At this point the people in Olympia have told the DOL lady to give me a referral to the state patrol inspection station to get it straightened out because the title is incorrect. After the inspection I will be able to get the new title issued with the correct info on it. My appointment is for Thursday afternoon and i expect there to be no glitches. Just in case I did a thorough inspection of all the necessary items to verify all lights are good and the horn works and the brakes are properly adjusted, etc. I'll let you know isf anything comes up otherwise.
I think you will be ok. It's most likely a previous owner said or did something to get the bike misclassified.
I have had to go to the State Patrol several times to have various vehicles inspected and they are pretty good about it. Make sure you take all paperwork associated with the bike. The are going to run the VIN number through their database and inspect it for all the required equipment and ask you some questions regarding the acquisition of the bike.
Good Luck, Let us know how it turns out.
Rich made some good points.
Also up until 2000/2001 it was possible to modify an off-road bike to street legal provided certain modifications were complied with and the State Patrol inspected the bike and bought off on the conversion. Since 2001 in WA there has been a change in policy due to Federal Standards of Emissions, the regulation of VIN numbers, equipment requirements, etc.
This is from the Dept of Licensing and Rich already pointed out much of this:
How can I tell if a motorcycle is certified for street use and can be licensed as a motorcycle?
Motorcycles certified for highway use are required by federal law to have a permanent label attached by the manufacturer indicating that the motorcycle is compliant with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for highway use.
In addition, off- road motorcycles often have the words “off-road use only” or a similar message stamped into the frame of the motorcycle. This type of message also is generally found in the owner’s manual for these types of motorcycles, on stickers applied to the rear fenders.
Under Washington Administrative Code (308-56A-110), Manufacturer’s Statements/Certificates of Origin are required to state that a vehicle is not manufactured for road use, if applicable. We have learned some manufacturers are out of compliance with this requirement. DOL continues to work with these manufacturers to bring them into compliance.
Mike
