Maine - Any roadblocks or smooth sailing?


Kurlon

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Maine
I'm contemplating taking the plunge, no dealers in state but I have a couple within reasonable travel distance in New England. Has anyone run into any issues registering in Maine, or are we one of the states that still can't be sold to yet?
 

Beagle

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France
Maine was not one of the states affected by delivery issues so it should be fine. Better if confirmed by someone living there of course.

Here was the January list: California, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
 

Kurlon

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Maine
Cool, that plus I'm hearing the MCO's don't say 'offroad use only' means I should have smooth sailing. Now the other fun is how much of my KTM bits collection can swap over, I'm guessing my FS450 and GMD road race triples are not going to fly due to reducing steering lock too much, my 06 SMR forks likely won't fit the Stark's triples, but sounds like my wheel sets should swap? Is the front brake caliper mount KTM pattern, Yamaha, etc? I'm also curious how they're handling freezing temps, if we ever actually have a proper winter again I'd love to get back to ice riding?
 

Torqu3

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MA
Cool, that plus I'm hearing the MCO's don't say 'offroad use only' means I should have smooth sailing. Now the other fun is how much of my KTM bits collection can swap over, I'm guessing my FS450 and GMD road race triples are not going to fly due to reducing steering lock too much, my 06 SMR forks likely won't fit the Stark's triples, but sounds like my wheel sets should swap? Is the front brake caliper mount KTM pattern, Yamaha, etc? I'm also curious how they're handling freezing temps, if we ever actually have a proper winter again I'd love to get back to ice riding?
My mco did say off road only. At the dealer I bought though, his demo bike mcodid not say off road only. The batch mine arrived with did.

I figured I'd have to have the bike inspected to ensure all the road legal parts were in place before registering. Apparently the policy of the Massachusetts registry is they don't care about off road only on the mco. Register away I was told by a few different people at various positions at the registry. I did have to go to a second registry branch since the manager at the first one said there's no way to register an electric motor cycle. The registry main office verified that this was absolutely incorrect and advised I go to a different branch. Weird.
 

Kurlon

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Maine
Odd, in the past my friends have had issues with Mass and dual sporting. Maine can get picky about titles with the offroad use only stamp so that'll be annoying if they've switched to that, but not a deal breaker.
 

Torqu3

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MA
Yea I expected to have to jump through a lot of hoops. Only one was going to a different registry that didn't make up non existent rules about electric motorcycles. They said when I go to get an inspection sticker that's when they would confirm everything. Jokes on them, I generally never bother with inspection stickers lol
 

Kurlon

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Maine
Laid hands on a Varg today, will be locking in shortly. As anticipated, about the same heft to get it on and off the stand as my old 2016 500 XCW was, not 'light' but also not deal breakingly heavy either. Sitting on it felt good, nothing screamed odd or warning at me. I'm not sure my ice tires will fit with how little clearance there is between the tire and swingarm but will chase that problem later if it looks like we might actually get ice again. The answer may be a modded swingarm if the cost for a replacement from Varg isn't horrible. Has anyone checked to see if the swingarm mounting points / linkage spots match a KTM by any chance?

On the modding front, KYB forks, Brembo brake, anyone know if the brake mount pattern matches Yamaha or KTM for the purposes of adapting a sumo brake setup?
 

Kurlon

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Maine
For some reason I thought I had a spare set of dirt wheels still, 21 / 19 setup so I was going to go 18in on the Varg to round out the collection. Well... so my memory is faulty and no such spare set. 40C Nervous Novice at MX, I've got OK roll speed but just never learned to jump and now I seem to have a bit of a mental roadblock preventing me from doing anything that looks like a double. Small tabletops, etc, ok, but otherwise I'm pretty sedate. I'm also not quick in the woods. Any compelling reason to go 18 or 19in rear to minimize the detriment when used in the wrong format? IE is a 19in in the woods worse than an 18in on an MX track?
 

AL_V

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Canton, Ohio
For some reason I thought I had a spare set of dirt wheels still, 21 / 19 setup so I was going to go 18in on the Varg to round out the collection. Well... so my memory is faulty and no such spare set. 40C Nervous Novice at MX, I've got OK roll speed but just never learned to jump and now I seem to have a bit of a mental roadblock preventing me from doing anything that looks like a double. Small tabletops, etc, ok, but otherwise I'm pretty sedate. I'm also not quick in the woods. Any compelling reason to go 18 or 19in rear to minimize the detriment when used in the wrong format? IE is a 19in in the woods worse than an 18in on an MX track?
I'm not a mx guy, but I am of the opinion that there are more/better choices of tires in 18", at least for single track style riding...
 

