GG Motorrad Technik’s GG Quadster: This four-wheeled outlaw can’t keep a low profile

It looks like a motorcycle. It sounds like a motorcycle. And it is a motorcycle. Sort of.

GG Motorrad Technik’s new GG Quadster is actually a four-wheeled BMW K1200S -- only its body’s been replaced with a double-wide backside and front end.

The Quadster is like a centaur, with the heart of a motorcycle and the suspension of a car. It uses the same fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, inline four-cylinder motor as the 2008 K1200S. It’s just set inside a billet aluminum chassis and suspended on four tires using a Formula 1-style, race car-inspired double A-arm and premium coil-over shocks. A high-end ATV for the street, it’s unlike anything else on the road.

Unfortunately, the chance of seeing the GG Quadster on a California street anytime soon is like that of seeing a centaur. The state of California follows federal policy, which defines a motorcycle as having no more than three wheels. That makes the Swiss quadricycle unregisterable here.

U.S. importer GG Quad North America petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2006 to broaden the definition of a motorcycle to include four wheels, but that petition was denied. According to NHTSA, a four-wheeled, street-legal motorcycle is a passenger car and is therefore subject to the same safety requirements, i.e. it has to have seat belts and air bags, among other things.

But GG Quad North America isn’t giving up. It’s actively seeking distributors in California, probably because it’s had success here with its previous GG Quad, which uses BMW’s R1150RT powertrain and was brought to the U.S. market in 2007. GG Motorrad Technik has made 250 of the two-cylinder quadricycles, 13 of which are now in the country .

According to the California Highway Patrol, riding an unregistered vehicle such as the Quadster on the street is grounds for a pullover and possibly an impound. The Department of Motor Vehicles, however, says it’s more likely to prompt a ticket; it’s punishable with a $150 fine for the first offense, $250 for the second and $1,000 or 90 days of imprisonment for the third violation within a single year.

That’s a lot of trouble and a lot of dough for the average Joe. But it isn’t average Joes who are purchasing the new $65,500 GG Quadster. So far, there are two buyers: Michael Jordan, who lives in Illinois where a Quad has already been registered, and a wealthy San Diego businessman.

My own experience was that the cops asked a lot of questions and laughed a lot but didn’t question its legality, which didn’t appear to be an issue because the Quadster that I was riding had a Montana license plate.

I had exactly one afternoon with the quadricycle in Azusa Canyon -- a road I’d selected because it’s deserted on weekdays and, I’d hoped, would avoid mobs of looky-loos and police attention. No such luck. A car, then a motorcycle pulled into the vista point just moments after the Quadster’s Dallas-based importer backed it out of his trailer. Then came the sheriff’s deputies, who didn’t write us up but snapped a bunch of pictures.

Figuring out how to get on the Quadster was a challenge. The Ferrari-red cycle I was riding was outfitted with a pontoon-like storage pod on each side, which, in addition to adding $4,870 to the price, required a bit of hurdling to throw a leg over. Otherwise, seating is similar to that on a motorcycle. I straddled the seat and placed my feet on the pegs and my hands on the grips, except I was balanced on four wheels so I didn’t need to put a foot down -- nor could I because of the pontoons.

The engine isn’t the only BMW part on the Quadster. The hand and foot controls, dash, ECU and transmission are also imports from the K1200S, though the Quadster has an extra gear: reverse. Because it has four wheels, the Quadster handles more like an ATV than a motorcycle. The steering is direct, not counter, as on a two-wheeler. To slow down, it’s the four-wheel, foot-operated brakes, rather than the front lever, that activate most of the stopping power.

It took me a while to feel comfortable taking corners at even moderately high speeds. My instinct was to counterbalance my body weight as I would on an ATV, but that wasn’t necessary. Taking fast turns on the Quadster, you aren’t likely to tip but to drift because the bike’s center of gravity is so low and its high-performance, low-profile tires are so wide-set. I learned the best way to hang on in corners was to grip the bike with my knees instead of holding on for dear life with the handlebars.

To a biker who’s used to leaning in turns, the GG Quadster felt more like riding a car that had motorcycle controls, which is an interesting concept. Apparently, it’s a bit too interesting for the brass in California.

susan.carpenter@latimes.com