NOW WHAT?!?!?!

[suzukimx4789]

ok as some here may no i have a bike with no title  and no idea if its stolen or not....
i was going to swap frames, BUT! i talked to a ex-sheriff friend of mine and he said if a cop checks my vin and notices the vin on the frame and motor dont match it is automatically considered a stolen vehicle and i will be arrested and possibly convicted of grand theft.....this sucks a##

im back to square one...tracking down the original owner............

[yamahonkawazuki]

err, im not sure about that, you can always say, your original engine threw a rod, was not rebuildable, and as such, you installed another engine. yes numbers wont match, and many bikes and cars are doen this way, and i see no one in jail

[Tang]

why don't u buy a frame with a title or the same bike with title

if the bike with the title is not rebuidable just part it out and keep the frame and u can ditch the frame with no title

[suzukimx4789]

the bike runs amazingly good no wear hardly on the valve shims or anything the bike has under 10,000miles on it but the tank is shot theres no keys or air filter box and no keys plus no title

[GSnoober]

ok as some here may no i have a bike with no title  and no idea if its stolen or not....
i was going to swap frames, BUT! i talked to a ex-sheriff friend of mine and he said if a cop checks my vin and notices the vin on the frame and motor dont match it is automatically considered a stolen vehicle and i will be arrested and possibly convicted of grand theft.....this sucks a##

im back to square one...tracking down the original owner............

That ex-sheriff is an idiot; in the old days, engine and frame numbers almost NEVER matched. If you got stopped and checked, a cop might SUSPECT that something is wrong, but the cop has to have a GOOD reason to suspect that a crime has been commited; they can't simply arrest you because the numbers don't match.

It took me LESS than three minutes of searching to find these links:

State website:

http://www.michigan.gov

List of all major state websites within Michigan:

http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192-29929---A,00.html

Links to Michigan webpages for vehicle registration, license, and title information:

http://www.michigan.gov/sos/1,1607,7-127-1585---,00.html

Main page on how to obtain a title and register a vehicle:

http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1585_15248-175971--,00.html

Main page on how to obtain a title history:

http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1585-28744--,00.html

Webpage for Instant Title Service:

http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1585-76317--,00.html

Turns out that Flint has a local office for Instant Title Service:


Flint Area Super Center

G5512 Fenton Road

Flint, MI  48507-3323


Business hours are as follows:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Wednesday:

9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

No phone number listed, but you should be able to find that in the State & Local Government pages of your phone book...

Once you find the number, PICK UP THE PHONE, and speak to the FRONT end of the horse, and IGNORE what that horse's ASS told you. Better yet, make the time to go to an office in person, and be prepared to spend a LOT of time there; waiting in a long line sucks, but sometimes, you don't have an alternative.

Explain your situation to someone in the Title Department, someone who can help you obtain a new or replacement title for your GS, and stop letting this situation aggravate you. I don't know all the circumstances of how you bought a motorcycle without a title, but you aren't the first person to have this problem, and you won't be the last. The people who can help you deal with this type of problem on a daily basis, so PUT THEM TO WORK helping you get this straightened out. That is what they are PAID to do, and their salary is funded by YOUR taxes. As long as you're POLITE and CALM, they'll be glad to help you; they tend to take a lot of abuse on a daily basis, so being calm and reasonable will go a long way toward getting this resolved without a lot of hassle.

Bring whatever documentation you have; BE SURE to bring the VIN number and the ENGINE number, in case they happen to need both in order to issue a new / replacement title. If it turns out that you bought something stolen, so be it; give them all the information you have about the seller, and let the cops worry about it. You might lose some money, but riding a stolen motorcycle brings BAD karma, so you'd be better off without it. When the seller is prosecuted, you can testify against him, and maybe they'll give him the chair...

OK, so now I'm just having fun with you... Get the ball rolling on the new paperwork, and move on with your life. People move, paperwork gets lost or destroyed... life happens, so start the process to get a NEW title in YOUR name, and don't sweat the bullshit.

BTW, feel free to kick that ex-sheriff in the balls; you'll be doing future generations a favor... and NEVER expect anyone in law enforcement to actually KNOW the laws, because they aren't PAID to know them.

