The Salvaged Motorcycle Odyssey - Part 1

I shall print this out so Mrs Cat can read it to me as a bedtime story...

Eagerly awaiting that final installment.
I hope it has a happy ending.

Del

Del,

Thanks for the comment! It is going to take me a while. I won't find out about when it will get inspected for a few weeks yet, but I will have weekly installments for you already working through the whole process so by the time you get through them, I should have the entry about the inspection and registration process all ready to go.

Think of it as your weekly automotive cat nip!

I agree with the kitty. Very compelling article and I can't wait to see the stories that follow. I hope for the best.

Honestly, I was slightly disappointed that after all those listings and prices that you didn't then write (or something of the like): "Selling the bike without repairing it: priceless" Did you not get anything out of those Mastercard commercials?!?! Sad.

People come to Tennessee or go to other states will salvage titles and register them and get a regular title.

So you may never know if there was a salvage title or not on cars or motorcycles.

So if I came to Tennessee, I could register the bike and get a clean title, then turn around and come back to New York and get a clean title here?

While a scenario like that would be great for someone in my spot because he or she could avoid the wait, expense, and hassle of the Anti-Theft and Salvage Unit inspection, it seems like their should be some sort of standard practice about this nationwide. I can only imagine that insurance companies have to hate that. Not to mention, any vehicle from Tennessee now must be regarded as suspect.

I know from a little research that you don't have to even be a resident of Vermont to have a vehicle registered in Vermont. And if you get insurance first, in New York for example, then register the vehicle in Vermont, you can get around the inspection process that I am going through. Technically, according to my sister (who works for State Farm), doing this is considered fraud because you would have New York insurance on a non-New York registered vehicle. I don't remember the term she gave for it, but I will certainly ask her.

Getting through titling with any DMV seems so convoluted, though, and apparently what you need to do and what you need to provide changes a good deal from state to state. I would recommend anyone doing a lot of research before they get involved with salvage vehicles. I'll handle this a little more in a later segment of this blog.

Indeed, the requirements change (rather drastically!) from state to state. But since the revenue generated by the DMV is state revenue, why would that be a surprise? The main factor, I think, is that "anti-theft" portion of the inspections unit. You don't need to be tooling down the motorway, get stopped for a routine traffic check, and arrested for suspicion of GTM (grand theft, motorcycle) due to an unclean title. Nor be saddled with an unoperable "salvaged" vehicle that by rights should have gone to the breaking yard.

I too await this bedtime story. I hope it doesn't become "The Tempest (In A Teapot)". "As You Like It" would be better, eh?

Agreed that having such a type of inspection is a good idea. And since the last thing that I want is to be either under suspicion of theft, or to be a red smear on the highway. It just seems to me that there should be some form of uniform application. State's can still get the revenue, but dealing with buying this type of vehicle from out of state seems to be more confusion than hassle, really.

Part 2 is posted for anyone who is interested. I thought I would give subscribed readers a head's up.