HELP! selling motorcycle but lost title

[jsturges18]

i sold my ducati this past weekend, well technically holding it for someone till i can find my title. i can go get a duplicate but the problem is that when i bought the bike off the owner before me i never registered it. so theres no document of me owning this bike other than my bill of sale from the owner i bought it off of. and my bil of sale is handwritten, would it be better to fill out a legit bill of sale for proof that its mine. but that would bring me to another problem being that the owner i bought it off of lives on the other side of the country. and i can't get in contact with him

can someone tell me what to do? please?

[ricebike]

contact the previous owner & get him to get a duplicate title; snail-mail him if you need to... it's still legally HIS bike!

return the money to the buyer &/or tell him to wait until the title is in your hands

[300ZXttZMAN]

Yea you just simply screwed up... There is no way to sugar coat it. I swear some people would loose their head if it was not connected to them.

I think the fair thing to do is let the buyer know about the issue, return his money and attempt to get the title then relist the bike for sale if you get the title.

You just have to hope that the previous owner is nice enough to go get a duplicate title.

Good luck.

[snwbrdr435]

You could also register it in vermont and get a title that way

[frapjap]

You could also register it in vermont and get a title that way

or Florida.

[bcar240]

I'm in a similar situation except I am the buyer and the seller flaked out on me. I've been told by the DMV there is no way for me to get a legal title unless I can trace the chain of ownership back and get legal transfers between all parties involved. I know a lawyer and asked him and he told me to sell the bike for parts to avoid the trouble. I can also do the Vermont/Florida thing and/or get a bond title or something like that, but the legal fees to do that are more than the bike is worth.

p.s. the only reason I bought it in the first place is because the person who sold it to me signed the back of the title like it was his, but stupid me I didn't check that the name he signed was not the same as the name on the title. I witnessed him sign it and thought I was good to go.

[jsturges18]

got lucky with this one. got in contact with the owner i bought it from, he said he will try to get a duplicate for me and sign it and send it too me. now what will he need to prove that its his and get a duplicate and from what I've heard it takes months to get the duplicate. is this true?

[frapjap]

No. Assuming he applies for the duplicate asap, you'll get it within 1-2 weeks.
There is one other thing you can do if you're very friendly with your insurance agent. Ask them for the tip.

[jsturges18]

insurance agent? tip? i never had the motorcycle insured or registered