Need some help from the motorcycle people in BC - ICBC problems

[Drache]

Ok dad and I purchased a frame and a few misc parts for a 1971 Triumph Bonneville 650 off a family friend. Now dad and I have rebuilt the bike pretty much from the ground up. The problem is the bike has NEVER been registered in BC. The problem comes with us trying to register the bike. We've been jumping through hoops and to no avail. They want us to instead get a new VIN for the bike and register it that way. The problem is they state if we do that the bike must meet all 2012 regulations. That means DOT approved headlights (not a big problem but it means non-stock), a chain guard (which isn't made), and the biggest is they state the bike is NOT allowed to be carbureted. Now we've already dumped a LOT of money into this bike and we are tapped out. So changing these things for a new VIN is pretty much out of the question.

Someone told us to "sell" it to someone in BC, have it registered there, then sold back to BC. But ICBC has records of us already trying to register the bike. There is a file or something because one ICBC agent knows everything we explained to another agent months before.

We need ideas... help... whatever.

 

[Wheels]

Look I live in B.C. and have registered all kinds of bikes that came with no papers.
I need more info. Do you have any registration papers from where it was registered last? Selling it to some one else in B.C. will not work. Did these guys tell you about
the " last resort registration " registration proceedure? Do you know who the last registered owner was? I will look for my step by step proceedure sheet , I have this written down some where. I971 triumph did come with a chain gaurd.

 

[sireland67]

I an not sure about BC here in WV I refuse to start any project with out a title.

My buddy bought an old BSA basket case at a flea market years ago.
He dumped about 6K in it, restored it super nice, went to title it, guess what?

Stolen bike out of FL, the state police actually asked him to hold it until the rightful owner could pick it up.

Good luck

 

[Bad Sport]

I an not sure about BC here in WV I refuse to start any project with out a title.

Good idea.

 

[Drache]

I need more info. Do you have any registration papers from where it was registered last? Do you know who the last registered owner was?

There wasn't one. The family friend got the parts from someone who got them from someone else. The bike wasn't registered to any of those. We have a bill of sale and "transfer papers" from the last owner (family friend) but the other two for all we know are dead.

Did these guys tell you about the " last resort registration " registration proceedure?

We were told how to go through the hoops on trying to register a bike that has never been registered before. We've jumped through each hoop they've given us over the past year. We were finally given new forms to fill out but ICBC told us it was a "hail mary" type of deal.

The last form they gave us to try FORM 1484 Statutory of Declaration or something like that.

I971 triumph did come with a chain gaurd.

Well that is good to know but the switching from carbs to fuel injection is the biggest problem we are facing.

I an not sure about BC here in WV I refuse to start any project with out a title.

ICBC told us they wouldn't even think of registering the bike unless it was ready to be inspected. To be inspected it needed to be rebuilt.

My buddy bought an old BSA basket case at a flea market years ago.

He dumped about 6K in it, restored it super nice, went to title it, guess what?

Stolen bike out of FL, the state police actually asked him to hold it until the rightful owner could pick it up.

When we got the bike it was a frame, a seized engine of the wrong year, and a few other misc parts. The only part we ended up using was the frame. So worst comes to worse and it IS stolen, legally we only have to return the frame.



BEFORE:

CURRENT:

 

[Wheels]

I dont know what idiot you are dealing with at ICBC
but all they need to do is view the vin # if you have a bill of sale for it.
motorcycles are considered Recreational Vehicles and do not require inspections
unless it is being registered as a ubuilt. There is a very good chance that your
bike is from Alberta , I would go to a notary public (lawyer) have him phone or write
motor vihicles in Alberta and request last registered owner info for this abandoned
motorcycle contact him get reg and bill of sale from him. Before doing this I would
visit RCMP website and do free vin # check to see if it is stolen. if it is strip it back down to the frame and drop the frame off at the local cop shop. Notary public will probably charge you $50.00 to write the letter. Let me know what happens.

