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I have a Bike. Now what?

8K views 55 replies 29 participants last post by  yammyr1 
#1 ·
I have a friend, rather had a friend, who left Canada for his home in Poland due to immigration problems. He had acquired a 2003 Yamaha R1 and was riding it around without papers, I am almost certain. When he was leaving, he sold me the bike for $500. I know that this is not fair market value nor is it reasonable consideration but I was wondering whether I would have a hard time trying to convince ICBC that this occurred without having a bill of sale to supplement?

Also, the bike has no VIN on the frame so I assume that it is a U-Built. I took the bike out on the street for a test run; it was under the pattulo, where all of the industrial shops are and I ran in to a cop. He pulled me over and since I didn't have a title nor registration, he had the bike towed. He noticed that the frame had no VIN so he assumed that it was stolen; he took down the engine VIN and any other numbers that appear on various parts and ran it by dispatch. Thank GOD it came back negative because I was about to piss my pants. The officer was rather nice about the situation and even offered me a smoke while waiting for the tow. He told me that I would need to get an ICBC VIN number and have the bike inspected before it could legally be back on the road. Prior to doing this, I want to know whether it is, first of all, going to work and, secondly, how long it is going to take?

Any help in this matter would be great guys. I am brand new to this forum but from the posts that I have been reading, everyone seems rather helpful so, once again, I would appreciate any help.

Cheers!
 
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#2 ·
"No VIN on frame"?

Ahroo? How can this even be possible, considering that frames have both a riveted plate *and* a punched/stamped number into the metal of the frame itself?

Have modern bikes changed something since I was last aware? And "U-built"? Meaning that the original frame was damaged, and a new, replacement frame was used to rebuild the bike? Again, I thought any new repair frame purchase like this, was required to have a stamped serial number in the metal of the frame prior to any Joe-public dude being able to get their hands on it...


If this was legit, you'd think that whoever did the repair/rebuild would have *had* to stamp the frame with a number.

Would someone go to the trouble and expense to buy a brand new factory frame for a rebuild, versus simply buying a used frame, but not have a serial number anywhere on it?

I don't get it:surrender
 
#7 ·
i thought replacement frames shipped withoout vins, lotsa race bikes are vinless for that reason, right?

i know there is some process for stolen/recovered vehicles that have been stripped of their original vins or had phoney vin plates installed. ICBC issues a funny lookin 'BC vin' i think it's called.

i guess if ur succesful in this, it means anyone can re-street a vinless race bike?
 
#8 ·
All you need to do is call ICBC general help line, or go in to a broker. They will give you forms to apply for a "BC issued VIN" or something like that. Takes a few days and they'll issue a VIN plate to a mechanic who installs it on your bike. He signs some forms, you sign some forms, your bike has a VIN and voila! Go riding.

Kevin
 
#10 ·
Hey, I know that it is CRAZY heaty and the reason that I posted the question is to get a vague understanding of what COULD happen if I decide to go through ICBC and try to get a BC VIN. after all, it is an R1 which I got for $500.

Batan, that was hillarious and yea, you got the gist of my post; any advice?

The only thing that I have going for me in this case is that I know for sure that the bike is not stolen.

The frame must be from a racing manufacturer that sells to race teams because the VIN plate has not been inscribed on; I am not well informed in these matters but I would assume that you can purchase a VIN-less frame for racing purposes.
 
#19 ·
Batan, that was hillarious and yea, you got the gist of my post; any advice?

The only thing that I have going for me in this case is that I know for sure that the bike is not stolen.
And you found out it's not stolen THE HARD way by getting pulled over by a cop because you too were riding it illegally. This does seem like trolling, the story is THAT funny.

Well, this is what I'd do:
1. Find less sketchy friends
2. Smarten up and stop illegally riding bikes that used to belong to sketchy friends. Or riding any bikes illegally for that matter. Geez man.
3. Find an ICBC agent who knows what they are talking about and talk to him/her. It's not easy to find them, but somebody has to know somebody. Those people can be extreme idiots. I had one try to convince me that when you import a vehicle, the original owner has to come personally to ICBC to sign over the papers.
 
#30 ·
If you can't find one, walk into 2-3 ICBC places, try to scan for somebody who at least looks like they would know and then talk to them. Be polite and explain the situation and ask them for help. If they tell you you're screwed, go to another agent and try the same thing. Unfortunately, people that don't know shit always try to sound like they do.
:banghead
Once you find somebody who will tell you what to do, start the process with him/her personally! Don't take what they say and then try to go through the process at a different place.
 
#28 ·
if you goto icbc you'll go through a 3month process of paperwork to get teh bike vin'd/in your name.

I wouldn't worry about it not having a vin. either you cant find it or it was a tag like my bike and was removed.

The worst case senario is that somehow it is traced to be stolen and they seize it. I highly doubt you'll be charged with pocession of stolen property.

If you like it go through the process... otherwise put it on craigslist and go buy something with less headache.
 
#32 ·
This sounds like one of those threads... Yes I need to get rid of it and I live in montreal. I'll sell to you for $500 if you send me the $.. No registration papers needed nope because they don't exist.
 
#40 ·
There is a back door way to get this thing a VIN, without a bill of sale, or any other paperwork. It costs about $300, and a fella in Coquitlam can do it for you. Happens all the time in my business with collector cars. IMagine the scenario....

Guy goes to California on a vacation. Finds an old BMW, or Porsche or whatever, sitting in a farmers field. Offers the farmer some cash, and brings it home. He gets it across the border be declaring it a parts car, and then gets the car up and running, ready for the road. But he's got no regi, no bill of sale, no VIN, nothing. What does he do???

There is a guy in Coquitlam(sorry, I can't recall his name or contact info), that gets legit VIN numbers and paperwork for situations like this. I have talked to ICBC about him, and they are well aware of what he does, they're just not sure HOW he does it. I have a buddy with a 38 Chevy hotrod, who went through the process several years ago.

Try searching the BC HotRod Association, someone there will know whom I'm talking about. He may be the solution.

And hell, even if you never get the bike on the road, a $500 R1 is a deal. Track bike, parts bike, etc...
 
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