Ohio title issue

A local aftermarket bike shop has a 1984 Seca 750 that looks to be completely stock, though I haven't really inspected it yet.

It has no title. The shop said they got from someone who bought it as a project and could not get the title from the original owner because they died and blah, blah , blah.

About ten years ago I had a similar issue with a postal jeep that I bought out of state and the title had been screwed up when the owner scrapped another jeep and use the wrong title. I found a service that, for a fee ran a title search on the VIN and supplied the required paperwork for the Ohio DMV to issue a new title. I don't remember if this was a salvage title or what. I do know that I sold that jeep a few years later and the new owner had no problems transferring the title.

It seems that Ohio law has changed and I cannot find this service agency again. The DMV tells me that I have to get a judge to order them to issue a new title and that it is almost impossible to get it done.

Does anyone know of any way to get a good title for this bike in Ohio?

 

Look into getting it registered in VT their are a number of threads on how to do it and you can do it by mail.

 

The shop selling it can (and should) file a mechanic's lien (Ohio should have a provision for that). It's a relatively straightforward process, and they should have a clean, transferrable, title for you in a few weeks.

 

K-moe is right. Try the mechanic's lien first, VT would be a secondary option (albeit a very good option)

 

A few weeks might be optimistic. I forget all the details because I haven't done on in awhile but I think it took longer than that here in Michigan.

A packet of information needs to be sent to the state. They send back a title form, a list of the owner and lien holders.

Then an auction needs to be scheduled, with enough lead time for the owners or lien holders to settle the tab and claim the motorcycle. Registered letters need to be sent to the owner and lien holders.

At the auction the winning bidder gets the title form that he can use to title the motorcycle.

That assumes that some repairs were authorized. I had one abandoned here with no repairs authorized and my only option was to have the police impound it. Eventually a friend of mine bought it from the impound lot.

 

If it's going to be that long for a mechanic's lien to be finalized, and a clean title issued, I'd pass on the bike no matter how good of a condition it's in. If it were a rare, and difficult to find model it'd be worth the hassle. Since there are plenty of good XJs out there, it's just not worth buying someone else's problem.

If the shop can't provide a clean title they aren't in a legal position to sell it anyway.

 

Pretty easy to get registered here in ga. Tag office will give you a t21 and they will give you the number to the cop shop . They will come out fill it out sign it take it to the tag office with your bill of sale and your done they do not issue titles prior to 86 unless you have 1 in hand. The lady at the tag office said its easier to get the t21 filled out because there are so many people here in ga that get a bill of sale then do not fix the bike and sell it that way your covered. But once registered what ever state you take it to afterwards you use the registration and bill of sale to get a title next to Vermont its the next easiest way.

 

If it's really an '84 750 Seca, then it should be the XJ750RL. A very rare model here as it was not a USA-delivered bike. A few were sent to Canada, but that's about it, IIRC.

If you can't get a a title, get the bike anyway and consider parting it out. You'll make more than enough on it.!

DAve F

 

Thanks for the replies!

I'm going to take a closer look at the bike today.

I've done a little looking into the Vermont thing and it's a possibility. As hogfiddles suggested, if it's in decent condition I'll probably get it regardless of the title situation and part it out. That is if the VIN comes up clean/not stolen.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Regards,
Rich

 

Well, after spending a good bit of time on the phone with the OSHP salvage /builder's title inspection office I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to touch this bike with a ten foot pole.

According to the officer/inspector I spoke with, the bike shop cannot legally sell the bike as a unit even if they have incontrovertible proof that it is not stolen. By ORC if the bike has ever been titled in Ohio and does not currently have a valid title the only way to get a title is to petition a court to issue a court order permitting a new title to be issued, and it is illegal to sell any title-able vehicle without a title.

They can part it out but every single part has to have a bill of sale, so I can't even buy a rolling chassis and an engine. He said they can't even technically sell the frame at all since the frame is the titled vehicle.

He also said "Don't even think about the Vermont trick. We know how that works and are on the look out." I never mentioned it, he brought it up on his own.

 

Good call. I had an opportunity last week to buy a nice condition Maxim 550 for $200, but without a title (and I illegible VIN), I just wasn't going to do it.

 

Illegible VINs are not an issue. You can take the "shorty VIN" stamped into the top of the transmission housing and use it to "reverse engineer" a full VIN using the formula found in this article: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14577.html

 

The VIN is also stamped into the headstock, usually opposite of the sticker. If the stamped VIN has been tampered with you have a parts bike, or a DMV headache.

 

buy it anyway, get yourself some good parts. Then cut up the frame into unrecognizable scrap metal... throwing the tube with the VIN in the trash.