How to Get a Title For a Motorcycle

So, you found yourself a great deal on a motorcycle, one you have always wanted. It is a vintage bike, and it has some wear and tear, but it is what you have always wanted. But there’s a catch: the bike doesn’t have a title. You need to title your motorcycle to ride it legally, but how?

Well, this can go one of a couple of ways: it could be that you will need to swipe left and move on from your dream bike. You could wade through a sea of local laws and DMV paperwork to find the right ones. Or you can swipe right into the Dirt Legal Motorcycle Titling Service, where we can get you on the right path and back in the saddle by doing the hard work for you.

Roadblocks to Titling a Motorcycle

Okay, so we all dread going to the DMV; no matter how tight a ship you run, you end up missing something, or it hasn’t been notarized correctly. It is always a giant hassle. But assuming you have done everything correctly on your paperwork, some things will be absolute showstoppers. Here are a few of them.

Missing Title

A missing title is the first way your day will be ruined by trying to get a clean title on your dream bike. 

Titles have a terrible habit of walking away. Being composed of a single piece of paper does not lend them to staying put, especially when looking at two or three decades old vehicles. 

Unless they are a barn find, motorcycles that are getting old have likely traded hands several times, including crossing state lines. So the lineage starts to get a little dicey after those periods. Sometimes it is malicious (we'll get into that in a little while), but for the most part, it is usually just a byproduct of age. Unfortunately, not everybody wisely uses a lockbox to keep necessary paperwork in, so sometimes titles get lost.

VIN Verification

The process of verifying a VIN is not necessarily a roadblock in and of itself. Still, it can pose some level of difficulty depending on what might have transpired over the life of the motorcycle. The caveat is that not every state requires a VIN check for titling a motorcycle. 

However, this is probably a step you should take if you are buying the bike and you feel like there are a few too many loose ends in the description. A VIN check is swift, cheap, and will hedge you against potential legal pitfalls if you possess a hot bike by accident.

If a seller won’t give you the VIN upfront or it’s missing from the bike, you should walk away from the sale. There is no good reason why someone would intentionally hide those things from a buyer, only bad ones.

Salvage Branding

Salvage branding is particularly troublesome, but it is not impossible to deal with. Having a salvage title does not mean that you cannot drive the bike again legally or that it has been in some way condemned from legal roadway use.

Due to the simplicity of most bikes versus cars, salvage branding might not equate to all that expensive of a repair. Take, for instance, the bike is flooded. Replacing the entire fuel system is an afternoon job; gutting the electrical system and replacing it with a new wiring pack is about the same. Almost any DIYer can do both of these tasks with little trouble. Meanwhile, the same tasks on an average passenger car require a full shop and a significant undertaking, so there are plenty of times when a salvage title is rightfully a death sentence. 

Again, if you are unsure about the title status on your bike, or prospective bike, order a VIN check and find out for sure. It only takes a few minutes and ten bucks is minimal to spend for the peace of mind of illuminating any potential roadblocks to titling your motorcycle.

Stolen Motorcycle

Ok, this one is pretty obvious and is an absolute show stopper. You cannot title a stolen motorcycle without being arrested for possession of the stolen property. But, again, the VIN check will immediately identify if the bike you are looking at is stolen or not. 

The VIN check is so cheap and revealing that it should be standard for all used vehicle purchases. Of course, you never know what is going on when you pull up to look at a used vehicle, but the added evidence you get from a VIN check will tell you about any theft history that could stop you from getting a title for the motorcycle.

Unknown Lien Condition

There are several ways a seller could produce a fake or inaccurate title to hide an existing lien. They could even hide the title altogether and claim they lost it to avoid a lien.

These are the sort of conditions that you can avoid by, you guessed it, ordering a VIN check. But, of course, a VIN check isn’t a cure-all for all title problems; it's just that the VIN is critical to the title process. So step one should be making sure that there aren't going to be any issues with the VIN that will preclude titling your motorcycle and obtaining a clean title.

Bonded Titles

In some cases, you may be required to obtain a surety bond to obtain a title. For example, the surety bond is used in certain states and cases where the title has been lost, or there are no legitimate means of proving ownership. The surety bond is a three-party agreement that employs a neutral party to guarantee that the buyer will fulfill a contract or obligation. 

As the name suggests, a bond is required, which is somewhat of a roadblock if you try to title a bike because often, the bond itself will have a discretionary period during which you cannot obtain a title. Therefore, getting a surety bond to title a motorcycle is a lengthy process you should only undertake if this is not your first rodeo.

How to Title Your Motorcycle

This is the heart of the discussion: what do you have to do to get your motorcycle titled? Of course, this depends on whether you plan to do it in your home state or if you would like to register something else instead.

What We Need to Help You

We know that you are here, at this blog, for a reason. Your home state has made titling your bike harder than it should, and it sucks. But we are here as your one-stop shop to get you titled, registered, and on the road. 

First, and this one is concrete, we must have legitimate proof of ownership. To proceed with the Dirt Legal Motorcycle Titling Service, we need a valid bill of sale. Also, we will need you to run a VIN verification by your local DMV or police on all motorcycles that are 2008 and newer AND over 300cc displacement. We highly recommend you purchase our VIN check to ensure no unexpected incidents occur during the verification process. 

How To Get A Title For A Motorcycle With a Bill of Sale

When you have a bill of sale, titling your motorcycle is easy. So long as you pass your local authorities' VIN verification, our process is straightforward. We can register any road-legal bike with a clean VIN from any state. 

Once you initiate the request, we will send you a packet of information and forms to fill out and sign, and then we will handle the rest from there, including titling your motorcycle on your behalf.

Transferable Registration

Suppose you are not interested in tagging your bike out of state and only wish to get a piece of paperwork to transfer the title for your motorcycle. In that case, a transferable registration might be just the ticket. The caveat is that it only works for motorcycles (and all other types of vehicles) fifteen years or older. 

There are some states where there is no requirement to title certain vehicles. Instead of a title, the state will issue a transferable registration. Your home state should accept this and process the transferable registration to title your motorcycle without asking any questions. Of course, if they don’t like it, you can get a tag through us, and we can even help you get it registered annually. 

How the Dirt Legal Motorcycle Titling Process Works

It is hard to navigate through unfamiliar rules and regulations of an out-of-state DMV. Top that off with trying to conduct the process from a distance, and it is daunting. However, we know the DMV well and have removed all guesswork. Instead of repeatedly getting your paperwork kicked back, we do the heavy lifting and make sure that you get your title promptly and correctly the first time.

We know that the only thing you want to do is get your bike on the road. But that can be difficult when you acquire from family, end up with a barn find, or any other reason why titling your motorcycle goes south. You don't want to study the state tax code and statutes to get a clean title; you just want to ride! Dirt Legal is in your corner to check your VIN and make sure it is good to go and get your motorcycle titled and tagged to get out there and ride legally.