Please bear with me through the intro story as it may have a bearing on what your answer / opinion might be.......

Back in '05 my wife (now ex) and I bought two Bikes; a RKC (mine) and a Softail Deluxe. That was in July. In September of '05 we refinanced the house and rolled a lot of things into the loan including both bikes so they were bought & paid for as far as Harley financing was concerned. I had always paid the monthly mortgage and continued to do so but she and I were under the "agreement" that she would help with that payment since quite a few of her responsibilities, along with the bike, were now paid off; stuff like credit cards, lasik eye surgery, dental bills, etc. Problem is that "help" from her never happened. Things had been stressed as far as the marriage for quite some time which was one reason we bought the bikes; hopes of pulling us back together. Well, she walked out in January of '06 and one of the things she took was her bike since legally it was in her name both titled and registered. To make a long story a little bit shorter the bike has been in my possession since November '07. She had the bike from Jan. '06 til July '06 when things went extremely downhill for her. The bike was then stored at another location up to the point of when I was able to get it and store it in one of my buildings as per her request.

The bike has been do nothing but sitting out there rotting away and it's killing me. I do start it up every once in a while but that's all I can do since there's no tag or registration. During the 6 months after she left, when she had the bike in her possession, the bike got banged up quite a bit due to her trying to mix alcohol with riding; it just didn't work.

I am redoing the building where the bike is at and will be contacting her about selling the bike to me. The building is getting completely cleaned out so whatever isn't staying has to go. She will be offered the choice of either selling me the bike or getting it off of my property. I know for a fact she can't afford to fix the bike let alone the insurance or operation of the bike, not to mention she still has a major struggle with alcohol and would probably kill herself.

So, based on the circumstances of the situation such as I own the bike financially since all monies to pay for it are out of my pocket (which doesn't mean squat legally) and the bike needs some major TLC / parts replacement to get it road worthy......what would be a fair offer to "buy" the bike from her?

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Brian

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Your case is far from unique. Dealing with domestics for years, I saw many times were one spouse would claim ownership although the title was in the other's name. I'm not a lawyer versed in Family law but it the vehicle was purchased while you were married, it would be community property. But laws vary from state to state in this area.

The bike might not be worth the cost of an attorney to get the title transfered to your name so if she isn't willing to just sign it over for a small fee your best bet might be to just have it removed. Your call.

 

There are ways to retain it as far as non payment of storage fees. This is regularly done in self storage facilities so why would it not apply here?

 

I'd offer her lowest NADA blue book value less the cost to repair it.
At least that way you could recoup your investment and maybe a little more from the right buyer.
Of course that all hinges on her willingness to sign over the bike.

 

It sounds like you are making all of the mortgage payments that you had the bike refinanced into and that your ex is in a serious downward spiral. I would say that your best interests are to just let her have it, unless she gives it to you, and let it rot. Why buy it off of her and dump more money into it to just get it running and sell-able? You already have to pay for the whole thing once, why buy it again? If you just want another bike, go buy one that isn't all banged up.

As for the value of the '05 Deluxe, it would be hard to put a number on it without seeing the extent of the damage she inflicted on it. Anywhere between $5000 - $12000 depending on how bad. Sorry you got the shaft on that deal, but it seems like most divorces kind of go that way. At least you have your house and your RK. A lot of guys can't say that!

 

Deliver the bike to your ex and cut your losses. This will also cut your ties to her. This will benefit you and your ex. It's time to move on. Been there. Done that. You can never recoup lost time.

 

I'd offer her $500 for it after reminding her of how she did not hold up her end of the bargain with the bills.

 

Maybe it doesn't make any sense....I've been accused of that before

I guess my thought process is since I am already paying for the bike indirectly I'd like to keep the bike even if it means having to shell out a little more. With or without the bike the current mortgage payment will be the same. It would be nice to have the physical property to go along with it.

It's not that I would go out and buy another bike because I want to get one. I guess it just has to do with wanting to have what I'm paying for. As far as costing goes; it would be less money out of pocket to pay her for the bike (based on what I will offer) and fix it up as opposed to going out and buying another bike and fixing that one up. Not to mention I know pretty much all the ins and outs of it's usage. I mean it was only used for about 11 months and it must have less than 5K miles on it (I need to hook up a battery to check that).

She did reply to an email I had sent her and she is open to the possibility of selling to me which is more than she had been in the past. Once I come up with a figure I will certainly remind her, in a nice way, how things transpired in the past, how not only her bike but other responsibilities of hers were paid for through the mortgage and that ultimately I got stuck with those bills and she walked away "free". Honestly, I'm not going to be a butthead at all but will try to have her look at the situation from my viewpoint. If she doesn't go for what I offer then she will have to come and get it out of my way. At that point I would get with my attorney and work up a storage contract from that date forward.

I'm not jonesing to get a new bike but if it all works out then so be it. If it's meant to be, it will happen.

Thanks,
Brian

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I think it should have been put somewhere in writing in the divorce paperwork when you got divorced that she would have to pay you a certain amount of money to keep the bike and what would happen if she did not, ie; you getting the bike transfered to your name. As it stands, it sounds like you are pretty much screwed unless you can get her to "sell" you the bike that you are already paying for. Ex's are ex's for a reason! Good luck.

 

This whole deal SHOULD have been covered in the divorce papers.
When you take out a second mortage,(or home equity loan) and buy a "toy" you get certain tax benefits. Having each bike under seperate names makes sense... but, now YOU are paying for the bike, and there's no "proof" that the money is going that way.
Talk to your lawyer... and see what he says... maybe if she's as messed up as you say.... she'll leap at a handful of cash, and sign the bike over. I wouldn't expect a whole lot out of her. and the bike might remain there, and she won't pay storage.

Be prepared to roll the bike out onto the street.... and tell her, it's her problem....