Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Getting a title for a vehicle that is not titled turns out to be relatively easy in North Carolina if you live there. It took 3 days from start to coming home with a license plate and registration card. Now that I know what I'm doing, I can do it in two days next time. Here's what I did:

1. Filled out an Affidavit of Facts, which is a 1-page form that asked the specifics, like why the vehicle is not titled, how I got it, name and address of the person I got it from, date, etc..

2. Got the Affidavit of Facts notarized.

3. Got the vehicle inspected by a police inspector, who came to my house and checked the VIN, manufacturing date, and other details, and certified that the vehicle is road worthy and not stolen or currently titled. In this case he didn't really check roadworthiness, other than to look at it casually.

4. Got the title/license plate office to give me a vehicle value. No fees up to this point.

5. Purchased an indemnity bond for 1.5 times that value. This generally costs $100, plus some additional amount if the vehicle cost more than some amount that I've never paid for a vehicle.

6. Signed the bond in the presence of a witness, who also signs.

7. Got insurance for the vehicle.

8. Took all the paperwork and proof of insurance back to the title office, paid the usual title fee, road tax, and registration fee, which in my case came to $67.97 and walked out with a license plate and registration card.

If the vehicle were not considered an antique, which this one was, there would be the extra step of getting a safety inspection and emissions inspection if I lived in a NC county that does emissions inspections, which I don't. Antique vehicles don't get safety or emissions inspections.

I'll get a title in a couple months. For the next three years, if someone shows up and proves he owns the vehicle, he is paid off with the bond, up to its limit of 1.5x vehicle value. I then pay back the bond company, and I get to keep the vehicle. If no one claims it in three years, the bond expires and everything's fine.

So the condensed version is that registering an untitled but not stolen vehicle in NC costs $100 more than if it had a title.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

I wish South Carolina would do something like that. I get grief even when I have a clean paper trail.They used to send someone out but now you have to haul the bike to them. Budget cuts I guess.

I had to take my antique H2 to the inspector, but I had a Maryland title, so I was able to get the registration and license plate first. That allowed me to ride it to the inspection. I assume the inspector came to my house for the Yamaha because the inspection had to come before I could get the registration done. I was prepared to take it to him if it meant getting it done quickly, but didn't need to as it turned out.

So what do you have to do in SC if you have a vehicle without a title, Buddy?

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Jim, usually I do without. I've heard you can pretend to sell it to a friend in a non title state like Georgia, he registers it and then sells it back to you and S.C. is supposed to honor their paperwork and issues you a title.That's basically what those title services do for you.

Probably the same as the great state of NY Jim.




Sh1t in one hand and wish in the other.
See which one fills up first....

Actually people have told me if you have a very old plate, it helps.
Take it to DMV with a photo or imprint of the neck numbers.
Have a cop sign off on it and have it notorized.
They purge old unregistered vehicles after 15 years, so just tell them it was always your bike but you lost the paperwork.
With the above mentioned items, a friend here in NY got two triples titled.

Now I may have the details skewed a bit, but thats basicly it.
or at least what my old memory recalls.

sc has a 'barn find' law in effect as of late last year... look it up. probably got tired of all that money heading up to VT

Good to know Mark. I'll check into that. I also just found out a couple of days ago that you can now use an original tag from the same year. 72 tag on 72 bike if it's in good condition. Not sure if that's an advantage over an antique tag but it would look cooler than the walmart looking antique tag we have now.

AMEN to that!! SCDMV requires that you fail a literacy test before hiring you.


Lane

I'm envious of anyone who lives in a place where a police-man comes to visit them without a warrant or a summons.......!

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

I'm hoping WV is that simple. I called the DMV in Charleston initially about the H2B and was getting 'well it should have a title' until I said 'Explain to me how these guys get titles for these old antique vehicles running around the streets. you know not all of them had titles floating around in the glovebox, then they transferred me to another guy who was extremely helpful.

He sent me three forms, one for the police to do a VIN check, another to have the bike inspected by the police to sign off it's road worthy, and another for the DMV where I have to explain how I got it, who the previous seller was, ect. He told me that normally the police do the VIN check and inspection at the same time but if I talked to the WVSP, they could run the VIN check for me before working on it, in case it turns up stolen. Once the VIN check comes out good, he said throw it together, drive it down to the WVSP, get it inspected, then take the DMV form, VIN form, and inspection form over to the DMV and as long as it had insurance, they would issue a tag. Two weeks later, I get a title.

Second way was to do a reconstructed title on it, little less stringent, but it still has to go through the VIN check, inspection, ect.

I hope this works out well because I'll be stopping by the WVSP tomorrow to ask about a VIN check on it before I start slapping parts on it. the guy I got it from said he was the owner but couldn't find the title anymore and thought it wa lost in the move. I had no reason to doubt him as he lives local and is around most of the bike meets, so hopefully if all goes well, I'll get a clean bill back tomorrow and will be one step closer to a title.

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74 H2B with reeds and 34mm carbs
75 S3A Ram Air with reeds and 30mm carbs
73 S2A (wife's bike)
71 Yammi RT1B
83 HD Sportster
03 Yammi R1
06 Kaw 750 Vulcan (wife’s bike)
12 Yammi vstar 250 (wife’s bike)