So about 45 miles outside of Columbus is Wayne National Forest. 70+ miles of trails, from tame to insane. The problem is, in order to ride Wayne (or any other State or National Forest) you gotta have a registration sticker (like you'd see on a bass boat or something like that). In order to get a registration sticker, you gotta have...yep, a title.
The Ohio DMV has a form called an "Affidavit of Ownership" in which the owner of a bike too old to have a proper Off Road Title (i.e. pre-1999) swears that the bike is his and a new title is issued. The problem is, you're still required to have a notarized bill of sale in order to use the affidavit. Now, how the HELL does that make sense? If I had a good Bill of Sale, WHY would I need a sworn affidavit just to change it over into a current Off Road Title???
I bought the bike ('74 KS125) at a swap meet from some vendor and had no idea I'd have to deal with all of this b.s. Guess I just wasn't thinking.
Now, I've got a number to call on Monday, but I still don't know if I understand the process right.
I understand that this process exists to limit the number of stolen bikes out there. I'm cool with that. I've had bikes stolen from me and if this one turns up hot and the original owner can be found, I'll surrender it.
So what do I do?
Call the cops and have them run the VIN? Its a 9 digit VIN that I'm almost positive pre-dates their records system. If it comes up clean, will I get another form with which I can generate a new title? What if they have no way of checking a VIN that old? Hell, I don't even know what state this bike came from...
The Ohio DMV has a form called an "Affidavit of Ownership" in which the owner of a bike too old to have a proper Off Road Title (i.e. pre-1999) swears that the bike is his and a new title is issued. The problem is, you're still required to have a notarized bill of sale in order to use the affidavit. Now, how the HELL does that make sense? If I had a good Bill of Sale, WHY would I need a sworn affidavit just to change it over into a current Off Road Title???
I bought the bike ('74 KS125) at a swap meet from some vendor and had no idea I'd have to deal with all of this b.s. Guess I just wasn't thinking.
Now, I've got a number to call on Monday, but I still don't know if I understand the process right.
I understand that this process exists to limit the number of stolen bikes out there. I'm cool with that. I've had bikes stolen from me and if this one turns up hot and the original owner can be found, I'll surrender it.
So what do I do?
Call the cops and have them run the VIN? Its a 9 digit VIN that I'm almost positive pre-dates their records system. If it comes up clean, will I get another form with which I can generate a new title? What if they have no way of checking a VIN that old? Hell, I don't even know what state this bike came from...