[Silly Little Cars] 1996 GO-4 Van

[Kris Motola]

I had a great experience at sf dmv all things considered. My title was tax exempt sacramento city title. It took about 40 minutes before they got it sorted and then they gave me the temp red tag and said they would send it to sac and see. I got title and plates in the mail about 3 weeks later at most. I think they are getting better as they see more of them.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alec Bennett [wrybread at gmail.com]
Received: Sunday, 13 May 2012, 10:06
To: Silly Little Email List [silly_little_cars at lists.sillylittlecars.com]
Subject: Re: [Silly Little Cars] 1996 GO-4 Van

"Just keep plugging away", good advice. I should say that the people at the DMV were great with me too. And this was San Francisco DMV, so they definitely could have given me a lot less attention. And as you say, the battles weren't being fought in the DMV itself, they were with some mysterious entity always spoken with defeat and awe in their voices named "Sacramento"... They'd send each new bit of evidence off to "Sacramento" and we'd wait 3 weeks for the answer. Of course it takes lots of fees to get answers from this "Sacramento"...

And a funny sidenote is that I own two identical (1999) go-4's. You'd think showing the other title clearly marked "motorcycle" would have sped things up, but alas.

Out of curiosity what state are you in?

It was a local inspector that pointed out the  statue for me that explains why I don't have to wear a helmet and have a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license. Has to do with not sitting on a saddle, straddling a frame and/or engine and the fact it has no handlebars for stearing.

That's interesting, but doesn't explain why it's a motorcycle to begin with? Are all three wheeled vehicles motorcycles? But if that's the case we wouldn't have such hard battles proving that they're motorcycles?

A cop once told me that you don't need motorcycle licenses for these things because if you did, being a metermaid would be skilled labor and they'd have to pay them more. I love that story.



------
Sent from my gizmo.

On May 13, 2012, at 8:22 AM, "Mike Warren" <bugnut at windstream.net<mailto:bugnut at windstream.net>> wrote:

Sorry, Jonny, it's staying with me for awhile.
Steve, mirrors have no electrics. They were on it when I got it. They were also used on mid 80's from Rangers, so any parts store show have them. Usually show up a lot on Ebay too.
And thanks to all for the kind words.
As far as paint or wrap that may be awhile, but I'm thinking red, white, and blue like and old mid 60's Mailster with all the markings.
Sorry for the long winded post that follows but .....
I should note that the local DMV folks were very helpful and fought the battle more that I.
They're the ones who had to explain to the unknowning and didn't want to knows at the DMV head offices.
It was a local inspector that pointed out the statue for me that explains why I don't have to wear a helmet and have a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license. Has to do with not sitting on a saddle, straddling a frame and/or engine and the fact it has no handlebars for stearing. They also help me get the original title that had it listed as a truck. That's why it was parked 8 years ago. The state went to plugging in all OBD-II (96 and above) cars and trucks for ommission part of the yearly safety inspection. It didn't have a plug so it would pass, so the college parked it. When I bought it at auction I was told it didn't have a title. But being the stubborn SOB I am, I went to DMV to ask why a vehicle that didn't have a title and was owned by the state had an inspection sticker and registration card from 2002.
The lady at the license office ("Well sure it had a title.") and called the DMV inspector office and they came out. If it was inspected then it had to have a title. The battle has begun. The next thing we (they) discovered was the DMV's own database had them (others all over the state) listed as motorcycles and trucks both in the DMV system. More head banging. "We had best just get a title first." said my new best friends at the local inspector office. They went to work and saw to it that the state issued a title without me having to post a bond since the state was the original owner as they bought it new. That was part of the problem, the MSO had the style listed a "POLICE". At the main office they didn't have a clue and even said they were not sure I should be in pocession of the thing to start with. Whole different battle and way to long for this post.
Title came in with it listed as a truck, so it still needed to be changed to motorcycle. Back to my friends at DMV. Out they came , took picture of VIN plate, filled out report, called head office and my newly titled GO-4 MOTORCYCLE was ready to be inspected and tagged. Battle WON !
But it worked out just fine, plus made some new friends at DMV and have great "war stories" to tell.
Just keep plugging away. And remember, some folks with the DMV really do want to help and DO !
Later.

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