ok, so lets say I can aquire a motorcycle for nothing that is in really great shape, runs, is ridable, etc…but I would be getting it from a friend that found it in a shed of a house he bought and has NO history of ownership for me to try to get ahold of a title for it…is there a way to go about this? Where can I run the VIN to see it’s history and maybe find a previous owner? It’s a 1980 model year…I’ve heard about filing it as an abandoned motorcycle but I can’t find any info on the DMV site…
the older bikes are difficult to look up, because sometimes they use the serial number on the motor (too long for modern VIN length) and sometimes they use the numbers on the steering neck (too short for modern VIN lenght)…I had a heck of a time explaining my VIN to progressive on the 1975 honda to get insurance…
o boy i went threw this for 2.5 years all i have to say is good luck. I eventually got one from the previous owner. I would try to buy a title from a wrecked bike.
m not sure about NY but in CA all you need is a bill of sale, application for title and a statement of facts. this is for the barn find kind of thing, after 7yrs of not being registered vehicles in CA fall out of the system. so you can go in and say it was your grandfathers bike or something and he never registered it and lost the title, apply for the title in your name, a CHP officer has to inspect the bike to see its road worthy and you get your title, pretty easy out here.
I’m kinda going through this now. The DMV does not give a shit about your story, no title no help. The previous owner has to apply for a lost title then sign it over to you.
I hope I am wrong but this is the information I have been given by the 518 dmv number
You can rule carfax out, even if it did work for motorcycles. It doesn’t give any previous owner information, just that it had previous owners. It would be a huge privacy violation if carfax actually gave you the previous owner’s name.
The only way to resolve it easily is to take the bike to the scrap yard, convert it’s metallic weight into cash, and use that cash toward buying a bike that the NYS DMV will let you register.
