Thread: VFR400R 1989

That's even better for whoever wants to buy it. I can run down and pick it up for you.

I have to head down that direction within the next 6 weeks anyway.

Originally Posted by seamus

That's even better for whoever wants to buy it. I can run down and pick it up for you.

I have to head down that direction within the next 6 weeks anyway.

can you front me the money for it too?

Sure. But I charge 1400% interest, compounded hourly.

Originally Posted by seamus

Sure. But I charge 1400% interest, compounded hourly.

boo, I was willing to go double the going rate for what that deal was with DoubleDan for the FMX. so what's that make the offer, $2.50?

Originally Posted by seamus

That's even better for whoever wants to buy it. I can run down and pick it up for you.

I have to head down that direction within the next 6 weeks anyway.

+1 that is not far to go at all. About 3 hours so I could zip down on a weekend real easy.

Originally Posted by seamus

Sure. But I charge 1400% interest, compounded hourly.

I knew you worked for the government, but I didn't realize you worked that close.

Nick, make sure you're asking the question correctly. Pre-75 vehicles, which this is registered as here in AL, don't have titles. The registration paperwork when signed serves as the transfer of ownership paperwork.

Nick, there is likely a way. My Canadian RC didn't have a title or a manufacturer's statement of origin or any records from customs. It took days of calling Lansing and wading through the layers of misinformation,

• (Keep calling until you get someone who can help.)

Ignoring several bureaucrats in the local Sec-State office who, never having heard of this sort of thing, pompously informed me it couldn't be done without a note from the EPA (pure prairie bullshit)

• (Go to a different Sec state office)

And the lying. lazy, and impressively stupid local homegrown police.

• (Contact the State Police for any necessary inspections, and keep trying to find a motorcycle enthusiast.)

The key is to get a valid Alabama title, and the seller HAS to help you do this. You'll probably need a notorized affidavit of the circumstances of the sale and the provenance of the bike from the seller and a licensed motorcycle dealer (does NOT have to be a shop) in Alabama., and you will likely have to buy a title bond for a couple hundred dollars which indemnifies Alabama, you, Michigan, and the licensed motorcycle dealer if someone comes up and claims the bike was stolen and is rightfully theirs.

A good place to start is to find a title bond company local to the bike. They will probably know how to proceed. Get the cost first, one title bond would have cost thousands versus the hundreds I paid, and I would not have been able to easily find my way without the dealer in Mississippi helpiing me. So if Skittles really wants to sell this bike, he has to do some footwork for you.

Once Alabama has issued a title for the vehicle, you can transfer it.

Even if there is validity to what he's saying about titles, it doesn't matter unless you have something from Alabama that Michigan will be willing to transfer. If the forms he proposes to give you are not acceptable to Lansing, forget about it.

Originally Posted by Skittles

If i had a title for it i would be asking $5500.00 for it.

And it would still be a good bargain...good luck with the sale...

Originally Posted by Skittles

If i had a title for it i would be asking $5500.00 for it.

And it would be long gone.... It is worth your time to take the steps to contact a licensed dealer and a bond company to get the ball rolling. You can easily and reasonably add the cost to the price.

I have really got to stop opening this thread, and the pics in it...I may go blind...

It's one of those bikes that if I had it I would just keep it just to have. It looks too good to give away.

CBRVFR, so before you left Mississippi with your bike you were able to get a bonded Miss title? Were your calls to Lansing before or after you had the bike?

This makes it sound like I would want my bonding company to be in Iowa not Alabama if I was going to try to go the bonded title route here.

A few years back I purchased a CRF450 from a guy in Kalifornistan that didn't have a title for it as the bike originated in Canadia - which is why he was selling, couldn't get through the red tape to title and register it there.

The process to obtain a title here was incredibly simple. Yes, I had to get a bond for I believe 50% of the vehicle's value (don't recall exactly, but I believe that was it), had the local police come by to run the VIN to be sure it wasn't stolen, fill out a couple forms.

When I sold it, I pocketed more than I was into it - bike, shipping, bond, title, even oil changes.

Moral of story - it's worth your while to at least look into getting a title.

Funny Story. When I bought my 93 TZ new, I had a certificate of origin and a receipt from Yamaha USA, that was it. Since I was financing it, I needed a title for the bank. I went to the Secretary of State and got the title along with a plate for my "Not to be operated on any public road, race only on closed course" vehicle. I asked the SoS person why they gave me a license plate and she said "they are always issued with a title on a new vehicle". I just left and have the plate sitting in a corner around here someplace.

Maybe I should have rigged the plate up and had a cool streetbike . . .

Originally Posted by abtech

Maybe I should have rigged the plate up and had a cool streetbike . . .

Umm, yeah.

I made the calls from the moment evl-twn told me about the bike. Michigan needed the bonded title from Mississipi, and after that I needed a frame number inspection from a police agency. A real police force, not Andy and Barney down here.

Finally, I needed a person who was easy to work with at the Sec-State office. At one point I told her too much information, (having to do with the bike being on the DOT approved list for the next year, when they came into the US) and she said, " I didn't hear that, OK?" in order to keep the transaction at her level rather than the manager.

I happened to go to the one closest to Grattan. The locals were unbelievably unhelpful. They gave me a load of shite that countermanded what the people at the main State office told me. At one point, I said "look, the person in Lansing found that information on the computer in about 15 seconds." He replied "We're not them." No, I guess you're not.

I laughed and left before I ripped his throat out.

The person behind the counter in Plainsfield also laughed when I told her that, and looked up the information instantly, as he could have done if he wasn't such an asshole.

I've learned in business that if you are VERY persistent and take good notes, you can find a way to navigate almost any bureaucracy. But it takes a lot of effort, and you can't waste time fighting small battles with territorial jerkoffs, especially if you're right.

In chess, you just have to kill the king. The rest is details.