Does is it at least have the word "ice" somewhere on the sidewall or "stud"? From the cops I've talked to it has to have it marked on the sidewall. I guess I could take a ticket to court but I'd rather avoid that.
Sorry buddy, nothing obvious on the sidewalls except the tire model #. Fer Heaven's Sake, you'd think with 100 studs per tire and official ice racing tires they'd have to cut you a break! You'll have better traction than the police cars! (Ya, I know...law says....) Good Luck. Rob
Thanks for the info. I just got a response from Kenda with the same news as well. In summation this means that it is illegal to ride a motorcycle in Quebec between Dec 15th and March 15th. No exceptions except for "emergency" motorcycles , aka police bikes.
Is the AMA active in Canada? Is there a similar advocacy group? On a policy basis the law may make sense (just like helmet laws), but your right to choose is taken away. An alternative would be a call to your representative(s) (not the beaurocrats) and ask thier office for help, explaining the dynamics of a hack and the existance of the Kenda tires. Bet you get a letter from them that would get you out of the fine in the magestrates office. Consider contacting a local paper as well. Start with the consumer affairs desk. I'm not typically an issues chaser, I'd probably take your route first (be responsible yourself) but the law is silly and the govt. is big. Commiserating with us is not gonna fix it. Best of luck with the problem.
Perhaps a meeting or phone call with your local Provincial political rep? With other issues in the past, I have good experience from contacting my local MPP and having thier office chase bureaucrats for a reasonable answer. They were not thinking of sidecars when this law was written and likely the concept of someone using a 2 wheel motorcycle in winter did not exist in the limited experience of the bill's authors. Your rig is likely not a deliberate target, but collateral damage, there might be a way around that oversight.
I don't have a hack, but ... one day. There is a advrider inmate (Stroker) who has modified a car rim to fit 1150 BMW to use regular car tires for the rear wheel of a hack. There is currently a thread ongoing in this forum about that. I wonder if something similar could be used for your Ural? Just hoping there is a way around the mind numbing BS that is politics. Good luck.
Motoriley, Today I finally got to spend some serious saddle time on my Ural with the Kenda ice tires and studs. Man that combo grips nicely! I pushed 2 neighbours cars down the street today, but the Ural just tractored through the ice and snow in 2wd. Not as good as a 4x4 with snow tires, but a lot better than a normal car with snow tires. good luck with your "branding" iron.
This showed up on the IMZ site and Ski says they have the M&S rating marked on the tire, you guys have Heidenau dealers up North there don't you? Topic: Death Valley Day's Special (1 of 1), Read 56 times Conf: Classifieds From: Ski -Patrol sales@triquestcycles.com Date: Saturday, January 03, 2009 03:12 PM With the usual gang heading down to DV soon ... we picked up some extra Heidenau K37's from our European supplier, just in case they needed to re-tire before the trip. In support of our rock hopping buddies, we are offering a 15% discount on standard Heindenau K37's in stock thru the end of Jan. Also note: we managed to get our hands on a couple 19" K37 Heidenau "Snow Tex" tires. They have the same tread pattern but a different rubber compound for snow and ice. These tires are DOT rated with M+S sidewall marking. Unfortunately, we only have 2 left at the moment ... can't get our hands on any more until March/April. FYI: the "SnowTex" tires cost a bit more than the standard K37 ... but with the discount, the pricing puts them at standard K37 pricing. Jan special deal subject to stock on hand, excludes shipping & handling or applicable CA taxes. Happy New Year ... Ski Patrol TriQuest Motorcycles 408-855-8358 408-855-8378 Fax www.triquestcycles.com email sales@triquestcycles.com