Riding a bike registered to a friend?
 

I've bought a motorcycle in Delaware. I've had no success getting my bike registered in the US(i'm a tourist and they won't issue my a state ID, without which i can't do anything at the DMV in Delaware.) The Delaware DMV have suggested that i have a friend register it.

Thankfully i have a friend who is quite willing to do this.

I plan to use this motorcycle to travel south into Central & South America.
My question is to anyone who may have experience riding a bike registered to another owner. Is it gonna pose problems at borders?

Anyone who has some solid info on this topic would be invaluable to me. Or any suggestions for getting the bike registered in my name.?c?

Having the bike registered in friend's name will work only so long as you limit yourself to travel in the USA and Canada. You will need to get your liability insurance set up to either your own name or as a co-rider on " your friend's " bike.

However if you intend to travel to Mexico and beyond this will not be acceptable.
For travel in Mexico YOU MUST HAVE THE MOTORCYCLE REGISTERED IN YOUR OWN NAME. That means your bike registration permit and your driver's license ,your credit cards and your passport must all bear the same(-YOUR- )name.If you set it up in your own name you are set for the rest of the Americas .If you do not have such registration in your name you will not get into Mexico
Find a jurisdiction in the USA where a tourist can get a vehicle registered in his own name. This site has in the past given such info to other postings .
For travel other than USA and CAnada any insurance you might buy that is accepted in both countries will be of no value in Mexico,Central America and beyond, so don't bother buying a year's cover if you will only spend a few weeks in USA/Canada
Look at stuff like this http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...g-canada-41287

Colm. I see you have been trying to get an answer to this dilemma for over a week but have been using a scattershot method of posting the same question worded differently four times. Better stick to one thread .I only came upon it yesterday and now you have done it again.

I think if you do a search on this site and on www.advrider .com you are bound to come up with another state which is not as stringent as Delaware. I think California has been mentioned in that respect. Pity that you did not research this problem before plunking down the money for the bike. But it should still be possible to get the ownership re negotiated in another state, people do move around the US and get this done ..Not living in the US I can't really speak from experience but you should be able to find a solution. Wish you luck. And SOMBODY , in the US -:helpsmilie:-- jump in here and help Colm.

The thing is i bought this bike in Delaware a couple of years ago while on a 3 month work and travel visa. At the time i had a visa in my passport which allowed me to get my bike registered and on the road.

So i didn't 'jump in,' the situation now is that i have a bike registered in my name(sticker has expired since last time i was here) but they won't renew anything for me as i am now on a visa waiver program and my state ID has also expired.

I'm hoping someone who knows for sure can give me some definite information.

DMVs in DE,NJ,NY,PA all seem to have recently made it mandatory to have state issued ID and social security number to register a bike. Something impossible for a non-US resident to get.

So apologies for my scattershot attempts but i'm hoping someone with some definite info will save the day here as i don't particularly want to drive from state to state on advice such as "I think......" or "maybe if you go.... "

Simply calling the DMVs in question should solve my issue but if you've visited any of these places i'm sure you're aware of how helpful they are. If the answer to your question isn't yes or no they don't give you the time of day.

Needed to get that off my chest, and thank you

I quite understand your problem and the frustration as I keep running into the same roadblocks when I return to Europe and buy a bike for the duration of a long visit. I see there are some tidbits of helpful info coming in .
The US is catching up and implementing the very same bureaucratic strategies as the " socialist " Europeans even though they are supposedly independent thinkers, the bastion of liberty.