Korean Job Discussion Forums

[air76]

Everyone knows the bikes I'm talking about....sold from one foreigner to another to another to another, no plates, no title, just the ignition key.

Anyhow, I've got one of these bikes and although I don't mind driving it unregistered since it is only a 125 I'd rather get it registered if it were possible to do so.

I am assuming that without papers showing that I am the owner that it's not going to happen, but I figured that I'd ask nevertheless to see if any of the old timer motorcycle gurus knew otherwise.

Thanks.

[crazy_arcade]

I don't know if it's possible or not (probably not due to the fact that bikes without papers are usually stolen property) but the police are cracking down on unregistered bikes.

[air76]

Thanks for the heads up. I live in the boonies so I'm not too worried about riding around down here, but I'll keep that in mind if I head into the city.

I don't thinkt that most of the "teacher" bikes or cars are stolen, they're just a product of one lazy owner who didn't want to pay their taxes or go through the headache of transfering the papers over.

[crazy_arcade]

[IlIlNine]

I remain skeptical. 50CC scoots are ok without a plate... but if you're riding around without registering your 125CC+ motorcycle, I'll just assume you're contributing to the cycle of theft.

[air76]

While I am sure there are plenty of stolen bikes out there, I think that what happens with most of the bikes in the "teacher" circulation is that Teacher A buys the bike off a lot and registers it, at the end of their contract they sell it to Teacher B and give them the papers and direct them to where they need to go to transfer the registration. Teacher B never gets around to it and at the end of their contract sells the bike to Teacher C, at which point they can't find the papers but the price is right so Teacher C doesn't care.

I am not saying that this is "right", but I have seen it happens with bikes and cars over and over again, so I do argue the statement that an unregistered bike is a stolen one.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Absolutely. What about "salvage" bikes? There are motorcycles lying all over this city: on highway off-ramps, beside bridges, tunnels. Some have been crashed, some abandoned. What should become of these unloved bikes? Perhaps the owners of these bikes were killed? Perhaps they belong to people who are no longer in Korea? Should the poor, innocent bike be put down like a lame horse? I think not. Anyone with a bit of mechanical knowledge can get many of these bikes back on the road, in fact I'm sure many "used" bikes in shops are crash reclamation projects. The shops seem to be able to get these bikes re-painted, re-keyed and re-registered. Why can't we?

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Well, what about them?

[SHANE02]

If you don't have plates then you have no insurance. Are you brave or stupid?

No offence. But you should have insurance. I think if you try ang reg. the bike now you are gonna get hit with a large bill.

[dogshed]

I know how they do it in the US.
You get a frame with papers and then you rebuild
the thing using parts from the unregistered vehicle.

I would guess that's what the guy did who built
my motorscooter. It's a real frankenbike.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Hm, ok. Interesting.

[seoul101]

I think it'd be more trouble than it's worth trying to register a bike like that. More important would be insurance.. imagine what would happen if you crashed and messed up the side of a Mercedes, or worse still injured yourself or someone else.

Many of us have ridden unregistered at one point or another, but I wouldn't do it again

Ride safe!