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Is it a bad idea to buy a motorcycle with a lien on it?
A lien is a mechanism to impede legal title transfer of a vehicle, real property, or sometimes, expensive business equipment.  That's why title companies exist - to make sure there are no liens against something before a buyer hands money to a seller. The lien can be attached to a loan, unpaid labor related to the item (a mechanic's lien) or unpaid taxes, and there are other scenarios where this could occur. The gist of all this is that the seller of the vehicle mentioned does not have clear title if there is a lien.  This introduces a risk for the buyer.  The buyer can pay the seller the money to cover the lien (in the case of a bank loan) but that doesn't mean the seller will actually pay off the loan (so the title is never clear!).  This article recommends visiting the bank with the seller, and getting title on-the-spot.  However, this isn't always an option, as a local bank branch isn't probably going to have the title document available, though the seller might be able to make some arrangement for a local branch to have the title available before a visit to pay off the loan. The low-risk approach is for the seller to have clear title before any money changes hands.