they weren't walking around asking for titles. they were inspecting vins and engine numbers.
i was there, this happened to me, i know what occurred that day.
Then I stand corrected. The writeups and other postings I have read about the event stated they were looking for stolen vehicles, and asked for titles or other proof of ownership, absent titles they ran VINs. Its not surprising, however, that law enforcement is unfamiliar with motorcycles and the placement of VINs, like the ducati dot matrix, since they have such limited experience or contact with such on a daily basis. The guy with the open carbs bike got screwed, yes, and its a shame he had no other way of keeping the vehicle from being impounded. Methinks he should have quickly called an attorney to file an injunction to prevent propery seizure without a showing that the vehicle was reasonably believed to be stolen merchandise beyond a VIN mismatch issue. But getting somebody to go through that much work for very low likelihood of success would have been prohibitively expensive for most.
fwiw, nobody carries their title with them, not while racing, not while at a track day, and not even while riding on the street. mine stay locked away in a safe place for when i need them (to sell the vehicle).
uh, yes, I just said the same thing, people don't carry their titles. only some proof of registration if on the street, since its a public road and one is required to, but such would not make sense for track use since such use occurs on private property only.
