Registering Class B in Indiana-Van or RV?

IndyTraveler wrote:
BudJ and retraite: good questions and mostly what we've asked ourselves and others.
To Register as either RV or van appears to be based on the GWV beginning as a VAN. Saves money on annual excise tax so sounds good, but at BMV they have to do a VIN inspection which we assume means eyeballing the vehicle itself but we don't know that for sure... but only thing that makes sense to us.

If they do actually look at the rig, they may say nope, it's an RV so no choice. So far, we're just going off what we were told over the phone. But we will keep everyone updated once we take possession and go through the actual experience.

BTW: it's a new rig, we don't want a vanity plate, we plan (hope) to drive it all over the USA and Canada (to get to Alaska), our county regs and HOA don't allow RVs parked on the street for more than 24-36 hours, and the insurance company says they'll insure it as an RV regardless of how it's registered with the state. (Even with the HOA restrictions, the rig is too big to park in our driveway so we wouldn't want to keep it on the street. We've rented a nearby storage unit for it). What makes us comfy is knowing we've done it right so we don't get ticketed, fined,or looked askance by Big Brother.

We're excited to get our GWV and start traveling. Maybe we'll see ya'll on the road!

Indiana is fairly easy on registering however you want. The biggest problem is if it sits the zoning people get stuffy. Depending on your county (I'm assuming Marion and you're in Indy) a passenger vehicle cannot sit more then 20 days without moving. RV's are usually exempt. Now, I'm about as far from you as you can get and stay in the state. However, you're going to be traveling and some traffic restrictions can really hammer you across the country. I remember years ago the comdeian Jerry Clower was given a recliner chair. He tossed it in the back of his El Camino and was ticketed on the Blue Ridge Parkway as commercial vehicles were forbidden. An RV gets better treatment. Think of what would happen to a states tourism industry if someone posted here that they had gotten bad treatment by a locality?

I bought a class B about a month ago and there was no question about the plates. I went with RV plates so if it sits for a bit, no big deal. Granted, I don't have an HOA to deal with. I pay my mortgage and taxes and, within reason, do what I want with my house.