I need to transplant my roses this fall
how do I tell when the plants are dormant enough to successfully dig them out and move them to their different locations?

A lot of roses put on a last flush of flowers in the fall. I'd wait until after all the roses are gone, and the leaves are starting to turn color and fall off.

as soon as all the leaves have fallen off, right?
do lower temps cause defoliation or do they need a lite frost or two?

Depends upon the rose. Some might lose their leaves sooner than others. After frost would certainly be a dependable time to say they're dormant.

i want to do it before it gets to cold for ME

I'm a zone colder than you and roses don't lose their leaves at the first frost here, which is typically later this month. In fact as far as I remember I've had it take temperatures in the lower 20s to stop some from flowering.

I used to have to shake snow off my roses occasionally, in Salt Lake City when it would snow early in October. But I also had roses blooming in early December there some years, because my rose beds were on the south side of the house and very protected - at least a zone or two warmer microclimate.

So Tisha, it's really going to depend on the weather and how exposed your rose bushes are when the weather cools off. You don't really have to wait for every leaf to turn or fall off, but the later you can leave it and still be able to dig easily, the better for the plants.

Tisha, I am going to throw in my two cents.
I think it depends on how you do your transplanting - with soil around the root ball or as a bare root. I have had success with both methods. If it is during the growing season, I try and keep as much soil around the root ball as possible. Here in my zone, I transplant as a bare root towards the end of October and have never lost a rose. IMO not doing it too late is the key with the bare root method - you want the rose to start new roots before the cold hits. End of October is also the time the vendors here start sending out their bare root roses.

so dormant is no sign of new growth and temps before ground freezes
maybe about the first two weeks in nov. [I`m in zone 5a]
keep watering to try to have some soil around the roots or just go for a more bare root
scenario?
I love my roses...I love my roses...I love my roses

grown in zone 5a would
a zone 6a rose go dormant `early` where as
a zone 4a rose hold off dormancy little longer?

Tisha, depending on the weather, a rose will show signs of growth until the temperatures go down and stay down. Rose growers who send out bare root roses don't wait until there is now sign of growth before they harvest. If you want to transplant as a bare root, I would do it end of October - remove all the leaves and prune the canes and roots down to about 30cm - the way roses look when you get them bare root from the vendor.
If you want to transplant with soil intact around the roots, I personally, would do it now - just my opinion.