On Monday, Nancy and I drove the 67 miles to Rice Lake. The first stop was the WI DMV. I waited for almost an hour. When my number was called, I walked up to the counter and spoke with Garret. He was nice enough, but informed me that the VIN on the bike came back to a "dirt bike". I think he was thinking that I was trying to register some sort of conversion. Buy a dirt bike, stick a light on it and get plates for it.... I tried to convince him that it was a factory made, street legal, looks like a dirt bike, supermoto. Garret wasn't buying it. He told me that without seeing the "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards" sticker on it, there wasn't anything he could do.
I let the DMV thinking I had been scammed by buying some one-off conversion. I went across the street to the Yamaha dealer. I explained my situation to the parts guy and asked him if he could check the VIN and tell me what it started life as.... Was it a Wr250F? or an X? He went in the back and came back with a print out showing the sale date, warranty expiration date, original owners name, and model, a Wr250X!
I went back across the street to the DMV and talked to Garret again. It was a few minutes past closing time so he wasn't too helpful. He asked if I could bring the bike down tomorrow. He told me that he'd be there all day, and he could straighten out the problem.
So this morning, at 37 degrees, I bundled up and went for a ride. Down through Hayward, through Stone Lake, then back roads all the way to Rice Lake. I walked in to the DMV a little after 11:00. I told the receptionist that I needed to work with Garret on a problem from yesterday. She went in the back and got him. Garret and I walked outside. He compared the VIN to the old MN title, noticed the FMVSS sticker and seemed confused. We went inside and he called someone in Madison, WI at the main DMV. He read someone the VIN. After a few yes's and no's, he got off the phone and told me that the VIN was correct, and it was a Wr250X and that he'd be getting me plates and a title!!! Thank you Garret!
I rode home, put on the new plates and headed out!
First stop, The Great Divide. Click the pics for a bigger view.
I made a 44 mile loop around Lake Namekagon, up to Grand View, down to Drummond, to Cable, to home.
I was near Grand View when I spotted this gem.
By the time I got close to Cable, it was getting dark quickly.
I've put 257 miles on the bike since I brought it home last week. It really is a fun little bike to ride!
