[tmctguer]

the DMV clerk was wrong saying your harley could NEVER be registered in California. your idea of selling it to your daughter would have worked provided she titled it in Arizona correctly, and really DID drive it so the odometer was over 7,500 miles. once that happened, and the ownership tranfer documents from Arizona were filled out to show the new odometer reading, the Harley would have qualified for a legitimate CA registration.

as far as the exemption that states the vehicle was "purchased to replace a vehicle which was destroyed or made inoperative beyond reasonable repair while you were using it out of state", if you claim that exception at the DMV, they expect you to provide the VIN of the vehicle that was inoperable beyond reasonable repair. you should also be prepared to show repair estimates that support the assertion that your vehicle was too expensive to fix, therefore a new vehicle needed to be purchased. as with other assertions made to the DMV, any of your exemptions are attested to on the DMV forms under penalty of perjury, so any mistatement of fact would be treated seriously by a court if your registration was ever legally contested.

the problem with bringing a kit car with less than 7,500 miles into California adds a new twist to things. if you claimed one of the four exemptions shown in decooney's post, you would still have to deal with annual or biannual smog tests of the vehicle unless you obtained an SB-100 exemption which are only handed out on January 2nd of each calendar year.

i studied the 7,500 mile/49 state clause very closely several years ago after having my own "you've got to be sh*tting me" DMV registration moment.