How to Title a non titled bike

I acquired a 79 KZ 750 twin on Craig's List for free. No title, no bill of sale, forgot the guys name, address ... the whole nine yards.

1. Download and print out the "Affidavit of police officer" form for your state from the DMV

www.in.gov/icpr/webfile/formsdiv/39530.pdf

this is an Indiana form but I though you'd like to see an example. You have to have a form like this ready for the officer to fill out during his visit. The signed form is good for (i think) 30 days. In Indiana the police can charge 5 bucks for the visit (cash). The officer in my case charged nothing.

2. Call the police(not 911 .. they don't like that) and tell them you have the form and would like an officer to come out to run a vin #.

3. The police come out at their earliest convenience. In my case it was about 10 minutes. They run the vin number on the frame and if it comes back correct to the vehicle and not stolen they sign the affidavit. side note: If you're at work and your wife is there taking care of the form filling out scenario you can listen to them call it in using an online police scanner.

4. Police leave and you're all happy. (you're not going to jail this time)

5. Take the signed and dated affidavit to your local court house and see the city clerk (mine was the county clerk because I live outside the city limits)

6. Tell them you want to apply for a vehicle title and they will give you the Application for a Certificate of Title forms to fill out.

7. CAUTION!!!! BE COMPLETELY HONEST AT THIS POINT! You could be in danger of pergury at this point. I put down EVERYTHING I remembered about the transaction, how long the bike sat at my house, everything the previous owner said about the bike ... basically all I remembered. I had to flip the page and continue writing on the back.

8. did I mention being honest?

9. The Application for a Certificate of Title is then viewed by a judge who signs the Application or denies it. (My experience = signed and ready the same day ALL FOR FREE)

10. Pick up the application, complete with the judge's signature and take it to the BMV to request a Certificate of Title.($5 I think) You may have to pay sales tax like any other purchase but since mine was free I didn't have to. Make sure you have the model number of you bike (i.e. KZ750 B1). Oddly enough that model wasn't listed in their computer so mine is titled "unknown Kawasaki 750" ... weird

11. Wait for the title.

That's it! It took me months to figure it out, tons of calls to the BMV an a lot of bad information but Once the path was set it was a piece of cake.

1/2 day off work and 5 bucks. booyaa.

Some states are easier than other, like Indiana as you found out. Here in NY it is impossible to get a title for a untitled bike. You have to go through another state or title service then bring the out of state title to the DMV to get transfered.

weirdooh wrote:

2. Call the police(not 911 .. they don't like that)

WTH? Don't they understand the importance! :S

j/k. Congratulations and a great deal. My wife works at the DMV and it is a total pita in my state. So much so that it's not even worth pursuing.

Illinois is a bitch. We have to do the same thing as NY. I bought a bike on ebay with a title that was still in the previous owners name and signed over to the guy i bought it from. It basically froze the title until the second guy transfered it to his name. In the mean time he disappeared. Now I have a perfectly good 77 1000 and no title.

Does anyone know if it is the same in Oklahoma? I traded a truck for my 750 ltd and the guy cant find the title. Don't know if it was ever in his name. I know it's not stolen due to having friends in Law Enforcement (being an ex cop). I would realy like to know if it would work for me!

If the title has just been lost by the previous owner, than he just has to apply for a duplicate title. If he never titled it than it will be a problem. But, as it has been mentioned previously, every state is different.

we don't have to deal with any of that bullshit up here i can walk in with a hand written bill of sale (infact i've filled them out in the truck before i walked in to the registry joint)all we have to do is provide proof of insurance and bingo bango out the door we go with a perfectly legal motorcycle. they only do a quick check to see if that number comes up stolen and away we go. and the vehicle is legally mine no problem no questions asked they don't care.

Florida is also like NY. No title no transaction period. I have a bike with similar problems.

Otakar I once managed to get a double transfer on the title. My situation was like yours, what I did was got a Power of Attorney, from the second guy (the one who had title, but not titled to him). Took the title and the Power of Attorney to the DMV, they charged me a double transfer fee (from the registered owner, to the middle guy, then to me). It was double the fees but was worth it to me. Also I had a friend notarise the Power of Attorney to authenticate the forgery. I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt the bike was not stolen and the title problem was more of a clerical issue, so It was an Honest Forgery. If your bike is not stolen and you know it it might be worth a shot.

Unfortunately I have been looking for this guy for the last 4 years. I will have to go threw a title service that will have to title it in another state and than give me that title. i know for a fact that the bike is clear because i had the title in my hand. The DMV told me that I had to give it back to the previous owner and that they had to transfer it first. I have not seen the guy since.

The Power of Attorney is legal representation for whom is listed. If you could get one that somehow was signed and notarised they have to recognise it as being legal. It is a legal document that is used for a variety of reasons. It worked for me. The DMV is usually not very helpful when it comes to out of the norm transactions, the red tape can be quite long some times.

I will just go threw an outside title service and let them do the leg work.

otakar wrote:

I will just go threw an outside title service and let them do the leg work.

Let us know how it turns out, my current problem is like the original post (no title in hand). I wonder what the fee would be for an out of state transaction?