Topic: Now she's home. "Project Eleanor" begins. (CB500T)

[Chad]

Here's the story:

I was with a friend at a local motorcycle shop. My friend had an old Kawasaki he wanted to show me that he was storing there. He took me into a big garage that was jammed full of bikes. Most of them were all 80's sportbikes. But... back in the corner I saw an old CB. I crawled my way back there and discovered it was a CB500T.

When we got out of the garage I talked to the shop owner about it. He said a guy came and dropped it off a few years ago wanting to get it running again. He looked at it for him and discovered the motor was seized so he called the owner and told him him there was nothing he could do and it's been sitting ever since. He told me if he could get ahold of the owner and if it was ok with him, he would just give it to me because it was just taking up space. I gave him my number and was hopeful for a callback. Never happened.

The bike is currently sitting outside in the weather. It is in pretty good cosmetic shape. Not a lot of rust. For now. The contact info the shop owner has is no longer valid I believe because he has not been able to get ahold of the bike owner. (I've been bugging him about it for several months.)

So... here's where I need help. I want to do a VIN lookup and see who the last registered owner of this bike was. (I live in TX) The problem is it has a 13 digit VIN and the DMV says they must have 17 digit VIN.

There's got to be some way to find this guy. Help me rescue this bike before it's too late! 

And of course I have pics for you all....

[madScientist]

I know someone who might be able to run the VIN for you if you want. PM me and i'll see what i can do.

[Killer Canary]

Rather a sharp looking machine. Should have been left at 450cc though.

[hondamatteo]

Here is a pic of my CB500T that I picked up a year ago

And this is how it looks now


Nice and easy bikes to work on. Alot simpler then the sohc4's engine wise for sure.

[MikeKato]

chadlamson

So the shop owner told the customer 3yrs ago that the engine was  seized and the customer hasn't made effot to pick up the bike since. Wouldn't it be the shops bike for the time they had into it and the 3yrs worth of storage? I would think you could buy that bike from the shop owner for $25-50 and the customer wouldn't have any legal grounds to recover it. The customer probably quit thinking about this bike as soon as he hung up the phone 3yrs ago. Go get that bike. Or at least go cover it up before the Earth reclaims it.

[trueblue]

Have a read of this link, should help you out

http://www.texasbar.com/Content/NavigationMenu/ForThePublic/FreeLegalInformation/ConsumerTenantRights/MechanicsLeins.pdf

[Chad]

So I called the TX DMV with the VIN and they said that the VIN in not in the TX database. So I drove up to the garage where the bike is at and look at the tags. It's from New Mexico. I'm going to call a NM DMV, but if their laws are like the TX laws, they won't be able to give me a name or anything. This is getting more and more difficult.

Anyone have any experience dealing with titles in NM? Is there someway I can find the last registered owner of the bike?

[Chad]

Well, called NM and they said that I can fill out a form, mail it in, do a bunch of other crap, and they'll give me the info. The cool think is there's no charge. The bad thing is, that is can take several weeks. 

Member madScientist has a friend that is looking into the VIN for me so hopefully that will go through and I won't have to worry about all that. If not, I have a back up plan. 

[Chad]

Well... good news. (ish)

I called the garage owner again and asked if he was ever able to contact the owner. He said no, but he doesn't want the bike taking up space anymore so I can come get it.  I have conquered the free CB500T.

The only bad news is no owner means no title. I hoping to get a name or something to go off of when I go pick up the bike tomorrow. I will be ecstatic if I can get the bike and the title signed over without paying a penny.

[madScientist]

That's great news. Sorry I couldn't be faster on the background check. I'm at the mercy of another individual regretfully.

[MikeKato]

Chad         See if you can get the shop owner to give you some kind of receipt. Tell him you'll give him $25 or $1 or whatever. That receipt might be the difference between whether or not you get a title. Also if the owner all of a sudden wants that bike without having to pay his shop bill he might be able to take it back if you can't show something stating you might now be the legal owner.

[Chad]

That's great news. Sorry I couldn't be faster on the background check. I'm at the mercy of another individual regretfully.

No problem. I really appreciate you looking into for me. 

Chad         See if you can get the shop owner to give you some kind of receipt. Tell him you'll give him $25 or $1 or whatever. That receipt might be the difference between whether or not you get a title. Also if the owner all of a sudden wants that bike without having to pay his shop bill he might be able to take it back if you can't show something stating you might now be the legal owner.

Thanks for the advice. That something I wouldn't of thought of when going to get the bike and then a few months down the road I'd be kicking myself. Thanks for that!

[78whiteorbs]

http://www.2strokeworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=10002.0  read this - your welcome!

[Stev-o]

http://www.2strokeworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=10002.0  read this - your welcome!

orbs, did you do it? Read about this on advrider and plan to do it for my K1

[Chad]

http://www.2strokeworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=10002.0  read this - your welcome!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!   

I knew there had to be some loophole in the system.

[Stev-o]

The Chad - only one thing, you will need a bill of sale to get a TX title.  Hope you are not too honest!

[Chad]

The Chad - only one thing, you will need a bill of sale to get a TX title.  Hope you are not too honest!

Ya. My plan was to buy the bike for $20 or something and get the shop owner to sign the bill of sale. Would that work? Is there a minimum purchase amount?

[Stev-o]

I don't think he will give you one?

Here is my recent expeariance:  bought a '72 CB750 from NY, no title, they did not issue titles back then. But I did get a transferable registration and bill of sale. 
Took both of those documents to my local DMV and after a little head scratching and looking bin her big book, I was cleated to get a title.

So, can you get a transferable registration from VT? Let's say yes. Can you get a bill of sale from a guy who is not the rightful owner? Doubt it. Can you just make one up? Sure. Will it work?? Who knows, let us know.

[Chad]

I don't think he will give you one?

Here is my recent expeariance:  bought a '72 CB750 from NY, no title, they did not issue titles back then. But I did get a transferable registration and bill of sale. 
Took both of those documents to my local DMV and after a little head scratching and looking bin her big book, I was cleated to get a title.

So, can you get a transferable registration from VT? Let's say yes. Can you get a bill of sale from a guy who is not the rightful owner? Doubt it. Can you just make one up? Sure. Will it work?? Who knows, let us know.

Hmm.. interesting. Thanks for your input. Guess Im gonna have to keep researching. I see what I can figure out and report back and let ya know.

[Chad]

I got the bike home and stored in the garage.

Nothing on the previous owner yet, but I'll get that figured out. The bike is a little dirty, but in great shape....cosmetically. It's a three day weekend and my wife is going to her sister's house all three days so I'm hoping to get a lot of work done this weekend. 

First step, take out the motor and figure out why it's stuck. It's shifts through the gears fine, but the motor won't budge. I'll probably spray some sea foam and/or pb blaster in there first to see if it comes free. If not, the whole motor will be in pieces by Sunday.

Oh ya... forgot to mention. The bike came with a bag of parts including the carbs and airbox. The carbs actually look really clean on the inside too. 

After getting it home:

[Stev-o]

The bike appears pretty clean and not like a rust bucket. Maybe the pistons are seized do to a mechanical failure?
Is there any oil in it?