selling a bike with a loan questions

[boosten lebaron]

I will be home for the next couple weeks and I'm looking to sell a few of my bikes before I head out to Europe again. My r1 still has a small loan on it that I can pay off but I won't get the title back before I have to leave again. I figured just selling it and haveing the buyer payoff the loan is my best bet but I have never done it before. Is it an easy process if I financed through Yamaha or is the buyer and myself going to jump through hoops? I'm going to sell it pretty cheap-ish just to get it gone and I am hoping a buyer will be willing to deal with the loan payoff if the price is right.
I really have no idea how the whole process works. I'm guessing the buyer calls the bank and pays off my loan balance and the title goes directly to them or is it more complex than that? If I don't sell it in the next few weeks it will spend another year in storage dying.

[ilikenapalm]

Best bet is to work out an arrangement with the lien holder. Pay off the loan asap and then have them overnight the title to you.

Selling a vehicle without a title in hand adds a huge layer of difficulty and will turn off a lot of potential buyers.

[Petorius]

I just did this with a car. The buyer wrote one check to the financing company for the payoff amount. The financing company then issued a lien-release on the title (stamp + signature in a given spot on the RI title). They sent ME the title, which I then had to sign over to the buyer. The buyer then gave me a check for the difference between payoff and sales price. This was not a perfectly smooth process due to the financing company. They quoted me a given timeframe for turnaround on the title, ended up taking a few extra days to mail the title after receiving and cashing the buyer's check. I ended up getting the title in hand one week after FedEx-ing the payoff check to the finance company (they also FedEx-ed the title back to me). The buyer also had some trouble with the MA RMV, but I think this was due to it being an RI title. If your buyer is also in MA, I dont think this would be a problem.

[boosten lebaron]

I wasn't aware I could have them fed ex me the title overnight. They made no mention of it when I inquired how long it would take to get it me. I'm gonna call them back and see.

[Petorius]

Mine was with VW Credit. They mentioned it on the phone when I was asking them about the process. I had to include a $15 personal check with the payoff check.

[Lxpony]

I bought my 848 evo off ebay and the loan was 10k with the original owner. I wrote a P/S agreement whereas it was agreed that I would wire to his bank the payoff and then cut him a check for the balance. Every bank has a wire account process.

[mycirus]

Most loans in Mass the title is held by the registry and the bank electronically releases it and the RMV will print it and send it to you. The days of a paper copy being held in a file cabinet are long gone. Usually when you sell, buyer pays you or gives you two checks, one to you and the bank and the balance to you. Its really not that hard.

[jwm2k3]

Let the next buyer make the payoff.

If its Mass, they do E titles. The bank will notify the registry the lein is paid in full, then registry actually prints a title at that point and mails it.