License Plate Blues

Planning on a fly n ride next week to Maine. Apparently the license plate in Maine is not issued to the vehicle but to the registered owner. So, in preparation for the trip, I got my insurance setup to go into effect when I acquire the bike and took the info to the courthouse to get a Temporary license plate issued for the ride back.

Only to find out that it may not be recognized by other jurisdictions between Maine and Texas. The courthouse said they were aware of problems others have had, but did not have a list of any state or local jurisdictions where this has happened. AAAAARRRRRGGGG

Anyone else encountered similar issues.

Registrations should be recognized in all states. You should be able to get one in either your home state, or Maine, as long as you have proper paperwork. Worse case, get the paperwork ahead of time and do a full registration at home and bring the real plate with you.

Catch 22, I thought the same. Thinking that a temporary tag, plus valid insurance identifying the VIN, plus bill of sale would suffice any where. Apparently not. I can't preregister in Texas and get a Texas plate to take with me because they require a state issued safety inspection of the vehicle before a permanent license plate will be issued.

When I brought my Wing back from PA, the previous owner left his tag on the bike. I mailed it back to him when I got home.

John

I don't get it. People are driving coast to coast with temporary paper plates on their vehicles every day. Who told you this would be a problem?

Svrdhd said:

I don't get it. People are driving coast to coast with temporary paper plates on their vehicles every day. Who told you this would be a problem?

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Yes, I agree !
There should be NO trouble.
Proof of insurance....along with your insurance company phone# just in case.
Bill of sale with VIN and signatures.
I also get name and phone # from person I am buying from for further fall back.
Never have had any troubles.

I took it a step further buying a bike in Tennessee where the plates stay with the owner who would not let me take it with the plate and mail it back, I just road it home over 3000 miles with no problems. I had the bill of sale with me and title along with my insurance information.

Get a paper plate in Maine. Take insurance and sales paperwork to local DMV.

Svrdhd said:

I don't get it. People are driving coast to coast with temporary paper plates on their vehicles every day. Who told you this would be a problem?

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The issuing authority, the county courthouse, here in Texas. You're right it sounds ludicrous, and you could have knocked me over with a feather; at first I thought they were kidding but after talking with others they confirmed it as true. Apparently it's happened often enough where they will issue you the temp license plate; but have been told to also issue the caution before hand.

I used to live in Texas and am pretty sure you have nothing to worry about even if you get stopped. The whole state uses cardboard tags until yours arrives.
Before moving there I was driving an out-of-state vehicle in Texas and got pulled over by the state police for only having one license plate. I calmly explained that if had two plates they would be different numbers since my state of residence at the time has never issued more than one plate per vehicle. It was like I had stated the Earth was flat or something, but eventually the light bulb flickered and he let me go.

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec462.html

Looks like Maine plate is $1 and is good for 14 days.

David, I'm not surprised...

I had a similar issue with a new bike I bought in Ohio, kept in Ohio, and tried to license it in Colorado...I was caught totally unaware of the licensing problem across state lines. I even had the Manuf Statement of Origin, bill of sale, and Ohio temp tags, yet and Colorado wouldn't let me license it. I was floored...

The Ohio dealer had installed temporary tags to comply with Ohio law, and Colorado wouldn't accept it without a "VIN Inspection" at a Colorado inspection station. I couldn't license it in Ohio as I was there on special assignment (not an Ohio resident). I finally got the ear of a DMV manager in Colorado who took some sympathy, and promised me that IF I got an Ohio State Patrol to fill out an affidavit on the odometer and VIN, and i got a letter from my employer stating my Ohio assignment, duration, etc, and that i brought the Troopers paperwork with all the other paperwork, then she'd issue me plates. So a couple trips to/from Ohio later and after finding a Trooper willing to help (who was skeptical, however, and clearly noted my expired Ohio tags), I finally got the paperwork together, went back to the DMV, and was granted Colorado plates on the motorbike parked in Ohio. I flew back to Ohio (business trip), put on the plates, and rode it home. I honestly thought I was going to own an un-licensable motorcycle.

:banghead:

Svrdhd said:

I calmly explained that if had two plates they would be different numbers

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LOL it sounds like you were calmly being a smart-***** with that preamble instead of calmly saying your state only issued one plate per vehicle at that time.

I don't know if it's still the case but a lot of states only issued one plate per vehicle. New cars destined for that state didn't even have license plate holders on the front of them for that reason.

NuHondaGuy said:

Only to find out that it may not be recognized by other jurisdictions between Maine and Texas. The courthouse said they were aware of problems others have had

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If Maine will issue a temporary reg I'd just take it and ride as others have said. You have all the other paperwork.

Ideally you could spend a few of those days in Maine seeing the sights and hope your new owner info gets into the states computer system. If you did get jammed up somewhere a phone call could at least show you are the owner and corroborate your documentation. Should that fail…

Did you ever see Vanishing Point?

I would just get a temp tag, from either place and ride.
I wouldn't think it would be any issue even if stopped, you will have all documentation.

I did a similar thing, but not quite that far of distance. I checked with three states. All said as long as you have the title, bill of sale, insurance and are moving within legal limits you are good to go. Don't even need the temp tag.

Even my home state said as long as I was either just bringing it home or going to get it inspected and licensed, I could skip the temp tags and just carry the paperwork with me.

ST Gui said:

I don't know if it's still the case but a lot of states only issued one plate per vehicle. New cars destined for that state didn't even have license plate holders on the front of them for that reason.

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FWIW, there are 19 states that issue one license plate per vehicle in 2014. I had to drill holes in my front bumpers when I moved to both California and Texas.

Cross-state licensing can be fun. I was in the Air Force, stationed in New Hampshire but a Michigan resident. My driver's license was registered in Michigan. I bought my first motorcycle in New Hampshire, took all of the rider training and passed the tests. Came time get my license, they wanted to take my Michigan drivers license. That wasn't going to happen since I wasn't changing residence. Since you're not supposed to be licensed in multiple states, their solution was a motorcycle only endorsement for New Hampshire and I get to keep my Michigan license without an motorcycle endorsement. The kicker was that it was only valid in that state. When I crossed the border, I was technically unlicensed. Rode that way for a few years until I was able to get back to Michigan and get the MC endorsement there. Your Government at Work!

We bought a car in California in November. It was a fly & drive.

Insured the car on date of purchase. Owner completed CA sale documents & had them notarized at the bank where we completed the transaction.

Owner let us take the plate. Drive to CO was uneventful, but we were never stopped.

The CA documents were sufficient for us to register the car in CO

I think in CA the plate stays w/ the car. Owner did not want it returned.

Good luck w/ your deal!

Nashcat said:

When I brought my Wing back from PA, the previous owner left his tag on the bike. I mailed it back to him when I got home.

John

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Bought my 07 from Ol Hoot on here. We did the same thing. He needed the plate to turn in so he could cancel his insurance.