non-op problem

I bought a basket case Duc on Monday. It had a clear title, and had not
been registered since July 98. I went to DMV today to do the title
transfer paperwork and non-op it for now.

They wanted $300 in back registration and penalties since the previous
owner failed to non-op it every year since July 98. This is in spite of
the DMV form I provided where the previous owner stated that it had not
been operational since then, which is 6+ years ago.

I walked out without completing the paperwork, to consider if I had any
options.

One choice is that since the restoration will take maybe two years, I do
nothing until then and hope the bike disappears from the DMV system. If
that happens all the back fees and penalties disappear. The drawback is
that my inquiry may have reset the clock for this bike in the DMV system
and the only result will be an additional $100 or so in late fees and
penalties.

Anyone else experience this situation?

Ken

 

Apparently a dealer can get the whole thing waived -- happened with the
bike I bought from (gulp) Golden Gate Cycles in 1998. It had been
unregistered since 1994, but the salesman told me that they would get
that fixed and it wouldn't cost -- that's one promise they did deliver
on. You may have to sell and buy back to do it.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

Taking a cue from another thread - how about registering it out of
state?
Would this be a problem for you?

I myself am potentially in the same situation - if I ever end up
getting the thing back on the road. By that time I imagine that the
bike will have fallen out of the system.

The question is how long that takes?

The only other time I've dealt with something like that, the bike
hadn't been reg'd for about 16 years. I'm not really willing to wait
that long.


cds

PS - Basket case Ducs - woo-hoo! Details?

 

Got it resolved with partial success. Initially I took the paperwork to
CSAA and they gave me the standard answer. I then took it to an actual
DMV office and after much talking they waived the penalties but still
hit me for back registration. Went from owing $300+ to owing $150 and
gaining non-op status going forward.

One funny part was that the clerk asked me for a reason why she should
waive the penalties. I said "I'm sure you've heard every excuse and
story there is, so how about if you just tell me what story will work
for this case?" She basically told me what to write in the
"explanations" blanks, including what NOT to write as it would just
trigger more questions.

So the lesson is that 5 years is not enough for a vehicle to drop out of
the system.

Ken

PS: one of the bikes is a 74 Duc 750 GT in kit form (I'll try to put it
together), and the other is a 77 Duc 500 GTL (I'll try to make it run
and then sell it). if anyone has spare bevel Duc parts laying around,
or pointers to them, I'd like to hear about it. I also ended up with
some spare bevel parts I don't need, like a Sport kick starter, SS side
covers, an SS front fender, and a SS rim; all this is trade bait.

PPS: previously, the seller had gotten rid of a pair of BMW /5 projects.
when I got the GT boxes home, 3 of the boxes contained /5 parts and I'm
missing a similar number of GT parts. so somewhere in the City there's
a guy with a pair of /5 projects, who's scratching his head and thinking
what the heck is THIS thing?!? I put an advert on Craigslist, but it's
a long shot. now I have to inventory and dispose of a bunch of /5
stuff, and hope it will cover the missing GT stuff.