It can't hurt to talk to the bank. You could always meet him at the bank with the money that way you can get the title in hand there (and a lien release or whatever). They should be able to tell you how all that works. By doing that you can also ensure that you only pay the balance of the loan.

 

Primalmu is right. The transaction can be taken care of right at the bank. Often times the physical title is not held at the bank itself, but at a corporate facility. You get a release of lien document and the title will be sent to you by the bank in that case. You still have to send the title into the state to get the ownership changed after that in most cases.

I wouldn't trust anyone I didn't know to follow through on paying the loan "later" then getting the title to me. I want it all taken care of all legal-like so the repo guys don't end up snatching the bike.

Edit: If the owner is getting more for the bike than he owes on it, you would have to make out two checks, money orders, bank drafts, etc. One for the pay-off on the loan and one for the previous owner.

 

so looked like I missed out on a good deal eh? Well, I'm not into the FZ6 anyway (no offense Slim ), just wanted to get that so the wife can sit comfortably on the back (she saw the type and likes it). Ans since it's an 06 and so cheap ...

 

none taken... mines an FZ1!

17k on an '06 is HIGH mileage! i bought mine last july, with a mere 7k. paid 4,200.00 guy had title in hand.

if you can deal with the bank, i think you are safe. nevermind the cash now title later stuff...

i would also be weary of the dent in the tank. no way that happened from a driveway drop. i dropped my bike, and barely scuffed the clutch cover, frame paint, and bar end. (bought frame sliders later that night...)

a guy i know dropped his R1 riding a wheelie, and all that came of it was a small dent in the tank, and a scuff on his sliders. (frame, and swingarm.)
he said his bike slid about 100'. i wasnt there for the get off, but i did see the aftermath.(yawn..) to see the bike, you wouldnt have any idea what happened.

 

Yea on a loan deal like that you always want to go to the bank and pay the remainder off right there, otherwise the guy might still owe money.

 

Agreed, you have to go down pretty hard to dent a tank very easily.

 

We bought our bike from someone that owed money to HD Finance. We wrote up a bill of sale - went to my bank and had it notorized and then wired the payoff amount of the loan to HD Finance. He let us keep his plate and gave us the registration until the title came, about 10 days later. everything worked out just fine. With the current state of the economy and people being out of work, people selling bikes that they still owe money on is becoming common.

 

i agree with all the finance stuff, just going to the bank will save a lot of time and possible headache. the dent though, i have to diasgree. i was working on my katana in the drive last week and it tipped, which really sucked. i managed to put a dent in the tank and devastate me, for although an 88, it was flawless. i just had it repainted a week before.

 

Wait a minute. If you go to the bank, the bank will not give you the title. How can they. When the loan is paid off they have to send the title to whoever the loan was from and whoever was the registered owner. Only the dmv (in California) can transfer the title, not the bank.
So then you still have to trust the seller, when he gets the title in the mail to sign it, and send it to you. You then take it to the dmv to put it into your name.
I would never trust a stranger with something like that. On the HD above, it seems to have worked out.
But I don't see how the bank can transfer the title. I don't think they can. Not in California.
dc

 

you can always get the lien from the bank to release the title to you. thats what i did with the last car i purchased. i made my last payment at the lot and they gave me the lien. i took it to the dmv and they transferred the title right there and gave me a copy right away

 

No. California is different. They don't hold a lien. They hold the title. And then they can only release it to the registered owner, which can only be the seller, as you can't transfer it to the buyer until the bank sends the title.
dc

 

Aaron - 17k is high in my area, where it snows like 4 months a year . Only crazy guys like me would put that much mileage on the bike, but then I wouldn't call that low

As for lien and title thing ... I guess I can find out only when I talk to the bank. Reason I made the thread was to see if I'd be wasting my time with this kind of sales or not

 

Aaron - 17k is high in my area, where it snows like 4 months a year . Only crazy guys like me would put that much mileage on the bike, but then I wouldn't call that low

I live in Iowa...probably the same length riding season.

even if the dent came from a drop in the garage; unless i knew the po personally, i wouldnt buy it. no telling where that dent came from.

Thats a great plan if you want to pay premium prices for perfect bikes.....but thats not really what Im interested in. I want to pay next to nothing for good bikes. Ive gotten a pretty fair collection of bikes that way....and never really got burnt. You just have to know what to look for....if you dont then theres no shame in choosing not to play the game.

