CA77E help with ID/Register

[Gerry]

Hello All
I have just finished restoring my CA77. It has been a two year project. I am trying to register and have hit a snag. I bought this in boxes 2 years ago. It was disassembled in 1979 and left for dead. I would like to have the info on it as well as register it. I bought this from an estate sale with only a bill of sale. I bought it as a 1965 but now unsure.

what year is this? CA77E 102297
How can I obtain a prior owner information? (VIN lookups sites are not helpful)
Best way to register it? I live in NYS and Florida but will register it anywhere I can.

[LOUD MOUSE]

The engine number you give is 1964. .............lm

Hello All
I have just finished restoring my CA77. It has been a two year project. I am trying to register and have hit a snag. I bought this in boxes 2 years ago. It was disassembled in 1979 and left for dead. I would like to have the info on it as well as register it. I bought this from an estate sale with only a bill of sale. I bought it as a 1965 but now unsure.

what year is this? CA77E 102297
How can I obtain a prior owner information? (VIN lookups sites are not helpful)
Best way to register it? I live in NYS and Florida but will register it anywhere I can.

[pemdoc65]

You can do an online Vermont registration route. Then you will end up with a transferable registration that you should hopefully be able to use to get a registration/title in New York. Maine is another easy state to register old bikes in. They don't require a title for anything over 15 years old.

[Gamemasika]

I believe that it must have something, then it must be the right things.

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[danielzink]

I recently got a CA77 with the same issue.

Hadn't been titled (or registered) for over 20 years. And all I had in hand was a bill of sale and an old threadbare...unsigned...folded up..water damaged title...

Turns out...after some investigation the bike had originally been titled with the *engine* number...

I located to the actual VIN on the frame of the bike and with a little bit of hoop jumping with my local DMV I was able to get an actual...genuine...title.

Check whatever titling, bill of sale etc and see which number they may have used.

HTH.

Dan

[conbs]

Search this site . As LM points out, you have given a engine number, not a frame number.

Look left side down below and in front of where the swing arm connects. Number will be stamped vertically into the frame. If your engine came with the bike and is a '64, the "frame number" will begin with CA78. What you will find will be a frame number and not a VIN.

These bikes were all produced before Federal VIN laws were enacted in the US. It was common back then for a bike to be titled based on the date it was sold by the dealership and not the date it was produced. So, the bike may have been produced as a '64 but, titled as a '65. In the end it won't matter alot because, with a few running changes, all the CA78's were the same bike.

Your DMV will have a process of some kind to get you a title. Usually, they try to contact the last owner through certified mail or something. If that fails they will give you a title of some kind, which might be provisional for some time period. BEFORE you did the refurb, you should have checked to make sure it was not reported as a stolen way back when. If it was, DMV will come pick up the bike. You can probably make some kind of claim for the value of the work you did but, by the time you pay for a lawyer it will not be worth it. Not to throw a wet blanket on your party but, these are real issues. The good news, things will probably work out for you. Go through the DMV process and do what they require. You are likely to come out just fine. Best wishes.