I am continually amazed by the number of motorcycles I see for sale on my local Craigslist that do not have a title. This does not really include all of the old dirt bikes, ATVs, and old non-running street bikes that you can somewhat expect this of.

I see a number of bikes that are less than 10 years old, heck 5 years old that no longer have a title. It cannot be fathomed how so many people lose their title. What is even more ridiculous is how people make it sound so easy to get a new title. Assuming the bike is not stolen or free of any liens, you still have to pay a considerable amount of money to apply for a title.

Maybe what makes it worse is that living in a metropolitan area containing around 100,000 college students, it provides an endless supply of suckers willing to buy a motorcycle without a title and then on the flip side those trying to sell their Hyosung sport bike or crappy scooter that they probably bought without a title.

I am interested to see if this is common around the country (yes I am too lazy to surf around looking myself).

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K6 Silver/Blue Wee

Current mods: plenty

Future mods: Headlight guard, radiator guard, oil cooler guard, and handlebar risers. (Watch this list shrink).

No.

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04 Wee with all kinds of excess crap..

When I was shopping for a bike I'd always ask if they had the title in hand. When a bike was being sold without a title, it was almost always because the seller still owed money on the financing.

When you finance a bike, you turn the title over to the bank. You get the title when you pay off the loan. It's probably not that these sellers lost the title; it's more likely that they don't fully own the bike they're trying to sell.

Yep, and some folks pay off the lien and don't bother asking the bank to notify the DMV to issue the title to the owner, because it's not an issue until they want to sell the bike...kind of dumb but it happens.

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DL650A K7

Sure, but a smart buyer will not make that his or her problem.

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'08 Wee

Now that you mention it, I've never bought a vehicle on which there was a lien. Howzzat work? How would I find out with certainty who owns it, and how would I get the title from that entity? Would I pay off his bank directly?

I've only bought from dealers, so have never run into this.

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'08 Wee

The only time I ran into title issues was buying my Wee and in that case the seller resolved the issues by paying off his loan and obtaining his the title from the DMV before I showed up with the bank draft to pick up the bike. In fact, he faxed the title to US Customs for me to avoid me waiting 3 days for export clearance. He was a very helpfull seller, even gave me a place to stay overnight.

In Canada we don't have the same process. The banks don't keep the 'title', instead they register a lien against the bike. There is a lien search that can be done to verify if the 'title' is clear. If not, it is common practice to write a cheque to the sellers bank and pay any balance to the seller...and get a letter from that bank indicating the 'title' is clear of liens. (We call the 'title' the 'Vehicle Registration').

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DL650A K7

I never thought of that, but that sounds like a good explanation. It probably accounts for some of the bikes I see, though I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't follow-up with their lien-holder to get their title.

Still, I see a lot of ads that specifically say that the title was lost or they never got it from a previous owner.

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K6 Silver/Blue Wee

Current mods: plenty

Future mods: Headlight guard, radiator guard, oil cooler guard, and handlebar risers. (Watch this list shrink).

This is very common here, too.

With a newer bike, "no title" is code for "stopped making payments, gimme some cash for crack before the repo man shows up". Run away.

With a bike more than about 5 years old, it's just general stupidity and cluelessness. The owner puts the title in a drawer and forgets where he put it. Then he's too lazy to go get a duplicate when he needs money for more meth or to bail the 'ol lady out of jail. Again, run away unless you just want it for parts.

Here in Indiana, it's pretty much impossible to do anything about a lost title unless you're the registered owner.

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2002 Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom, Dark Metallic Space Blue
1983 Suzuki GS850G, Cosmic Blue
2005 KLR650, Aztec Red - Turd II, the ReTurdening

there are lots of bikes for sale. i buy title in hand or meet you at your lending institution where the pay off and title transfer takes place. why buy into a royal butt ache, it's a business deal,trust shouldn't be involved. you could be buying a stolen bike !!