Do Not Buy Bikes With title Problems

That's right. Do not buy bikes with title problems. I keep breaking my own rules and I keep thinking that this time it will be different. Here is the story. I found a very nice 07 Honda 919, with road rash, PR4s front and rear, Yoshi cans and 18,000 miles showing on the clock. It was being advertised on Craigslist for $2000. I went and looked at it. It ran. It had cosmetic issues and it was a police impound. The towing company owner showed me the paperwork they had started to have the title assigned to them. They do this all the time for cars they said. Great! I offered $1800 and we did the deal. This was back in early February.

I wait for the title and tag and I get nothing. Calls to Big Dave at the towing company reveal that the post office has lost one of the registered letters necessary to prove that the title holder of record has released his/her responsibility or was contacted. I tell Dave that I will get a bonded title but he says to be patent. I wait another month. Nothing!

Meanwhile I do what I NEVER DO. I start working on the bike. I install new chain and sprockets. I change the oil. I pulled the tank, fender and tail and send them out for repair and paint. Still nothing. I get the paint work back, fix a couple of electrical issues and it's ready for the road. Still no tag. Big Dave says I can get a paper tag if I want to go ride. This pisses me off because what I want is a proper tag and a title in my name.

I got tired of waiting so I set out to slay the dragon. I put insurance on the 919. So far so good. I rode it up the street to get a Texas safety inspection. It passed with flying colors. I drove to Carrolton to the Texas regional DMV office and waited an hour for my turn in the barrel. In less than 5 minutes I was out the door with bonded title paper work approved. I am a happy camper. I ran to Bonham, to my insurance agent to buy a bond and that’s when the wheels came off. There is an original lien, as I suspected, that is still on the title. The bike only shows one title from new and it was sold in 08. Since the lien is under 10 years old I must get a release but they will not tell me who the lien holder is because of PRIVACY! My agent wouldn't issue the bond because of the title lien showing on the bonded title application. So, my day was screwed.

I got on the phone the next morning with Big Dave and registered my great displeasure. He knew who the lien holder was. He texted me a copy of the registered letter and the return receipt. He then hooked me up with his bond guy and after showing him the towing company paperwork he is willing to write the bond. I paid $135 for a surety bond to cover the bike and outstanding lien for three years. He sent it to me by mail along with the signed second sheet of my bonded title paper work. All the paperwork came in the mail on Friday and I ran to the Bonham tax office only to find them shut for Good Friday. That's where I stand right now. I will see if I have any luck on Monday.

 

Oh man, what a fiasco... Good thing you have patience.

 

The paperwork is as much a part of a project as rebuilding an engine. It really helps to start a project with a clean title.

 

I see a lot of motorcycles on eBay with salvage titles...are those problematic as well?

 

Tim you have too much free time and patient :thumbsup:

 

If I were to ever buy anything with title issues of any kind it would have to be at a parting oot price.

 

Salvage title in CA means it was totaled by insurance, and rebuilt.
I have a nice Aprilia Tuono salvage title.
Totaled by dimple in frame and swingarm, so I was told.
Rides and runs great.

This is not the OP's problem. His is very different then.
The correct response to someone selling a vehicle with title issues is, Dave's not here, Man. :biggrin:

 

Salvage title definitions can vary from state to state. Start with the VA DMV on the VA state website. Purchasing a salvage titled bike sight unseen is not a great idea.

Buying a salvage titled bike can be OTOH, a great way to obtain parts, farkles and spares. Paying full price for a salvage titled bike is not a great idea.

 

interestingly, I bought on Ebay, sight unseen, exactly that on Friday.. - a bike with no title..

However, he also included another frame & registration docs / title to enable me to swap everything over..

Its just going to be an enormous amount of work though... lol

I haven't yet decided if i want to do it.

 

No title? The bike could be one that was nicked.

 

FWIW, I wouldn't touch anything with a salvage title--not even a toaster--for which I'd have to exchange money.

Kristian

 

My toaster didn't come with a title. It's a Hamilton-Beach. I'm pretty sure that's just a name. It's a four slicer or two split bagels, English Muffins, or small lefse cut into smaller chunks.

 

Although anything is possible, in this instance the guy bought it off the insurance salvagers - with no title. He was told it could not be put back on the road with that Frame so he bought another frame (with title) & was planning on switching it all over. For some people that is a job too many. His loss.

 

The rules and conditions dictate what is and isn't legal. Here there is no fixed set of rules. Some bikes have an ID stamped into the engine as well as the frame.

In Oregon, insurers bypass the "insurance salvagers" and if ya own the vehicle, it can be bought back from the insurer or they will haul it away. A guy ran a boulevard in my hood. I hit him at about 20mph and it totaled my 15 year old Ford Explorer. The SUV with a little crowbarring was drivable. Being it was the other drivers fault, I received a nice reimbursement for my SUV. The insurer wanted 300 USD for the SUV. I bought it back. I had within just a few months put 500+USD for new tires. That was just a start. I even drained the gas for the VFR...

Bikes? I have a Yamaha SR500 I bought new. Through contacts I found a parts bike that was sitting. The owner I found was a guy I worked around. He had assended something and wiped out the front end. The brakes were still good the rest of the front end was toast. The owner still had the title. I bought the bike from him. The bike had ported and flowed head done by a pro-race shop, a 38mm carb, perfect tank and sideplates, aftermarket pipe and can, a hi flow oil line, perfect chain ect. The headstock was tweaked so I converted the legal title to a salvage title. Probably not really necessary but when moving from state to state here, it is sometimes mandatory to have a vehicle inspected by the existing DMV.

Whilst down, a 90mm piston was installed rendering aboot 540cc displacement.

Bottom line is the insurers have all this stuff figured out way ahead of time. A few thousand USD is chumpchange to the larger pic. The legal aspect is rigid. We have folks here doing inspections and testing on vehicles that probably don't even drive. Probably a good idea...

 

919s are great bikes. I put 33,000 miles on an 04.

It will be worth the effort, and a good story when you get this cleared up.

Until then, the exhause heat sheilds need to turn black. The tank needs the Honda and Wings, in Silver, if possible. Hit the header with Scotch brite.

Sounds great, doesn't it!

Sharp bike! You're going to like it.