Neophyte Restorer

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I've never understood the convoluted logic of one country having fifty different and separate vehicle registrations. Same goes for driver's license. Some states require you to obtain vehicle registration within ten days of arrival from another state. I was once arrested for a stolen vehicle (my own) because the state I was in, Rhode Island, did not honor my home state's, Minnesota, registration. I was in Rhode Island serving my country in the U.S. Navy. What is wrong with a United States of America vehicle registration and driver's license?
 
Nothing,

But try to get every state to agree on anything. I just finally got my Norton titled in CA, the year is wrong but at least it is a Norton again. CA insisted on seeing a title and the last two states that the Norton was in were non title. I had to supply the law on a document but that worked. They just need something that will stand up to audit if it is reviewed.
I give them a contents page and list every document I include and why it is included.
 
i traded an ar-15 for a dissassembled markIIa w/o title. its got the title for me in 3 weeks. i had to sell the bike to them and they registered it in alabama which requires no title to register old bikes. they then sold it back to me. the registration serves as title. i took it to the indiana bmv and applied for title which i got in a week. i was really surprised that it went off w/o a hitch as i had trouble registering my new car in indiana. go figure. good luck
 
JimC said:
I've never understood the convoluted logic of one country having fifty different and separate vehicle registrations. Same goes for driver's license. Some states require you to obtain vehicle registration within ten days of arrival from another state. I was once arrested for a stolen vehicle (my own) because the state I was in, Rhode Island, did not honor my home state's, Minnesota, registration. I was in Rhode Island serving my country in the U.S. Navy. What is wrong with a United States of America vehicle registration and driver's license?
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I think it all boils down to the old 'states rights' thing.
 
Cookie said:
Nothing,

But try to get every state to agree on anything. I just finally got my Norton titled in CA, the year is wrong but at least it is a Norton again. CA insisted on seeing a title and the last two states that the Norton was in were non title. I had to supply the law on a document but that worked. They just need something that will stand up to audit if it is reviewed.
I give them a contents page and list every document I include and why it is included.
Click to expand...
Today I got my new plate for my Commando. It has been off the road for ten years and I had no paperwork. I have owned the bike since '78 but was in a pretty bad accident in '00 and was going to part it out. Tossed/lost the registration and title. Decided to resurrect it. Got insurance through Progressive with only the VIN. Got preliminary paperwork with a temp registration from DMV and an appointment with the California Highway Patrol to go through their VIN Verification process. Aside from looking at the numbers, they look for duplicate vehicles with that VIN and stolen bikes ect. Simplicity. At each step they practically told me what to write to get it to go through. Depends on who you get on a given day, I think. I was told that they audit just about everything..On the other hand, I've had a total nightmare trying to get a 25yr old bike registered that only had 1800mi on it from out of state, with a title.
 
I live in south-central PA and was able to get titles for two bikes with only a bill-of-sale and a notarized statement of sale from the previous owner. The trick is to 1) go into the local title office with your largest puppy-dog eyes and make sure that they understand that THEY are the only one who can help you with this problem, and 2) recognize that they ARE the only one who can help you. The local title folks here were pretty helpful, but I think having a notarized statement from the PO was key.
-paul
 
Hi Paul, I'm up here near Huntington PA. The title place I found wasn't to helpful at all. My Propblem is, the guy with the bike is not the legal owner. He aquired the bike because it was abandoned at his property. I have no idea if the original owner may have even stole that bike. What a surprise that would be. I'd love to run the Vin# against a stolen bike list, at least I'd know if I'd be wasting my time. Thanks for all the responses.
 
jestme13 said:
Hi Paul, I'm up here near Huntington PA. The title place I found wasn't to helpful at all. My Problem is, the guy with the bike is not the legal owner. He acquired the bike because it was abandoned at his property. I have no idea if the original owner may have even stole that bike. What a surprise that would be. I'd love to run the Vin# against a stolen bike list, at least I'd know if I'd be wasting my time. Thanks for all the responses.
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In Florida, abandoned vehicles can be legally acquired by the property owner through a mechanic's lien. It involves sending a registered letter to the last known address of the registered owner, and recording a lien for reasonable storage fees at the courthouse.

I bought a 1966 GT Mustang back in high school at a lien auction. Property owner had a gas station owner tow the car off his property. Gas station owner stored the car there for about a year, racking up over $1000 in fees ($40 tow, $3 a day storage), then sold it to me at auction for $600(I was the only bidder).
 
When I was in college we used to earn a little money hauling off abandoned cars from apartment parking lots. We would apply for a 'salvor' title, which allows people to take possession of an abandoned vehicle. Check out this link:

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/067/c ... 53toc.html

I think you might be able to apply for a title for the bike as a valueless or junk vehicle. You have to jump through some hoops, but if you're not in a hurry and don't mind filling out forms and such, it's not too bad. You just have to show proof that the bike is junk. So if it's not running and in rough shape (in boxes) then that argument should be easy. My experience is that if you just stick to it and fill out each form in full, eventually the bureaucrats will cave in. If you want, I could ask our local title folks how they would approach it. They are really helpful here and if you're in good standing with the current "owner" who'd be willing to sign a few forms, you should be able to get a title.

Just as an aside, in college we found a Buick GS 400 with a tree growing thru it in a field. we cut down the tree, got the car running, and made a pile off of it from a restorer. Trust me, we were not too bright and we were able to work thru the system.

-paul
 
I sure would appreciate it if you could talk to your title folks ! Up here they seem to have no clue, or, don't want to be bothered. I have all the time in the world to deal with the system, I'm a retired system worker so I know how that works. The guy that has the bike would not have a problem helping me out with paper work. Still, no return call from ITS.
 
You get a much better response from ITS if you call thier regular line. The 1-800 number is always busy or no answer.
 
Ok, I'll give them a call tomorrow morning and try to get you something soon. It may be early next week since my folks are coming in from TN tomorrow afternoon and will be here through the weekend. I'll post on this thread in case others have an interest.

Took my Mk3 out for a blast this morning. Cool, clear weather, so went up to the mountains. Had a ball going through the switchbacks. The ridge and valley is a great place to ride.

-paul
 
I know what you mean. The weather here in PA has been beautiful. I can't wait to get a bike out on the road, there all in storage until I get a garage built. These mountain roads are calling me. The Norton would be a perfect mountain bike !!!!!
 
I called Sollenberger's (our local title company) and they told me that if you have the bill of sale and the VIN, they can get you a title. Do you think that the bike was originally titled in PA? If so, I think that the process would be pretty straightforward. If not, I think that the process is a bit less so... but still doable. I guess the issue now is convincing your local folks to work with you. Or you could drive over here, Huntington is maybe 1 hr west of Shippensburg. But if you had to make more than a single trip, it was get old quick. Monday I will call them again and see what your options are.
-paul
 
jestme13 said:
I sure would appreciate it if you could talk to your title folks ! Up here they seem to have no clue, or, don't want to be bothered. I have all the time in the world to deal with the system, I'm a retired system worker so I know how that works. The guy that has the bike would not have a problem helping me out with paper work. Still, no return call from ITS.
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Why not just buy it and if you cant register it, sell it or worst case scenario split it and sell (Hate to say that :oops: but if I was over there I would definitely buy it.)
 
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