Uniform Act Regulating Traffic
Equipment on Motorcycles and Motor Driven Cycles
Current through end of 2013 legislative session
8-1801 Head lamps.
8-1802 Tail lamps.
8-1803 Reflectors.
8-1804 Stop lamps and turn signals.
8-1805 Multiple-beam road-lighting equipment on motorcycles.
8-1806 Road-lighting equipment on motor-driven cycles.
8-1807 Brakes.
8-1808 Performance ability of brakes.
8-1809 Approval of braking systems on motor-driven cycles; suspension or revocation of registration; prohibited acts.
8-1810 Other equipment; compliance with sections in article 18; applicability of other equipment laws.
(a) Every motorcycle and every motor-driven cycle shall be equipped with at least one head lamp which shall comply with the requirements and limitations of this article.
(b) Every head lamp upon every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle shall be located at a height of not more than 54 inches nor less than 24 inches to be measured as set forth in subsection (b) of K.S.A. 8-1704.
(c) Any headlamp, required by this section, may be wired with a headlamp modulation system provided the headlamp modulation system complies with federal standards established by 49 C.F.R. § 571.108.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1801; L. 2013, ch. 26, § 1; July 1.
(a) Every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle shall have at least one (1) tail lamp which shall be located at a height of not more than seventy-two (72) nor less than fifteen (15) inches.
(b) Either a tail lamp or a separate lamp shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate and render it clearly legible from a distance of fifty (50) feet to the rear. Any tail lamp or tail lamps, together with any separate lamp or lamps for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1802; July 1.
Every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle shall carry on the rear, either as part of the tail lamp or separately, at least one (1) red reflector meeting the requirements of subsection (b) of K.S.A. 8-1707.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1803; July 1.
8-1804. Stop lamps and turn signals.
(a) Every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle shall be equipped with at least one stop lamp meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of K.S.A. 8-1721 and amendments thereto.
(b) Every motorcycle manufactured after January 1, 1973, shall be equipped with electric turn signals meeting the requirements of subsection (b) of K.S.A. 8-1721 and amendments thereto. Motor-driven cycles may, but need not, be equipped with electric turn signals.
(c) In addition to the lamps otherwise permitted by this article, a motorcycle may be equipped with lamps on the sides thereof, visible from the side of the motorcycle but not from the front or rear thereof, which lamps, together with mountings or receptacles, shall be set into depressions or recesses in the body or wheel of the motorcycle and shall not protrude beyond or outside the body or wheel of the motorcycle. The light source may emit only white, amber or red light without glare.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1804; L. 2013, ch. 26, § 2; July 1.
8-1805. Multiple-beam road-lighting equipment on motorcycles.
Every motorcycle, other than a motor-driven cycle, shall be equipped with multiple-beam road-lighting equipment. Such equipment shall:
(a) Reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of at least three hundred (300) feet ahead when the uppermost distribution of light is selected; and
(b) Reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of at least one hundred fifty (150) feet ahead when the lowermost distribution of light is selected, and on a straight, level road under any condition of loading, none of the high intensity portion of the beam shall be directed to strike the eyes of an approaching driver.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1805; July 1.
8-1806. Road-lighting equipment on motor-driven cycles.
The head lamp or head lamps upon every motor-driven cycle may be of the single-beam or multiple-beam type, but in either event shall comply with the requirements and limitations as follows:
(a) Every such head lamp or head lamps on a motor-driven cycle shall be of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of not less than one hundred (100) feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at any speed less than twenty-five (25) miles per hour, and at a distance of not less than two hundred (200) feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at a speed of twenty-five (25) or more miles per hour, and at a distance of not less than three hundred (300) feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at a speed of thirty-five (35) or more miles per hour.
(b) In the event the motor-driven cycle is equipped with a multiple-beam head lamp or head lamps, such equipment shall comply with the requirements of K.S.A. 8-1805.
(c) In the event the motor-driven cycle is equipped with a single-beam lamp or lamps, such lamp or lamps shall be so aimed that when the vehicle is loaded none of the high intensity portion of light, at a distance of twenty-five (25) feet ahead, shall project higher than the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1806; July 1.
Every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle shall comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of K.S.A. 8-1734, except that the wheel of a sidecar attached to a motorcycle or to a motor-driven cycle, and the front wheel of a motor-driven cycle need not be equipped with brakes: Provided,That such motorcycle or motor-driven cycle is capable of complying with the performance requirements of this article.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1807; L. 1976, ch. 53, § 1; July 1.
8-1808. Performance ability of brakes.
Upon application of the service brake, every motorcycle and motor-driven cycle, at all times and under all conditions of loading, shall be capable of stopping from a speed of twenty (20) miles per hour in not more than thirty (30) feet, such distance to be measured from the point at which movement of the service brake pedal or control begins.
Tests for stopping distance shall be made on a dry, smooth, hard and substantially level surface, not to exceed one percent (1%) grade, that is free from loose material.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1808; L. 1975, ch. 39, § 29; April 19.
8-1809. Approval of braking systems on motor-driven cycles; suspension or revocation of registration; prohibited acts.
(a) The secretary of transportation is authorized to require an inspection of the braking system on any motor-driven cycle and to disapprove the braking system on any such vehicle which it finds will not comply with the performance ability standard set forth in K.S.A. 8-1808, or which in the opinion of the secretary is equipped with a braking system that is not so designed or constructed as to insure reasonable and reliable performance in actual use.
(b) The director may refuse to register or may suspend or revoke the registration of any vehicle referred to in this section when the secretary of transportation determines that the braking system thereon does not comply with the provisions of this section.
(c) No person shall operate on any highway any vehicle referred to in this section in the event the secretary of transportation has disapproved the braking system upon such vehicle.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1809; L. 1975, ch. 427, § 45; Aug. 15.
8-1810. Other equipment; compliance with sections in article 18; applicability of other equipment laws.
(a) Every motorcycle and every motor-driven cycle shall comply with the requirements and limitations of K.S.A. 8-1738 on horns and warning devices, K.S.A. 8-1739 on noise prevention and mufflers, K.S.A. 8-1740 on mirrors and K.S.A. 8-1742 on tires.
(b) Every motorcycle and every motor-driven cycle shall comply with the requirements and limitations contained in this article, and unless otherwise specifically made applicable, motorcycles and motor-driven cycles shall not be subject to the requirements and limitations imposed elsewhere in this act with respect to equipment on vehicles.
History: L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1810; July 1.