Registering kayak with DMV for CF number

What's next?  Emission certificate for my human powered Outback?

The DMV is a lost cause. If you expect things to make sense, you have set your expectations way too high…

Can you vet the list of fees, totaling $149, that DMV wants me to pay to register my $250 kayak?  What are they and are they legit?

I went to register my kayak this morning.  Some experience it was.  One confusion after another.

First the staff did not know and could not comprehend why there is no previous title. I explained it was previously human powered but now I want to put an outboard motor on it. The rep thought about it, got up, went to some back office.

Rep came out and said "why don't you get the motor first, then you can register". I took out my phone, show the rep a picture of the kayak, pointing to the 2x4 mounted on it, and explained that the motor is ready to go on that mount. We can consider the motor already on the kayak. The rep got up and went to back office.

Rep came out and started keying in data. Then system asks for "emission certificate". I don't have it and don't know what it is, so I asked the rep what it look like? The rep explained it's just like with automobile; you get it from the dealer.  I registered cars before; I don't really recall any emission certificate. I asked what the certificate looks like? The rep got up again; went back to office.

Rep came out saying "Go to dbw.ca.gov and they have info there. Get the certificate, then come back."  The staff pushed my paper back signaling we are done for today.

I was determined to get a CF number; so I told her "how about I register the boat without the motor? that should bypass the emission certificate requirement." That threw the staff off. the staff could not understand what that means or whether that's doable or not.  I explained "if I am to put a sail on the kayak, I would still have to register, but there would be no motor involved; hence no emission involved."  The rep got up and went back to office.

Rep came back out again and said OK we'll proceed.  After punching in more data, the list of fees came off the printer.  It was a whopping $149.  I was expecting to pay only the $49 odd-year reg fee, plus the sales tax on $250, something in the neighborhood of $75.

I looked over the list, a bunch of abbreviations, and many seemingly duplications. I asked the rep what each is, and the rep could not tell me. I could just pay it to get it over with, but I know this mystery will bother me continuously. At this point I did not want to trouble the staff any more; I said "Hmm...  this may not be worth it; let's pause on this registration, let me go check with my buddies at Norcal Kayak Anglers, then I'll come back."

So here I am, asking for help again from the experts. If all those fees are legit for "kayak with sail" (this was the assumption to proceed with today's transaction) I'll gladly pay. But are they?

And what's with the emission certificate for an outboard? (Mine is brand new Suzuki 2.5 hp) Where do I get that? I checked the dbw.ca.gov site that the staff directed me to, and sure enough emission certificate is NOT listed as an item under "Registration - You will need..."

What Office did you go to? I need to register mine and I sure as Hell don't want to to to the same DMV office that you went to.

Thanks

Can you vet the list of fees, totaling $149, that DMV wants me to pay to register my $250 kayak?  What are they and are they legit?

I went to register my kayak this morning.  Some experience it was.  One confusion after another.

First the staff did not know and could not comprehend why there is no previous title. I explained it was previously human powered but now I want to put an outboard motor on it. The rep thought about it, got up, went to some back office.

Rep came out and said "why don't you get the motor first, then you can register". I took out my phone, show the rep a picture of the kayak, pointing to the 2x4 mounted on it, and explained that the motor is ready to go on that mount. We can consider the motor already on the kayak. The rep got up and went to back office.

Rep came out and started keying in data. Then system asks for "emission certificate". I don't have it and don't know what it is, so I asked the rep what it look like? The rep explained it's just like with automobile; you get it from the dealer.  I registered cars before; I don't really recall any emission certificate. I asked what the certificate looks like? The rep got up again; went back to office.

Rep came out saying "Go to dbw.ca.gov and they have info there. Get the certificate, then come back."  The staff pushed my paper back signaling we are done for today.

I was determined to get a CF number; so I told her "how about I register the boat without the motor? that should bypass the emission certificate requirement." That threw the staff off. the staff could not understand what that means or whether that's doable or not.  I explained "if I am to put a sail on the kayak, I would still have to register, but there would be no motor involved; hence no emission involved."  The rep got up and went back to office.

