Hey folks,
I'm located in the Bay Area California and thinking about buying a CT 125. I just spent my summer hiking from Mexico to Canada on the CDT and a trail bike would be a fun way to keep that spirit of adventure alive in the default world. I'm hoping to buy a lightly used bike (under 1000 miles) to avoid the dealer markups and premiums that come along with buying new (especially here in CA where supply is limited). I've been looking around FB Marketplace and found some very low mileage bikes listed out of state for around $3500, about $2k cheaper than buying new or $1k cheaper than used here in CA. So I've started toying with the idea of booking a one way flight to buy the bike and ride it home. Hey, it's got to be easier than walking right? Doesn't hurt that I have some past motocamping experience on my old Trail 90.
To that end, I'm wondering if anyone has experience purchasing a used bike out of state and registering it in California. Any advice? Pitfalls to look out for? Specifically, I have read that some folks buying other bikes have run into problems if the bike is under 7500 miles due to CA emissions requirements, but I suspect all CT125s in the US are 50 state compliant. Would certainly confirm the presence of that emissions sticker before flying out to buy.
First, welcome to the forum!
I did pretty much what you described (except for I didn't do a 'Buy and Ride' I did a 'Buy and Ship'. I bought my Trail when it was 1 year old with 800 miles on it from a former member on this site. Mine came from New Jersey where it was registered (on an expired tag). I wasn't willing to pay ~$6,500 for a Trail locally which is why I bought a 'gently used' one from across the country. Plus the former member of this site I bought mine from happened to be moving from New Jersey to a city ~30 mins from where I live and was willing to bring the bike with him in the moving truck so it didn't cost anything for me to get it here.
The process of getting it legally registered here in Ca wasn't easy, but wasn't that hard either; just have to play the game. Here are some tips I learned during the process.
* Go to a good third-party DMV office. The Auto Club was no help to me (gave me some bad advice and in the end couldn't do what I needed done). The first third-party DMV office I went to didn't want to deal with it. Luckily a couple of months earlier I'd brought a Classic car in from Kansas and ended-up using the same company for my trail that did my Classic Car.
*I used a company called 'Auction Express Title Services in Placentia, Ca. They're local to me (sort of) so I did everything face-to-face with them, but I think they can do stuff remotely too.
*The emissions decal was key; if you don't have that you're out of luck in Ca. But it seems that all of the Trails have them so that shouldn't be an issue; just be sure it hasn't been removed for some reason.
*At first I was told I'd need to make an appointment with the CHP to have the VIN verified, so I made an appointment and then was told that the VIN Verifier at the third-party DMV office could take care of it for me, so I cancelled the appointment and had them do it at their office.
*I had to pay sales tax on what I bought the bike for. No surprise there.
*I'd heard about the 7,500 mile rule too, but it seems to be not in effect anymore. I think I was asked what the mileage was, I told them 800 and no one ever asked again.
*My process was hindered by the Previous Owner who had lost the Title, ordered a replacement but it took some time for Ca's computer to get updated that a new (duplicate) Title had been issued. All Titles have a number on them someplace which has to match what is in the DMV's computer. When you get a replacement or duplicate Title apparently it takes a bit of time for all the States to update their Databases to reflect this new number. When those numbers don't match, the Title gets flagged as possibly stolen.
*Had I not had to deal with the lost/duplicate Title issue, or the fact that the bike had expired tags my process would have been much simpler, faster and probably cheaper.
*The whole process took about a month until I got perm tags and Title. In the interim I was given a 'Transportation Permit' (large red paper with the month on it) which is basically a receipt showing that registration fees have been paid, but there's some other issue which has to be solved before a perm tag can be issued or updated with a new Sticker. I rode around a bit with this 'Transportation Permit' displayed where the plate would have been and never got questioned from LEO about it.
*Altogether I think it cost $500, which included the Sales Tax, Transfer fees, back fees, VIN Verifier Fees, back fees from New Jersey (I think) and the fee the third-party DMV office charged me for their services. At the end of it all I got a valid plate, registration and Title so I was happy to pay it. The cost to get the Classic Car I'd had shipped to me from Kansas a couple of months earlier was about the same cost, but didn't include any issues with a lost Title or expiered tags.
There is another company called 'Dirt Legal' a friend of mine recently used to get a plate/Title for a Harley he inherited from out-of-state with no Title. It was also about $500 but he got a Vermont tag (just before they stopped issuing them) and now has to go to the DMV to get a Ca tag. In the end I think my way was simpler but my point is there are other ways.
That's about all I can remember. If you have any other questions post 'em up!
