsin and Michigan. I have no desire to ride on any public Illinois land.

Will the IDNR be funding any of the private parks in Illinois with these fees? Until they support places like Fox Valley Offroad, The Cliff's, Blackhawk Farms and Byron, they are just taking our money and running.

This is exactly what I was trying to get at Zuk