Buying and Registering an "unfit" motorcycle for a chopper build.

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crunkboy6

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Hi everyone. I had a question about an upcoming project and need some insight.

Im going to buy an "unfit" harley davidson sportster 1200 that im planning on turning into a chopper. The owner registered it without insurance or safety so thats why its deemed unfit. He rode on country backroads with no insurance for years.

Im trying to purchase the bike and get it registered and safetied ASAP to build into a chopper over the winter. Once I chop the frame it wont pass safety and ill be screwed. My problem is that when I go to register it now, I need to provide proof of insurance. I dont have insurance on it and dont want to start a policy on it at the moment since its the middle of winter and i wont be able to ride it until at-least June when the build is completed. How do I get around this? I essentially want to register it and safety it now so when bike season rolls around I can just call my insurance and get it put on a policy without having to provide a safety or anything like that.

What are my options? I read they dont give out temp stickers to bikes deemed "unfit". Can my insurance give me a policy just for a couple days so I can get it fully registered as "fit"?
 
crunkboy6 said:
Hi everyone. I had a question about an upcoming project and need some insight.

Im going to buy an "unfit" harley davidson sportster 1200 that im planning on turning into a chopper. The owner registered it without insurance or safety so thats why its deemed unfit. He rode on country backroads with no insurance for years.

Im trying to purchase the bike and get it registered and safetied ASAP to build into a chopper over the winter. Once I chop the frame it wont pass safety and ill be screwed. My problem is that when I go to register it now, I need to provide proof of insurance. I dont have insurance on it and dont want to start a policy on it at the moment since its the middle of winter and i wont be able to ride it until at-least June when the build is completed. How do I get around this? I essentially want to register it and safety it now so when bike season rolls around I can just call my insurance and get it put on a policy without having to provide a safety or anything like that.

What are my options? I read they dont give out temp stickers to bikes deemed "unfit". Can my insurance give me a policy just for a couple days so I can get it fully registered as "fit"?
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You don’t have another bike that you can just add this to your policy?

If above answer is no, you’ll want to get insurance going anyways because the longer you delay the longer until you’ll see savings.

Something else you may want to think about, what would your insurance think if you made a claim on a chopped vehicle if you didn’t disclose it? I’ll let the project gurus weigh in, but food for thought.
 
Evoex said:
Something else you may want to think about, what would your insurance think if you made a claim on a chopped vehicle if you didn’t disclose it? I’ll let the project gurus weigh in, but food for thought.
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This would be my concern as well.

I have had bikes in my name, registered as "fit", but without a plate portion attached to the ownership.

I'd switch it up every few years, and not need to safety the bike; just go to the mto and get a plate assigned to it, with my insurance policy information.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk
 
When I went to get an ownership for an old Honda I bought w/o paperwork the guy at SO accidently (I guess) gave me an ownership marked "fit". I wasn't about to argue with him.
 
Conventional insurance takes a dim view of vehicles with significant modifications. If you're planning to modify to the extent that you already know that the vehicle will no longer pass a safety inspection afterward, maybe you need to think again about what you are planning and why, and whether you really want to go down that route. Insurance companies frequently want photos of the vehicle that they're insuring. Getting a policy with the vehicle in one condition, and then significantly altering it to the extent that (in their opinion - not yours) it is no longer the same risk that they are insuring, is fraudulent. Could be a problem should you ever have a claim.

A lot of show bikes are trailer queens, never ridden on the road. Don't need insurance or licensing if it's never ridden.

It may be possible to get specialty insurance, somehow. The automotive hot-rod folks may have some sort of solution for this. There may be limitations on how you use the vehicle.

I think you need to have a chat with people who are into that sort of thing, to see how they handle it.

I don't own a vehicle that is not modified. One of them has been taken apart almost to the very last nut and bolt, and put back together somewhat differently (by myself, years ago). BUT. All the lights work, horn works, mirrors are there and functional, license plate is where it's supposed to be and illuminated like it's supposed to, there are no structural modifications, suspension works, there are no major power adders, emission controls are stock (nothing), mufflers are decent, "looks stock to a cop". I could put it back to stock if I had to.
 
You will have to get this motorcycle safety certified to change the ownership changed to your name.
Then you go to the MTO office and get the ownership changed to your name but do not put a license plate on the bike.
Here's where it gets tricky. If you have a plate registered to your name, already, it's easy. You transfer that plate to chopped bike, and get it insured and your off to the shows.
If you don't have a plate already, I'm not sure how you would get one if the bike is chopped.
Maybe you get it safetied, and plated by insuring it right away before the chopping. That would be the easiest way.
 