Good luck with this; remember to be CALM, POLITE, FRIENDLY, and PATIENT while you're dealing with the bureaucrats, and don't forget to bring CASH, includiing small bills, so you can pay the fees quickly and go home. Whenever I have to go to a DMV, I take small bills, especially singles, along with at least a dollar in small coins, including pennies; I don't want to be there one extra minute...

Let us know how this turns out...

[GeeP]

Bullshit.  Engines change all the time.

Since when has a cop EVER checked the VIN on the bike, let alone checked to see if the numbers match?  They wouldn't have a clue where to look for the engine number!   

[cd]

thats a crock of shaZam!, and you are a fool for believing him

swap it, no one will know or care. why? becuase its not ileagal to swap your motor, its your shaZam!, do what you want with it.

more than half the bikes out there dont have matching numbers, and hes just telling you that to control you, like most pigs

cops dont have the ability to tell if the ein matches the vin. so unless the ein is specifically reported as stolen, RARE, they have to contact the manufacturer to cross reference the vin with the ein. cops, and sherrifs, dont give a shaZam!, dont know how to do so, and never will, and if they feed you some line of shaZam! and try to take your bike, you are getting f%$ked.

[ohgood]

Bullshit.  Engines change all the time.

Since when has a cop EVER checked the VIN on the bike, let alone checked to see if the numbers match?  They wouldn't have a clue where to look for the engine number!   

I like your version best. This version however is condescending, and I can't find a real reason for it:

thats a crock of shaZam!, and you are a fool for believing him

swap it, no one will know or care. why? becuase its not ileagal to swap your motor, its your shaZam!, do what you want with it.

more than half the bikes out there dont have matching numbers, and hes just telling you that to control you, like most pigs

cops dont have the ability to tell if the ein matches the vin. so unless the ein is specifically reported as stolen, RARE, they have to contact the manufacturer to cross reference the vin with the ein. cops, and sherrifs, dont give a shaZam!, dont know how to do so, and never will, and if they feed you some line of shaZam! and try to take your bike, you are getting f%$ked.

A fool asks for help when he/she realizes he does not know the answers ? I think not. A fool judges quickly, and without reason. Have I ever been a fool ? Oh a few times, quite a few. Hopefully I'll pair those down more and more as I learn from the good folks of gstwins. And while we're discussing LEO's, I've met quite a few that were decent folks, and actually saved a few lives. Sure, some are pigs, but it's such a small number... this rant is tired. Think the point is set anyway.



BTW - here, at the DMV a lady comes out to check VIN's when you transfer owner, and yes she asks about the engine id. No, she doesn't check if it's stolen or not on the spot. No, I don't think she cares. No, she definitely was no pig, quite attractive actually.

double

[The Buddha]

Some states like CA (I know of CA, I have heard NY too) have the engine number in the title.
CA will usually not check engine numbers in case of out of state inspections. The DMV people will match title  frame number against actual frame number, but write the engine number from your form on the inspection sheet and print up your title.
NC and TX dont check anything. In fact in over 3-4 traffic stops for me in 5 years the cops didn't check anything.
I have had a dude ride a titleless wonder for years ... never had an issue. He'd slap a plate on it, with valid registration and insurance from a bike he destroyed the motor on, and just ride the new bike. NC is so lax in some ways. They'd also let you title anythign with a bond. TX is much much much more severe in titling stuff, but is very lax about checking VIN's. Oh, out of state before titling in TX yes you have to get vin inspection. Presumably you cant get that with a mismatched VIN. But still engine numbers are not an issue.
Cool.
Buddha.

[cd]

and only fools believe the police/gov tell them the truth

[cd]

and i buy and sell motorcycles, and ride them.

i ride anything thats not stolen, have had tons of bikes, and one tag. sometimes i dont even bother to run one, never had a cop even try to pull me up for not having a tag. sometimes i run one from my bike that is tagged. as long as you are either being so crazy its a risk to pull you over, or are not doing anything at all, they dont care. you gotta look for them though too. i pay attention, so i dont have to pay the government money.