03 YZ450 - What to do?

[sthedreem]

I recently bought an 03 YZ450 that was advertised on the board, from a fellow racer. The ad stated that the bike has street legal title; The seller sent me a copy of the title, that checked out with the DMV, along with the fact that that he is an established fellow racer, I felt pretty comfortable about the transaction. I arranged the shipping of the bike. Once I received it, I went to check the VIN against the title - NO VIN number on the frame. I contacted the seller about this problem and he put me in contact with the previous owners. Turns out the bike was involved in an accident and the frame was replaced but the VIN number was not stamped on the replacement. I got the receipt for the frame from the dealership. I contacted every Yamaha dealership in my area and provided them with all the facts and documents. They refuse to stamp the VIN# on the frame due to fear of liability??? The DMV will not register the bike because there is no VIN. I am pretty sure that racing associations don't allow bikes w/out a VIN to race. Mind you I paid top dollar and shipping because it was supposed to be street legal. I contacted the seller because I felt that the bike I got was not what he advertised it to be and wanted to discuss a resolution. I was calm and courteous throughout the conversation, he was not. He offered to take the bike back if I paid for the shipping. Then finally said that it was my problem and he was done with it and hung up. I already paid to ship it once, I just wanted him to pay me back what I paid, and pay for shipping back.

I just want to know how would you feel if this happened to you and what would you do? What are the legal repercussions of selling a bike without a VIN.

I am keeping names out this because I am hoping the seller realizes that what he has done is wrong and takes the steps to correct this.

[Jaycycle]

Man thats to bad, what a weird situation. I guess if your looking for a bike to get street legal you can try and resell the yz. And if someone is interested just tell him strait up the situation and that the frame was replace but no VIN was stamped on it. I don't think its to big of a deal. Then start alllll over again looking for another bike.

[elcamino76]

that is really weird, you are probably stuck with the bike even though i would probably pay the guy a little visit first. do what jaycycle said and try and sell it. someone will take it. i know its one thing to buy a bike without a title but with out a vin is weird?? i discovered early that you need to watch out for scams as i buy and sell bikes a lot. good luck.

[yzf450jack]

you can stamp a vin# your self! Look on the motor just above the kick starter put that number on the frame it's the same

[sthedreem]

you can stamp a vin# your self! Look on the motor just above the kick starter put that number on the frame it's the same

Just stamp it myself? Is that legal? Yamaha dealerships will not do this even after I provided documents and pictures. I don't want to put myself in a worse situation because someone else just passed a problem on to me.

[sthedreem]

that is really weird, you are probably stuck with the bike even though i would probably pay the guy a little visit first. do what jaycycle said and try and sell it. someone will take it. i know its one thing to buy a bike without a title but with out a vin is weird?? i discovered early that you need to watch out for scams as i buy and sell bikes a lot. good luck.

He is a few states away, visiting is not feasible. That is why I bought the bike sight unseen. I figured I could trust a fellow racer.

[MotoGoalie]

Bad transaction. You might be better off just trying to sell it. He should have disclosed that the frame was chopped. There has to be a way to verify the ownership of the bike and thus get a new VIN.

Otherwise you are just SOL i guess.

[grayracer513]

California has provisions for stamping state issued VIN's on special construction and major repair situations like this. They issue new numbers, not re-stamp the old. Go back to the DMV with as much written documentation of the chain of events as you can put together and see if they can't do something like that.

[TD-3]

Pickup a used 450 frame on ebay and transfer all the parts, maybe?

[DaveJ]

California has provisions for stamping state issued VIN's on special construction and major repair situations like this. They issue new numbers, not re-stamp the old. Go back to the DMV with as much written documentation of the chain of events as you can put together and see if they can't do something like that.

More specifically, in California, the CHP has a department for issuing VIN numbers. This is provided for people like you that need a VIN for such reason, or for those that build custom cars and motos. The California DMV has special forms that you need to fill out for such a case, which are then taken to the CHP, with the bike, in which they will issue the new VIN. Then you go back to the DMV to finish off the registration. I'm sure Florida has similar practices or at least the means to deal with this.

Lastly, there would be no harm (and I'm sure no law broken) by re-stamping the original number into the new frame, (or a VIN plate that you could attach to the frame). Either is really easy to do.

In California, you would be a lucky man to have a VIN-less 03 frame.

[Climber]

I think that it requires a special stamp set (wierd font). I KNOW this is true on Harleys. There are a few sets of stamps floating around out there for them. But, noone will admit that they have them.