Low rider said:
You will have to get this motorcycle safety certified to change the ownership changed to your name.
Then you go to the MTO office and get the ownership changed to your name but do not put a license plate on the bike.
Here's where it gets tricky. If you have a plate registered to your name, already, it's easy. You transfer that plate to chopped bike, and get it insured and your off to the shows.
If you don't have a plate already, I'm not sure how you would get one if the bike is chopped.
Maybe you get it safetied, and plated by insuring it right away before the chopping. That would be the easiest way.
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i have a plate already registered to my name from my last bike. Im under the impression in order to get the bike changed into my name I need an insurance policy number AND a safety certificate
 
Evoex said:
You don’t have another bike that you can just add this to your policy?

If above answer is no, you’ll want to get insurance going anyways because the longer you delay the longer until you’ll see savings.

Something else you may want to think about, what would your insurance think if you made a claim on a chopped vehicle if you didn’t disclose it? I’ll let the project gurus weigh in, but food for thought.
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I do have another bike on an insurance policy. But I dont understand why that matters
 
matt365 said:
This would be my concern as well.

I have had bikes in my name, registered as "fit", but without a plate portion attached to the ownership.

I'd switch it up every few years, and not need to safety the bike; just go to the mto and get a plate assigned to it, with my insurance policy information.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk
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can you explain this in more detail?
 
crunkboy6 said:
how do I register a bike as fit unplated?
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Go to the MOT. Wait in line for a long, long time. When you get to the desk, ask the nice clerk if they would please register your bike as FIT-UNPLATED. They'll want the vehicle-permit side of the ownership, with the back filled in and signed, and a copy of the safety. Pay the fees and leave.
 
bitzz said:
Go to the MOT. Wait in line for a long, long time. When you get to the desk, ask the nice clerk if they would please register your bike as FIT-UNPLATED. They'll want the vehicle-permit side of the ownership, with the back filled in and signed, and a copy of the safety. Pay the fees and leave.
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okay great, and in June, when I want to register as fit-plated, will I need to resafety it? what about when I insure it? will they request another safety? Also, I have a registered plate from my last bike (Yamaha FZ07), can I use this and bypass having to show proof of insurance and just get it Fit-Plated right away?
 
crunkboy6 said:
okay great, and in June, when I want to register as fit-plated, will I need to resafety it? what about when I insure it? will they request another safety?
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Safety expires after 30 or so days as soon as you have the safety register as fit unplated. You can then get plates and insurance any time.

Sent from the future
 
crunkboy6 said:
okay great, and in June, when I want to register as fit-plated, will I need to resafety it? what about when I insure it? will they request another safety? Also, I have a registered plate from my last bike (Yamaha FZ07), can I use this and bypass having to show proof of insurance and just get it Fit-Plated right away?
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Only need to safety the bike once.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PROVE INSURANCE COVERAGE TO GET A FIT-UNPLATED OWNERSHIP, but you don't get a plate, just registration.
To "bypass" proof of insurance is fraud and there is even a separate charge for writing it on the form and handing that form to the clerk: Uttering
 
crunkboy6 said:
okay great, and in June, when I want to register as fit-plated, will I need to resafety it? what about when I insure it? will they request another safety? Also, I have a registered plate from my last bike (Yamaha FZ07), can I use this and bypass having to show proof of insurance and just get it Fit-Plated right away?
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Once you have a vehicle in your name registered as fit, you don't need another safety unless it changes owners. There are rumblings that douggie may change that and require recurring safeties, but nothing remotely official so who knows if that will every happen.

To get to fit-plated, you need proof of insurance. Insurance over the winter costs almost nothing (IIRC Dec to Mar is ~10% of your yearly premium). Like the rest, I would be more worried about insurance than plates. I don't want to lose my everything just so I can ride a bike I think looks cool. Material changes without notifying them allows them to avoid paying out a claim (and they flag your name so any future insurance car or bike is punitively expensive for lying).
 
bitzz said:
Only need to safety the bike once.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PROVE INSURANCE COVERAGE TO GET A FIT-UNPLATED OWNERSHIP, but you don't get a plate, just registration.
To "bypass" proof of insurance is fraud and there is even a separate charge for writing it on the form and handing that form to the clerk: Uttering
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sorry, didnt mean bypass as in fraud i meant bypass by needing proof of insurance to get a plate if i already have a plate from an old bike. Not sure how this stuff works.
 
crunkboy6 said:
sorry, didnt mean bypass as in fraud i meant bypass by needing proof of insurance to get a plate if i already have a plate from an old bike. Not sure how this stuff works.
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You need to attach that plate to this bike at SO. To make that attachment you need insurance (well technically you need a company name and policy number but you have to sign that you aren't lying).
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