Rep came back out again and said OK we'll proceed.  After punching in more data, the list of fees came off the printer.  It was a whopping $149.  I was expecting to pay only the $49 odd-year reg fee, plus the sales tax on $250, something in the neighborhood of $75.

I looked over the list, a bunch of abbreviations, and many seemingly duplications. I asked the rep what each is, and the rep could not tell me. I could just pay it to get it over with, but I know this mystery will bother me continuously. At this point I did not want to trouble the staff any more; I said "Hmm...  this may not be worth it; let's pause on this registration, let me go check with my buddies at Norcal Kayak Anglers, then I'll come back."

So here I am, asking for help again from the experts. If all those fees are legit for "kayak with sail" (this was the assumption to proceed with today's transaction) I'll gladly pay. But are they?

And what's with the emission certificate for an outboard? (Mine is brand new Suzuki 2.5 hp) Where do I get that? I checked the dbw.ca.gov site that the staff directed me to, and sure enough emission certificate is NOT listed as an item under "Registration - You will need..."

As I stated before I registered 3 kayaks and each experience is different.  You might want to try a different DMV.
I also PM you some additional information.

Paul

Since we’re on this topic, what happens when you finally decide to sell the kayak and want to keep the motor?? Could you unregister the kayak or is it forever in the system?

I tried to unregister my Hobie Adventure but ended up paid $60 to DMV for disposal  fee!

there's no such thing as unregistering a boat in CA. you just let it go out of registration. disposal fee is when you scrap it- they mark the HIN as such. you may run into issue trying to reg it in the future if you need to. When you sell it you need to release ownership of the vessel on the title that they issued you; its on the back. you need to submit your copy to the DMV, and the buyer submits their half.

Since we’re on this topic, what happens when you finally decide to sell the kayak and want to keep the motor?? Could you unregister the kayak or is it forever in the system?

I tried to unregister my Hobie Adventure but ended up paid $60 to DMV for disposal  fee!

there's no such thing as unregistering a boat in CA. you just let it go out of registration. disposal fee is when you scrap it- they mark the HIN as such. you may run into issue trying to reg it in the future if you need to. When you sell it you need to release ownership of the vessel on the title that they issued you; its on the back. you need to submit your copy to the DMV, and the buyer submits their half.

I sold my AI toa friend here but can't find my pink slip so continued pay the registration fee for him.  When this AI had a crack not repairable that when I tried to unregister it.

What's next?  Emission certificate for my human powered Outback?

I have to admit that some days I generate a lot of emissions on my human powered kayak...

Just completed reg on my kayak:
VSL ORIG  ........  $4.00
VSL RENEWAL ...  $20.00
ALT FUEL ..........  $20.00

and the mussel fee of $16 soon.

What's next?  Emission certificate for my human powered Outback?

I have to admit that some days I generate a lot of emissions on my human powered kayak...

" I fart in your general direction"

I registered a Feel Free Moken a couple of years ago and went through the same hell.  I probably shouldn't have.  HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN TICKETED FOR HAVING A MOTOR ON A KAYAK AND NO REGISTRATION?

I registered a Feel Free Moken a couple of years ago and went through the same hell.  I probably shouldn't have.  HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN TICKETED FOR HAVING A MOTOR ON A KAYAK AND NO REGISTRATION?

That's a good question, and I've never heard of it. A related question is whether anybody has been ticketed for not registering a non-motorized sailing kayak, such as an AI. As far as I know, that's never happened.

I'm not even sure who would give such a ticket. Is it supposed be the job of the DFG?

My friend purchased a kayak from someone who claimed he got a ticket.  I can't recall the ticket amount, but I think it was close to $500.

Paul

When I was trying to decide whether to register I found some instances where people were either cited, or were not allowed to launch.

Based on my research I registered mine.