here is a story for ya....i'm new to this forum

Posted by skrivan on Apr 18, 2012; 2:55am
URL: http://vintage-and-classic-hondas.81.s1.nabble.com/here-is-a-story-for-ya-i-m-new-to-this-forum-tp3918917.html

so---i wanted to get a CB750 becasue it was the first bike i ever actually drove, back in '77.  i didnt own it, just drove my friend's.  later in life i had a harley, but he sound scared my kids every time i started it up so i sold it.  (wasnt really my style anyway).  now i have this new-to-me 1977 cb750k that i found on ebay.  the guy who listed it didnt have any bids and i contacted him to end the auction if i paid $1200 (he had a $1999 buy-it-now).  we made a deal, i paid thru paypal, arranged delivery and after 3 weeks of waiting, I got the bike 2 days ago.  it arrived without a key, bill of sale,  and without the title.  the dirtbag said i would get these in the mail but it's been 3 weeks and i have given up on him unless i'm ever in Michigan.  if i wasnt such an idiot, or less attached to this unseen bike, i would have investigated it all more.  turns out this guy's ebay feedback shows this is not the first time he has shipped motorcycles without titles and not the first time he has just "gone under" with no phone or email response.  no key means no fire-up....no title means no registration....since it went away as far as ebay is concerned, i have no real 'honest' fallback.

anyway, i pulled the ignition switch out and dicked around with it for a few minutes and was able to hotwire it.  it fired up pretty well, actually, but of course the headlight dangles now and i have alligator clips jumping across the ignition wiring...but, at least it did start and i can fix those easy problems.

cut to the questions:  
1.  i cant seem to get the VIN traced anywhere---Honda dealers, etc. and would like to know if this thing is hot.  i tried the Michigan DMV but they were as helpful as any other DMV.  The utah DMV said i can apply for a title but it needs to be investigated as to determine most recent owner.  Any clue on what to do here? i really dont want to spend a bunch of time getting ths thing running if it ends up getting confiscated when i try to register it. (even though it's kind of a pile right now, somebody has a title to it)
2.  why do you suppose a guy would take the paypal dough, let the bike ship, and not send the key/title/BOS?  i did put in a paypal-complaint but expect nothing out of that.  i really cant imagine a decent motive for that other than he's a lunatic.
3.  i drove the thing for a bit, like 1/4 mile and it died when i hit 2nd gear.  I assume i have to get it running and let it burn out some crud and give it a decent tuneup.....anybody have any advice on resurrections?

thanks guys....i appreciate any advice from the pro's on here.  i'm in a few other forums where the characters are reversed and i'm hoping the good advice i handed out on other occasions will come back to me 'cuz i'm not really a motorcycle guy.