all of my experiences (there have been many) have been if its out of the system completley chp has to see it, if it might be a dirt bike that fell out of reg. (dual sport) the chp will have to see it. if you walk in with a cluster fuck of hand written "transfer of ownership" type paper work the chp might want to see it. other than that your lookin at some hefty back reg. which you might be able to scam your way through with a non-op reg.
my cb hadnt been reg'd since 06 also, i walked in to handle it in aug. the lady (god bless her) told me i could pay the 300 something to get my tags or pay 65 to have it put on non-op, come back in a few months and pay another 70 to get the tags. i dont know how the fuck it worked but it did ???.... good luck, and if your dmv is anything like they are in the bay bring 2 good books... one is never enough!