well kiddies,
here's how it works in ohio (many of you in the northeast will be appalled):
if it ain't a moped it needs a title.
1. check with your bmv/dmv to be sure there isn't an extent title in your state. the ohio bmv has a convienent free site you can search by vin to see if it's in
their system. this won't tell you who owns it, only that someone does when it was titled last, how many miles, etc.
the vin for my bike= cb7502350368
as you can see, as of monday i will have owned my poor anabelle for 10 years.
if your state shows an outstanding title you're screwed. be prepared to face the possibilty you've acquired a legal liability.
2. if your state shows no title you can contact a title service. i used
international title service once and had no problems.
3. send the bill of sale along with current address and a check for their fee. (you basically sell them the vehicle and they sell it back to you) in about a week or so they send a bill of sale from a state where they are a licensed dealer.
4. you take this bill of sale to your bmv/dmv for it's out of state inspection. the fuzz looks it over for any tampering with the vin/engine numbers.
if you get a clean bill of health then you get the inspection pass/release and then you're off to go fight with the title department.
5. you show up with your slip from the inspection, your out-of-state bill of sale and gleefully hand it over to the clerk who proceeds to get snarky with you and treat you like a criminal. if all goes well and they manage to find the references in the books as to how to create a title from a bill of sale in maine you get your title and bid a fond farewell to the title depatment.
total cost in the neighborhood of $300 (between title fees and inspection) you milage may vary depending on the age of your bike.