Rhode Island title questions

Hey All,
I have a buddy who's fixed up a moped for his son to ride. He's in Newport, RI, and needs a title for it. In looking over the forum looks like a bill of sale and the last registration will do it, but I don't think he's got the registration. Any other way to do this in RI? Bonded title? File for title as an abandoned bike? If not, looks like he might have to go the Maine route...
Thanks.

vermont

SONIC. said:

vermont

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+1

You can probably make it happen in your state but it will be frustrating and you'll have to do all the leg work yourself. Your local bmv/dmv are useless idiots and so is law enforcement when it comes to this matter.
I had to do a shit ton of poking and prodding to finally figure out how to do it in Indiana. It's nice until the change the regs again. But $15 local and having it all legit and all the correct things make it nice.
Last I checked Vermont was like $80 and you get a Vermont plate and registration so it may still not get you a title in certain states.
I haven't personally done the Vermont route (yet) but I'm considering for a last option and possibly titling frames and such.

I may be wrong on some of that info though. I think some guys on here have done the Vermont thing though and may know for sure.

For RI, the registration is transferrable. It is legal ownership document, basically the title. This is only true of older vehicles (I don't remember the age-cutoff). I'm doing the so-called "Vermont-route" with an old Triumph. Luckily it's 15+ years old, and has just under 500cc. All I needed was a bill-of-sale, odometer statement, a completed application, and a check. Hopefully it works out. I'll be watching my mailbox.

any luck with the VT route? I did a little research and it looks promising but no confirmations yet.

i'm in RI and i have a bill of sale for a bike bought from Craigslist. My problem here is that the person I bought it from is not the last registered owner. The DMV was NO help and the police have been useless. everywhere i turn i'm hitting dead-ends.

how did you do the VT way?

I got a bike here in MA and it only came with a bill of sale. I got it registered in VT for about $125 all in, using my street address here in MA. It's good until Nov, and so in Nov I will go to the RMV here and get a title. All you need is the most recent registration, so this fits the bill. I wrote about this at length on another thread -- if you can't find it, lemme know and I will dig it up.