Custom motorcycle registration? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Custom motorcycle registration?

Knight

Well-known member
How many here have built a custom motorcycle. how do you go about registering/ insuring it.
Say you took a virago frame heavily modified it and put a completely different/ larger engine it it what do you do?
 
How many here have built a custom motorcycle. how do you go about registering/ insuring it.
Say you took a virago frame heavily modified it and put a completely different/ larger engine it it what do you do?

You have a frame with a VIN number that says it's a Virago, go to the MTO and get a plate and sticker for your "virago".

Insurance is likely to be a much bigger problem than registration. It may be completely uninsurable as they don't know how to assess risk on it. Alternatively, you don't tell the insurance company it is modified. If you are in a wreck a) they may reject the entire claim for material misrepresentation (or fraud) or b) they will give you a cheque for the price of a normal Virago (boo). As you are dealing with an old vehicle, for cars, companies like Hagerty will cover modified vehicles (for roughly double the premium of unmodified vehicles). I'm not sure if similar coverage is available for bikes.
 
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Heavily modifying an existing frame doesn't change the fact that it'll still be registered as that original motorcycle, but yes, insurance is going to be an issue as it's not stock, and if you declare it as such and ever *need* that insurance there's a good chance the underwriter will cancel the policy when they find out you misrepresented what they insured. In order to get it insured you'll probably have to have it structurally inspected at minimum, but the insurance company will probably want more including an appraisal if you're insuring it for more than just liability, etc.

Starting with a complete custom frame changes things and is even more complicated:

I had a really good info link I had found in the past that detailed all the hoops for the latter, but I can't find it ATM. Suffice to say it was very complicated.
 
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Ditto on PrivatePilot but I often see people looking at the wrong end of things financially with regards to misrepresenting to insurers.

Yes they can deny a claim and you get nothing for your bike but they can also deny medical coverage and the liabilities to the other party in the event of an at fault.

Most bikes are worth four figures or low fives. For me that loss would hurt but not be life altering. However a lawsuit for injuring an innocent person could be in the millions. Not too many people can handle those types of hits.
 
Ok thanks so it's a talk to a few insurance companies kinda thing on who insures custom motorcycles
 
It may be different between cars and motorcycles. When I got tboned in my truck which ended up with it being totaled, the insurance company wasn't aware of the $5000 in mods I did to the truck, and when I was negotiating the value of my truck with them, they wouldn't recognize the mods I did to the truck.

I heard you can also pay a premium for each of the mods you do to your vehicle, and if it's ever stolen/wrecked/etc, the insurance company has to honor that modification value since you're paying a premium for it.
 
It is also not unheard of for insurance companies to state that you have to declare modifications, and then when you do so, drop you like a sack of potatoes. Many insurance companies will only insure stock vehicles (State Farm was like this - no idea what their new ownership has done). Engine swaps and significant power adders are usually out of bounds. Modifying frames essentially means you are voluntarily writing off the vehicle as far as the insurance company is concerned.

Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish.

If you want something with more power then buy a different bike that has the more powerful engine as original equipment and don't modify it. Then it can be insured as a stock example of whatever the more powerful bike is ... because that's what it is.

If you want something to put on display at motorcycle shows then you probably don't want to ride it on the road. Lots of those fancy bikes on display at shows are trailer queens. Many of them have no hope of complying with all of the various applicable federal safety and emission standards nor even the more basic HTA requirements. Lots of them would be abysmal to ride should anyone attempt to do so.

If you want something that you can ride day to day then you probably want something that you can walk in to a dealership and order parts for, and that your insurance agent won't freak out about.

If you insist on having something customized, that's fine, but keep the customizing to a minimum so that it can still be insured as a stock vehicle, and you recognize that you will be eating the cost of your customizations should your project bike ever be written off.
 
Ditto on PrivatePilot but I often see people looking at the wrong end of things financially with regards to misrepresenting to insurers.

Yes they can deny a claim and you get nothing for your bike but they can also deny medical coverage and the liabilities to the other party in the event of an at fault.

Most bikes are worth four figures or low fives. For me that loss would hurt but not be life altering. However a lawsuit for injuring an innocent person could be in the millions. Not too many people can handle those types of hits.

other than the obvious safety concerns when heavily modifying a bike, that could kill you

the other major concern is this ^^

ins co will walk away if they see heavy modifications that were not disclosed

and if you caused an accident, you will be in a world of grief if you get sued
 
perfect thanks. when I do decide to build a bike I'm not going to go crazy but i like unique i'm not a showroom stock kind of guy. I've built tube chassis on a small scale before.

I tend to be a cynic so if I was going this route I would register the bike as soon as I had the minimum done to meet the requirements. I wouldn't put any money into chrome or expensive items in case the rules change or the zombie at the counter can't understand them.

Good luck and post some pics.
 
No date on that article so I can't tell if it's up to date. I thought the rules changed a few years ago?

Pics in article were uploaded Sept 2015 so it is reasonably current.

The list of insurance companies is key. Before beginning the project, call a few and see if they can give you the rules they use for custom bikes (eg. they may only insure custom bikes as long as they have the original size engine or maybe frames must be made by a business and come with a VIN).
 
Huh. I heard years ago that registering a homebuilt vehicle was no longer possible in Ontario, regardless of insurance. But yeah, any insurance company I talked to didn't even like basic mods, nevermind fully custom.
 
Huh. I heard years ago that registering a homebuilt vehicle was no longer possible in Ontario, regardless of insurance. But yeah, any insurance company I talked to didn't even like basic mods, nevermind fully custom.

I know a guy that builds one every few years from scratch and they are all registered and plated. In the past he built a sidecar rig that you drove from the sidecar, recently he has built a front engine v8 bug and a busa trike. My guess is they may be registered as the major donor vehicle not homemade. I have never looked at the titles though so I don't know for sure.
 
Huh. I heard years ago that registering a homebuilt vehicle was no longer possible in Ontario, regardless of insurance. But yeah, any insurance company I talked to didn't even like basic mods, nevermind fully custom.

There used to be a "Hot rod" category for cars and the determination was a vehicle fitted with a motor not available for the model year. Deuce coupes never had the small block Chevy options. :)

There were the kit car and home built from scratch categories. I have no idea where that has gone. You used to be able to kit together AC Cobras, Super Sevens, VW Manxs plus all the other VW based clones.
 
Would a motorcycle appraiser know anything about the process?
 

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