Hey all,
I recently bought a used '00 Banshee. The problem is that I'm the third owner. The orginal owner traded the Banshee to the guy I bought the bike off for a Honda Dirtbike, at the time of their transaction the title for the Banshee was was still under lian (sp?). Anyway, he kept the title for the dirtbike and signed a bill of sale stating that upon receiving the Banshee title the dirtbike title will be mailed to the new ownder. Stuipidly he didn't get any contact information. When I bought the 'shee we wrote a bill of sale for the quad and I received the title for the Banshee and the other bill of sale from their transaction. I have the guy's name and all I know was the he was about an hour from Jack Frost. The closest place near me (NJ).

I had once gotten a number to check the Vin# but it didn't work from my house in NJ (it was a PA number). Does anyone know of a number I can call to locate the title? A website? Anything will help. I've decided I want to register this bike and need the title to do so. Thanks for any and all info.

Nick

the only thing I can think of is to try the DMV in your area or maybe Yamaha factory

GOOD LUCK

Ride hard, Lifes short

hey toytrk85, if you do go to jack frost let me know. I'm from long island and got a bunch of info on the place last time i went skiing over there. After I'm done with my lt250sport I'm thinking of going a for a there for a few rides during the summer combined with a camping trip and want to know what it's like and if it's worth the drive.
As for the title, is the lean still on it, because if it is and you transfer the title into your name you may be held responsible to pay it off. the only sure way I can think about getting a title is through the dmv, but you need the old title for that. You could also thy a title search company, or one of those companies that do an owner search and issue a title baised on that, unfortionatly i don't know much about either exept that i saw one advertised in the old bike journan paper.


ktmbk
83 ATC 250r (with many extra parts), 83 ATC 185s, 85 Ktm 350mxc.

I was checking out this board, and don't mean to interrupt,but I had a similiar thing happen to me. I'm in Ohio and all atvs and off-road bikes must now be titled like a car. What this means is that if you didn't get the title signed over to you, you don't own it. If the bike had a lien on it, the bank owns it until it is paid off. The original owner can stop paying for it now and the bank will come to reposess it. When they can't find it ('cause you have it) they will report it stolen. This causes a problem because the reciept that anybody signed is worthless unless you want to take them to court. The bank would still own the bike. If you want to find the ownership history of the bike, go to your local Clerks of Courts for your county, usually in the county courthouse. They can run a check and show all the previous owners for any vehicle. I've had one done as far back as 10 years. It will show the owners address and the bank holding the lien. Your best bet would be to contact the bank and find out if the owner is still paying for the bike and try to work out a deal with the bank and owner to put the lien on the other bike and release your title(which you need to register and get a sticker.) Remember, what this guy did was illegal, and the bank will do what they can to straighten it out. How well do you know the original owner? Do you trust him? Why would he pay several years for something he doesn't have anymore. Also, it will be a crime for you to ever sell this bike without a title, it falls under the same laws as a car. If you happen to buy a bike or quad that was made before titles were mandatory, you can get a signed, notarized reciept with the vin on it, take it to the BMV with the bike, they will inspect it for $2.00 and you can take that to the Clerk of Courts who will issue you a title. I recently did this on a 1982 CR480 and a 1986 CR500. Beware, this will only work on something thats never been titled. And if the bike had ever been stolen, even years ago, the police will be at your door to take it back. I once had to explain to the Kentucky State Police about a mustang that I had got from a friend without a title. It had been stolen 3 years earlier. Hopes this helps.

my back hurts...

Since it has a PA vin # call the Department of Natural Resources of PA they have all the records on atvs in PA..
They will tell you if there is a Lean still on the title and if not where to go to from there..

if you do find out there is a lean on the title still , you may have your Banshee repossesed

Ride hard, Lifes short

Yeah,
I'm considering calling and saying "I'm considering buying a used Banshee and would like to know if there is a lean or anything on the quad." This way I'll at least know. I'm not loosing my investment thats for sure. Thanks for the tips.

Nick

You absolutely nailed it there. I'm glad you figured that one out. Tell them you are thinking of buying. I think you're in beep do-do here. I've got a little money that says some bank is looking for that bad boy. You better keep that quad low key.

'85 Quadracer

Yeah, I'm still looking for a number to call. I've also been searching for an A-arm frame with a title, I figure I can have it powdercoated and swap all my parts over it and register that if need be. Gotta see what happens, no one happens to have the number I need to call do they?

Thanks again,
Nick

Sidelman and 10X have the right ideas. Since the bike is last year's model, I HIGHLY DOUBT THE ORIGINAL OWNER EVER PAID FOR IT. If he did pay for it, then why didn't the bank send him the title? This sounds kkind of shady to me. The original owner probably fell behind on the payments and sold it for whatever he could get out of it and reported it stolen. This is the pessimistic side of me talking...

Something similar happened to me when I bought a handgun from a buddy. He bought it from the original owner and never registered it. My buddy and I had our respective bills of sale, but not the original owner. This guy had so many guns that he didn't know if he sold it or not and reported it stolen. When I tried to register it, the cops wanted to toss me in jail for possession of a stolen firearm. No way. I showed them copies of my bill of sale and my buddy's bill of sale. When they contacted this yahoo, they faxed him a copy of his bill of sale. Then, there was no argument. The original owner was then fined for reporting it stolen in the first place!

Caveat: do all the research you can before buying ANYTHING used that has the potential to bite you in the butt years down the road.

ga_duner