Kurlon

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Maine
I'm getting similar advice from my local crew so I think 18in will be the way I roll, thanks!

No signs of a damper mount out there yet, will keep my two Scotts on standby. Looks like the brake mount is likely KTM pattern, and I don't have a sumo brake for that at the moment, I also see at least one adjustable offset sumo clamp set for the Varg on the market though so I may just plan on using my 06 SMR front end instead for when I want the beefier brake.
 

Kurlon

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Maine
Any reason to order online and let Stark pick a dealer vs picking one myself and doing the ordering through them?
 

Torqu3

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MA
The only two variables I can really think of are sales tax and dealer doc fees. I considered ordering mine to a dealership in New Hampshire to avoid sales tax, but since I was planning road and off-road registering in Massachusetts I wouldn't be able to avoid the sales tax either way.
 

AL_V

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Canton, Ohio
Any reason to order online and let Stark pick a dealer vs picking one myself and doing the ordering through them?
Many of us ordered before there were any dealers, and before a $1k price increase.
For US orders, you must go through a dealer, so there is no advantage to ordering on the Stark website.
You can use the website to find the closest dealers, and call them to see if you can get any discount and/or ask about doc fees, and tax, etc.
 

Kurlon

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Maine
For those that have gone via a dealer, how long until you heard from Stark? My dealer mentioned that I'd get emails from them as things progressed?
 

AL_V

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Canton, Ohio
For those that have gone via a dealer, how long until you heard from Stark? My dealer mentioned that I'd get emails from them as things progressed?
Don't expect prompt updates, and after it leaves Spain on a boat, they will have no info until it gets to the US on a truck.
I suggest either email sales @ stark, or check with your dealer.
My dealer contact got frustrated and turned over the dealings with Stark to his boss, who "doesn't deal with the public."
So it's tough to have up to date info on when you will get your bike...
 

Chaconne

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Massachusetts
@Kurlon I got my bike at Motorbikes+ in Portsmouth NH same place I had purchased my previous KTMs. It takes a few weeks but I got an email from Stark when they shipped it. Then MB+ called me when it arrived. I put my deposit down in early Dec and I had my bike by Feb. So I guess with my shipment including that there were holidays was around 8 weeks +/-.

I am glad I went through a dealer I know well and like. There were some paperwork hiccups and MB+ took care of them seemlessly for me.

Riding New England gnarl with my Stark and so far my Stark is much better than my 2020 KTM 300 2T for me at least. I am pleasantly surprised at how well the Stark performs in the slow gnarl especially. The Stark is tall (and I am short) but it rides like a smaller lighter bike. The seat height is about the same as my KTM and I used a seat concepts to get an extra inch with the KTM. The Stark is between my KTM300 and WR450 in weight I have had to pick it up with grips fully into mud and I have been ok, it is over 250lbs so dropping it will be work!!:muutt::)

The stock tires (pirelli scorpions) do ok in the deeper New England mud and sloppy corners but in the slippery gnarl like wet roots and rocks they are just ok --but for off-the-shelf I am still really happy. Once the pirellis are worn they will probably be the first thing I switch. Overall really happy with my purchase.
 

AL_V

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73
Location
Canton, Ohio
Riding New England gnarl with my Stark and so far my Stark is much better than my 2020 KTM 300 2T for me at least. I am pleasantly surprised at how well the Stark performs in the slow gnarl especially. The Stark is tall (and I am short) but it rides like a smaller lighter bike. The seat height is about the same as my KTM and I used a seat concepts to get an extra inch with the KTM. The Stark is between my KTM300 and WR450 in weight I have had to pick it up with grips fully into mud and I have been ok, it is over 250lbs so dropping it will be work!!:muutt::)

The stock tires (pirelli scorpions) do ok in the deeper New England mud and sloppy corners but in the slippery gnarl like wet roots and rocks they are just ok --but for off-the-shelf I am still really happy. Once the pirellis are worn they will probably be the first thing I switch. Overall really happy with my purchase.

Did you change out the plastic tubes? Have you been satisfied with the range? And what rear tire are you going to use next?
 
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