 

[Drache]

There is no record of the bike in Alberta, we had a friend in Alberta check that. I've also checked the RCMP VIN search and doesn't come up stolen. There is no registered owner of this bike in BC or Alberta. We've checked both.

And they are trying to make us register it as a U-built. That's where all the carbs to fuel injection comes in.

 

[Wheels]

Ok , I purchased a ubuilt harley from a friend in alberta it had never been registered in B.C. and ICBC tried this crap with me and they wanted to assign me a new ubuilt 00000 something number and make me get it inspected. I made the agent phone a supervisor in Victoria and I explained to the supervisor ,that if they registered my bike with a 00000 something serial # that does not match the one on the bike or does not even appear on the bike that every time I would get pulled over the cops would take my bike away. I told the supervisor It has a real serial number so why not use the right one. So the supervisor had the agent view the serial number and the supervisor changed the words 1982 ubuilt to 1966 Harley Davidson and they printed me new papers. No inspection required. In B.C. my bike serial # now comes up as a 1966 Harley Davidson, but I bet you in Alberta it would probably still come up as a 1982 ubuilt. All I had was a bill of sale no transfer papers no registration sqwat. Some times these agents do not know what to do, so try getting the idot to call thier supervisor in Victoria talk to some one that has some power to make the needed changes and make the needed paper work appear out of thier little printer, oh be polite and patient with the supervisor. But the supervisor does have the power to do this for you. If that does not work try the last resort reg thing or find a frame that has a registration slip. Nice looking oil frame triumph I have a 67
bonne that my son and I are going to build for him. I had to do the last resort thing for that frame to get papers printed up, and it had been registered in B.C. bit of a pain but it worked. Good luck

 

[Drache]

Update:

So we called a lady in Kamloops who then called Victoria. She is stating if we dont want a new vin then we have to do a Canada Wide search for the bike, get a provincial inspection, AND structural integrity inspection done. Also we cannot say we rebuilt the bike as that means it would be a U-built. BUT if we say we bought the full bike and it turns out to be stolen, we lose the entire bike and not just the frame.

 

[Gryzynx]

Update:

So we called a lady in Kamloops who then called Victoria. She is stating if we dont want a new vin then we have to do a Canada Wide search for the bike, get a provincial inspection, AND structural integrity inspection done. Also we cannot say we rebuilt the bike as that means it would be a U-built. BUT if we say we bought the full bike and it turns out to be stolen, we lose the entire bike and not just the frame.

ICBC, god bless their cold, lifeless hearts! They have got to be the most clueless insurer out there. MPI in Manitoba runs a close second.

Have you considered registering the bike in another jurisdiction that is more friendly to resurrecting old vehicles and importing it back into BC with registration from the friendlier province? Better yet, move to Saskatchewan! I know I will.

 

[Drache]

Have you considered registering the bike in another jurisdiction that is more friendly to resurrecting old vehicles and importing it back into BC with registration from the friendlier province? Better yet, move to Saskatchewan! I know I will.

That is the "Alberta Trick" I meant to mention in the first post (mistakenly typed BC though).

Supposedly Alberta has some pretty lax rules about this so we can maybe sell the bike to someone in Alberta to register then sell it back. Alberta to BC means no inspection either.

 

[Gryzynx]

Not sure about Alberta, but I do have experience with Saskatchewan.

When I moved there in 2008 from Manitoba, I brought my 64 Rambler along. Last registration had been 20 years earlier in Manitoba and I had no papers. Since I already had a vehicle registered in my name in Saskatchewan that was my primary driver, I was able to register the Rambler as a vintage vehicle without any further inspection. Rates were low and there were no real restrictions on the use as long as I did not drive the vehicle to work. When I moved to BC in 2010, I brought the Rambler along and had no problem registering it as a regular passenger vehicle using the Saskatchewan registration as proof of ownership. Had to pass a safety inspection, no problem there, but getting collector plates in BC is an ordeal. My car did not qualify because the front seat upholstery was worn. I can't wait to move back to Saskatchewan!