 

I wish the Autosource (or whatever the insurance company works with) would think the same - they said my 37k mile '96 bike is high mileage, and they're deducting $500 off the value of the bike. Meh that's like 3k miles per year.

 

fwiw, i paid 4200.00cash for a bike with 7,000 miles. before that, i bought a '77 cb750k that was cherry for 950.00 (my brother still rides this bike 8years later. before that was a honda cm400e. got that one for free.

and i do pay premium prices because you get what you pay for.
i always say; beware of the guy tattooing out of his garage...

i think this would apply in this instance as well. but then again, if it aint broke...dont fix it.

 

I know people that have done this before. It can be done at the bank or credit union etc.
They can usually do a transfer of ownership if you are paying off the loan in total right there.

And while in some places that might be high mileage, even up where I am from. I doo know people that put that much on their bikes.
One of my co-workers has about 21,000 on his bike in the past 3 years. He does all the maintenance himself and he too is an instructor so he stays on top of everything.
But whne you factor in a trip to souther CA, one to CO and one to northern Alaska in that 3 years the miles add up fast.

 

My 08 has 14,000 miles on it, in a northern climate. How well the bike was maintained has a lot to do with it.

 

you don't call that "low mileage" would ya?

what I mean is, low, high, I don't care, if high with good maintenance that's great, but when you call 17k miles for 2 and half year "low" I'd look at you and say "are you crazy?"
That's how I viewed the seller. I'm just not sure if it was even his bike. Looked like he was comparing it to a car and said it was low

 

I would call 14,000 high mileage for the area here. If it was in a warm climate without much rain such as in the southwest, it would probably be more like average.

 

How about this?

Bought one from a guy on CraigsList Saturday. Basically, bought it for what he owed. HEre is what we did:
He made up a bill of sale.
I wrote a check (regular check) and placed it in an envelope addressed to his bank. (He watched me make out the check)
We both wnet to teh post office, an dropped it in teh mail.

I rode off with teh bike. I am now waiting for teh bank to send him teh title and for me to get it, but I am feeling pretty good about the transaction

 

bike with lien

I too just bought a bike two weeks ago from a guy on CraigsList. I consider myself a good judge of character, but that doesn't make my wife any happier, plus the fact that I'm still waiting on the title to arrive. The guy and his wife were super nice and an active military family. They were having to sell off all their posessions after being given orders overseas. When I got there, all the banks had just closed, and I had to be at work the next day, so staying overnight was out of the question. The bike was 2 years old and in perfect shape, no scratches or dents, and only 3800 miles. He even threw in both helmets, and a cover. While I trust that he has sent the title as he said, anything could have happened, trust or not. Now, two weeks later, waiting on the title, I can only hope he went a paid off the loan, and didn't spend that money on some bad habit. That would mean, I couldn't even apply for a title for the bike without the original lien holder stating their claim to ownership and tracking me down. That would also mean my owner written bill of sale was worthless. All things I didn't think about until I began waiting for the title, and my mind began to run. If I had to do it all again, I'd plan to meet at the bank.

 

I too just bought a bike two weeks ago from a guy on CraigsList. I consider myself a good judge of character, but that doesn't make my wife any happier, plus the fact that I'm still waiting on the title to arrive. The guy and his wife were super nice and an active military family. They were having to sell off all their posessions after being given orders overseas. When I got there, all the banks had just closed, and I had to be at work the next day, so staying overnight was out of the question. The bike was 2 years old and in perfect shape, no scratches or dents, and only 3800 miles. He even threw in both helmets, and a cover. While I trust that he has sent the title as he said, anything could have happened, trust or not. Now, two weeks later, waiting on the title, I can only hope he went a paid off the loan, and didn't spend that money on some bad habit. That would mean, I couldn't even apply for a title for the bike without the original lien holder stating their claim to ownership and tracking me down. That would also mean my owner written bill of sale was worthless. All things I didn't think about until I began waiting for the title, and my mind began to run. If I had to do it all again, I'd plan to meet at the bank.

I would give a call just to verify that the loan was paid. Start with the seller and follow up with the bank. You can be polite of course, just ask if everything went through as planned. Don't lose the bill of sale. You'll need it if you have to take legal action.

 

Radar. Hopefully it won't be a problem. Quite possibly it would take more than 2 weeks, but no more than, 6? If you know the bank you could call. Call the seller. Ask. But if you did get ripped off, at least you got ripped off by polite people.
Give it more time. Or call just to get reassurance.
dc