Hello all!

Finally going to take the plunge and buy some bikes. The sales guy was talking about green and red stickers and now Im confused. I am looking at Yamaha products, most likely Raptor for me, Raptor 80s for the kids, and undecided about bike for the little woman. I plan to go to Glamis mostly, but would like to be able to ride in the desert too ( Gorman etc). How do I find out for sure whether the bikes I get are going to be grren or red? I tried to search here and the DMV site, but no luck. I may not want a certain bike if I cant ride it year round.

Thanks for your help!

JSG

 

If im right the 2 strokes are red sticker, after 2000. not sure, but when you buy one they should tell you and at my dealer the actual price tag is green or red depending on status.

 

First of all, nobody enforces this sticker thing! I can't think of any 4-strokes (atv's) that are red stickered. There is a code. I think it is if there is a 3 or 0 (????????) in the eighth place in the serial number, it gets a red sticker. Try a seach, you should find it somewhere.

 

Check the 8th digit of the VIN number for a C or a 3. If it is a 2003 or later model, then it will be a Red Sticker bike. They just revised the rules this year and grandfathered the 1997-2002 Red Sticker bikes.

As a GENERAL RULE:

2-stroke (2003+) Red Sticker
4-stroke (2003+) Green Sticker

2002 and before Green Sticker

But here's the catch, Yamaha for example, makes two Raptors: one is a California model and gets a Green Sticker in CA. However they also make a 49 state model that receives a Red Sticker in CA because it doesn't meet the emission standards.

Sticker color is purely an emissions thing (i.e. Smog Check crap.)

The manufacturers officially state to the State of CA that particular machines meet or don't meet emissions guidelines. Those that meet the guidelines are issued Green Stickers (equivelent to a license plate). Those machines that don't meet the guidelines are issues Red Stickers. The problem has been that DMV completely screwed things up and were issueing Green Stickers to bikes that should have been issued Red Stickers. The problem is, that from what I hear, law enforcement could still issue a ticket for riding "out of season" because they look at the VIN and would disregard the tag.

What you need to do is look at the VIN on the particular bike you are purchasing and check the 8th digit. If it's a C or a 3, and it's a 2003 or newer, it SHOULD receive a Red Sticker. If that is not the case it SHOULD receive a Green Sticker. Note: there was already one post about a YFZ450 being wrongly issued a Red Sticker. You'll have to go back to DMV and show them your title and they should fix it.

Here is the Press Release detailing such things.

Each CA OHV park has a different Red Sticker Season.

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To follow up my other message, and noting the Press Release I linked to, the Rangers are SUPPOSED to be stepping up enforcement of Red Stickers. I know that the last 2 times I've ridden (early July - Hollister Hills, late July - Oceano Dunes (Pismo)) the bikes were checked over when we entered. They were checking tags and pipes. Both places had about 18" square signs that said something to the effect of Red Sticker Season Closed.

I'm not real sure what to suggest from Yamaha's line up (I'm assuming you are looking at a sport quad) for "the little woman." Since you want an all-year bike, that will limit you to the Raptor, Warrior and Raptor 80 (yes, I've seen a grown woman on a Raptor 80 and she was having fun.) I'm assuming she has little or no experience riding.

I love my Warrior and think it's a great bike to start out on. No, it's not the greatest thing out there, but it can handle its own. It's a low-tech, older, but very reliable quad. Other than tearing it up at Glamis it can probably handle anything thrown at it. I rode Gorman on Memorial Weekend and had no problems. If anything, I came away from there much more inspired and confident in my Warrior (and my riding abilities). I prefer trail riding over dune riding.

Not in Yamaha's stable but others to consider are the Honda 250ex and Suzuki Z250 (if you want a non-clutch, but still manual shift). Those should be pretty good beginner bikes. Have her sit on various quads and see which feels more comfortable to her. If you are looking at a multi-line dealer hopefully they will still work a deal if you chose another make but are still buying several quads at one shot.

Hope that info helps.

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i dont get this green red sticker thing ? and what they mean

 

TrailBlazer-It is an air polution thing. Smog is worse in the summer, so you can't ride dirty bikes during certain seasons, in certain places. It is all a bunch on nonsense, because one diesel truck makes more smog in one hour than all the bikes in the whole state!! Like he said, they dropped it for pre 2002 bikes, because everybody realizes how silly it is.

 

oic thanx iam glad that wasnt where i was when it was in affect. do they mean 2stroke bikes your couldnt ride?

 

I live in California and if you buy a Raptor, its going to be a green sticker...even a raptor 80 is a green sticker.....the laws are kind of wacky right now, because bikes that were originally given red stickers are now being green stickers. But its safe to say that a Raptor is a green sticker bike which means you can ride it all year long. Red sticker bikes can only be used during a certain time of the year....

 

oic