To be street legal, a motorcycle or moped must have:
- A white headlight, illuminated at all times. Motorcycles must have at least one, but not more than three, white headlights. Modulating headlights are allowed during daylight hours.
- At least one red taillight with a red stop lamp.
- At least one red reflector on the rear, one white license plate light, one rear-view mirror and a horn.
- Turn signal lights. Motorcycles built before 1973 are not required to have turn signal lights, however, vehicles without turn signal lights may not be operated after dark.
- Fenders on all wheels.
- At least one brake operated by hand or foot.
- An exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation. The exhaust must prevent the discharge of any visible emissions and keep noise levels at or below standards set by the Department of Environmental Quality.
- A valid license plate mounted to be easily read and plainly visible from the rear.
Motorcycle Laws
A motorcycle may share a lane only with one other motorcycle. Lane sharing (lane splitting/filtering) with any other vehicle is illegal.
Operators may not transport or carry any object that interferes with their ability to hold the handlebars.
If a motorcycle operator carries a passenger, the motorcycle must have a passenger seat and footrests. Passengers are only permitted to ride on a passenger seat behind the operator or in a side car. Passengers are required to wear DOT-compliant motorcycle helmets.
There are no requirements for passenger age or size in Oregon. However, operators should use good judgment. Passengers should be large enough to reach the footrests, strong enough to hold on securely and mature enough to follow directions and behave predictably.
