That sounds a lot like the process up here in British Columbia, Canada.
If you bought the bike w/o a title, you can send in a copy of the bill of sale, as well as a notarized statement declaring that you purchased the bike.
If they can't find anyone on record, they send you permission to register it in your name. If they do find who owned it, they let you try to contact them.
If you can contact them, they can provide permission to transfer it. If they don't reply after a reasonable time, you can register it anyways.
I registered an '81 Yamaha SR185 I bought out of a barn this way once - they couldn't find any record of it being registered (not surprising, it had the original tires!), so I didn't have to bother the original owner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smithers
Haha jeez that's a lot of ground work for that process! Here in CA if they run the VIN and there is no record they will let you declare on paper that the bike was in a barn for the last 40 years and you just decided to get it running recently. This is all you need to do and they will issue you a new title assuming that the engine number and the frame number are clearly visible.
And there is never anything on record when you take an old Honda like that in unless someone in the last 15 years actually registered it in their name. But in most cases the bike has been left in the dirt for 20 years or more and that's why we have them.  |