So, here's the story. My friend was on his way to the race track and was ticketed for speeding. The CHP examined the race vehicle he was trailering and asked if he had proof of ownership. My friend said no because it's a race vehicle which doesn't touch the public roads whatsoever.

The CHP impounded the race vehicle because he couldn't produce proof of ownership. A bit of background: The race vehicle went through several owners (no legit paperwork, just an exchange of cash...I'm assuming here but it's good guess), and since the vehicle was never going to be used on public roads he felt there wasn't any need for paperwork.

So, here's my question: Can anyone provide legal info (link?) whether or not we need to have proof of ownership any time a race vehicle is trailered?

It just doesn't make sense to me because how is this different from towing/hauling furniture/bicycle/etc. in your trailer? Do we need to provide proof of ownership for those too?

I told my friend he should fight it but he's passive and non-confrontational. And also feels there's really nothing he can do, and don't want to make this public which pisses me off. LOL!

Your help would be appreciated.

 

If it has a VIN it needs a title. Pretty sure CA isn't any different from CO, but I could be wrong.

I don't know of anyone that keeps their title on hand though however.

 

ofcourse you need to have proof. even when you have a old vehicle in your backyard you neeed to have proof. what if a thief is towing a vehicle etc.
i think you need a "non operational"
registration as well as a title of the vehicle under your name.

thumbs up to chp for checking up on the status of that vehicle being towed. too bad it was being towed for a legit reason

 

racecars get stolen to you know?

 

you can apply for an off road vehicle registration but most people just non op them because its cheaper and less of a hassle. if you do not know who the owner is, you can say the vehicle was abandoned on your property and hold a lien sale on it to acquire the title.

i went through all of the research for this because i was in the same situation your friend was in (minus the cops impounding my car). i lucked out and got the name of the registered owner from the dmw even though they arent supposed to give out that info. i just acted like i already knew who it was, and it turned out, the registered owner was the owner of weapon r haha. now i just have to go down there and have him fill out some paperwork and its done.

 

Damn cali sux. No cop here would even give a damn. Which is good and bad of course.

On the other hand, I am currently trying to get a lost title for my car. My mom bought it new and became my first car and it hasn't been on the road since '04, so it was still in her name. We drove way the hell across the city only to have them tell us they need a release of lien on it.
Seriously... wth. No one can even find anything about it when we call. We are now just trying to get someone to sign the damn paper and pretend so we can get it done with.

 

night, you forget the first part of the whole story, his friend was caught speeding while trailering a vehicle which to me if i was a cop would definitely snoop around more after pulling the person over.

to OP, you're friend is SOL because if a nonrepairable vehicle needs registration than a track only car does too. its more than likely like posted before an off-road vehicle registration http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d01/vc580.htm but probably can get away with a non-op registration.

 

Ya, I know, and I still say here a cop would ask a few questions, happily hand you a ticket, then move on to the next. Random things on trailers here is a dime a dozen.

 

The only reason the car got impounded is because he could not prove the car belonged to him.
A simple vin check would of revealed the owner of the car was him... his license would of sufficed as proof of identification.
If it would have been registered to him either non op or a normal registration there would of been no issue.
Either way if he had gotten the car registered non op or other wise in his name the officer would of let the car go and just issued a speeding ticket for the offense.
With so much uncertainty in who owned the car, he was only doing the corrrect thing in siezing the car until someone could identify themselves as the legal owner of the car.

Bad luck or not having your **** together....
Make sure your name is on the title of the car if driving or trailering to cover your ***.

 

Sorry guys, I should have mentioned this was a race motorcycle. So, it's probably not fit for this forum.

What he told me was if you order a replacement frame from the factory they will not etch/stamp the frame with a VIN # if it is purely for race purposes. I just search whether this is true or not, and it turns out to be true.

So, how then can the CHP impound a vehicle that is not a production vehicle but strictly used as a race vehicle?

Anyhow, I'll post this in a motorcycle forum instead.

Thx guys.

 

Crazy, My cousin bought a brand new 05 1000rr back in o5 and had it stolen a couple months later. The chp found a racer with it at button willow. The bike was all decked out from who ever stole it. He ended up buying the bike back from insurance for $2500. Parts on it was worth 10 times as much.

 

Hopefully he was smart enough to at least get a bill of sale when he bought the car.

 

that sucks.

 

did the cop also take the trailer those thing have vin numbers also???? and you can tell the differance between a track car and a street car.... sound like the cop just want a new project... couse if you ask me the proper thing would have been to let him keep the car write the guy a ticket for speeding and also write anouther ticket for improper registration but what do u expect from a state that is broke and trying to find money where ever it can.

 

With soooo many hondas being stolen in this state alone, the officer could of gotten in trouble for not questioning the cars ownership. Under the california vehicle code if you dont have paperwork showing you are the registered and legal owner the vehicle is to be impounded until legal ownership can be proven.
Trailers also have to carry a registration slip in the car or truck thats towing it. Dont produce that paperwork and another fine is going to happen.
So the correct thing to do is sieze the car until ownership... Proper ownership is determined! There is no cutting slack......... its just the law.
Blame the guy for not having his car properly registered in his name.
Yea this poor state needs money... but its because if the lazy elected officials we have in government. Naturally they are going to pass the bill down the taxpayers and make them make up the difference.

 

I think yall can skip on to the part where it is a non-vin'd bike frame

 

You think thats jacked up I just learned that the Income Tax is a voluntary tax and there is no Law say that we have to pay it and it is socially accepted by everyone and abused by the government. Long but very eye opening.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...59&hl=en&emb=1

 

So is the OP's friend screwed unless he can come up with paperwork?

 

yeh it may be the law but it lacks common sense if the cop would just wrote him a ticket for improper registeration he still would have to prove ownership in a court of law ( which could lead to other charges if not able to show proof) but in this case i think the CHIP acted cowboyish. but maybe in this case we are looking from two different directions with the same end point

 

Even though this guy actually owned the car... lets say he didnt and it was really stolen?
The officer then lets a thief get away with stolen goods?
Nooooo he did the right thing within the letter of the law.
Further more Im guessing the owner of the car gave this officer good reason to question the ownership.
It only takes resonable doubt for an officer to start looking harder at a person or vehicle.
My guess is theres probably more to this story than we are being told.

 

its a motorcycle. and +1 for the cop asking questions.

 

Provide a bill of sale. Its all that its needed. Been there done that.

 

ask ur friend what tow authority the officer used on the CHP 180 tow form and start by looking it up. the problem that he is going to have is the NO VIN. California has a law that allows the tow if there r no vin numbers on (car, motor, tranny) so if you buy anything in California have a bill of sale, registration, or sales receipt for the item. if u use a receipt, make sure it is formal with letter head of the business/ salvage yard. if there is no vin then u take it to CHP and DMV and request a vin for a custom build vehicle. again have dam good documentation for all the major parts (anything with a vin #).

 

off-road vehicle registration would've kept the bike out of impound especially since that type of registration is mainly for motorcycles and atv's. they also have a registrations for specialty constructed vehicle registration since there is lack of VIN http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d01/vc580.htm