Glen,
I bought John's 87.
He is from West Virgina and WV does not title ATV's ( i know from experience) so if you want title or live in a state that requires title you'll have to do take the bill of sale and go through your state DMV process to register it.
I would suggest you call the police with your VIN and ask them to run it in the national stolen vehicles database prior to taking it down there. On the off chance it come up hot the DMV could confiscate it (I always do this before I buy anything).
I did get title to my 87 here in CA so I'd suspect you'd have no issue as CA is the biggest PIA other than maybe NY.