I think aquaeluis had the best idea! Tell them he only bought the frame & here it is!
Then build a Bobber?

 

For sure I would lock that thing up in the garage and not open the door till all this is settled legally.

 

Might have to pay a prospect to guard it if he takes it out on a ride, lol

 

one thing, if you do go ride it, have your buds block it in,literally, anywhere you park and get off it, even at the gas pump. if they really are going to the house, and watching to get the bike. they CANNOT move other vehicles to get to it. I know that for facthere in Texas. I had an issue with a dirty carlot, trying to repo a paid off car. it stayed in mydriveway, between the house and the pickup until the issue was solved. and i did a little repo work, never do that **** again.

 

Depends on his state's law, but HD might be out of luck, and might not BE a lienholder, if they failed to properly file their lien and have it recorded on the title. It may be that what they have is an unsecured loan to the guy who sold the bike. The seller probably committed a crime and could do a few years in prison, here, but it's also easy for a lender to lose the right to enforce a lien against a subsequent buyer if they didn't follow the legal steps that were supposed to give that buyer notice. Definitely time to see a local lawyer.

 

This chit is getting deep,, fast.

 

if you have a title signed in your name,with no leans printed on it,the vehicle belongs to you.if there is a lean on the vehicle,the bmv isn't going to let a copy out with out the lean printed on it.if they do the bike is lost and the bmv becomes liable.all states bmvs are computer linked so nothing is going to slip thru.
if the financing company decides to send the title to you,the bmv has to print it up first and the lean will be on there. now if the bank makes a mistake and sends you a clear title,they made a mistake and you now legally own the vehicle.they will ask you to sent it back to them,but you arnt legally obligated to do so.(it happened to me with a boat.they sent me a title then asked me to send it back.i did to save trouble,but was told by a layer i didn't have to.)
you still owe the money on it,but the bank has lost there collateral. all they can do is file a lawsuit to recoup the money.they can also demand full payment for the debt since the contract is now void because the collateral was lost...if there was a non secure loan made against the bike, it is nonsecure.a company can say or claim anything they want,they cant touch it with out a title or a lean on the title..to have a vehicle lean,the payment contract goes along with it.that is how they can take it and resell to recoup there money...if a company issues a lean any other way,all it does is make the title tied up till what ever issues are taken care of.. they cant put a lean on it with out your knowledge and leave a clear title out there, even if they did,it would pop up before a new title transfer could go thru..the original owner might be on the hook for any payments or whatever is due?. but someone made a mistake and let the bike get away.the responsibility is on someone else along the way.your buddy legally owns the bike with a clear legal title.
if a repo guy touches the bike it is grand theft.the moco or whoever calling is nothing different then a collections agency calling the wrong person(i had a place harassing me and family for a year when i was 17yo looking for someone else by the same name,and me..and my wife and my parents have gotten several calls lately looking for my wifes parents who have lived in the same house with the same phone number for last 33 years) they need to be contacting the PO but they dont care who they should be calling or what the law says,they will harass everyone they can get ahold of..
the only way around a lean is 1: if the po got a replacement title copy before the origenal title went thru, and your buddys copy is only signed over,he will get a surprise when he trys to put it in his name,2: someone at the title agency changed info in the state computer(i had a few friends get in a lot of trouble for this once) 3: or the title is just fake. if any of these 3 apply,the bike is considered stollen and they will come to get it, probably along with a few cops wanting to have a long conversation.
it sounds like someone made a mistake and your buddy is safe.the PO is responsible for the debt,and will have to deal with it..they cant come after a new owner after the fact..