My journey into the realm of stolen motorcycles began with accidentally buying one and ended with a State Patrol investigation. It happened to me so I can tell you.
Imagine finding online a reasonably priced motorcycle and it needs work as a hobby bike. Just what you are looking for to learn more about customizing a ride and starting to do your own work. But it’s stolen and you are a step away from ruining your life with an arrest record for Grand Theft. I recently bought an older motorcycle – a 1983 Yamaha XV1000. Finding a stolen motorcycle crossed my mind and I took some steps to be “safe”, but more was needed.
Thieves don’t target just new and shiny bikes. They commonly hit bikes up to 10 years old, but also much older. It all depends on the desirability of the ride. Some bikes are resold “as is” since they may be hard to identify, such as stock bikes that are popular and often look alike. Other bikes are dismantled to be sold as parts on secondary markets like eBay for distribution around the world. I wouldn’t have thought that an old 1983 Yamaha Virago would be one of them, but it was. Not only could an older motorcycle be a desirable “classic”, but they cost less for people just getting into riding. Also, older bikes can slip under police or buyer radar because of newer bikes usually being targeted.
Buying a stolen motorcycle without realizing it is easy to do. Ground off identification numbers are a dead give away – sometimes. Thieves often grind down the VIN on the front neck of the bike and the matching serial number on the engine. Then they re-stamp the identifications with ones that match legitimate titles the thieves may own. The clear titles can come from bikes released by an insurance company as salvage or old dead bikes bought from owners just for the titles.
The stolen motorcycle I purchased was customized: lowered, repainted, turned into a hardtail, and partially made a bobber with its gauges removed. The stolen bike looked very different from its old life, and much more cool and attractive for resale. It came with a partial parts bike, which was a welcome thing for keeping a ’83 Yamaha running. The parts bike had the legitimate title and its ID was also stamped on the stolen bike. When I was buying the stolen bike, I checked with the State Patrol whether the VIN was reported stolen – the VIN and associated title were clear. But the good VIN was stamped on a bad bike. And while my purchase matched the market value of the cycle, it wasn’t priced at “too good to be true” (often a sign it is stolen). The “too good to be true” part was the enticement of parts that could be used for maintenance over time.
When ready to sell, thieves post motorcycles on a variety of classified ad sites like Craigslist, Oodle, etc. and they give natural reasons for selling the motorcycle. The stories are about wanting to fix up a bike but lose interest, they customize bikes and sell them as a hobby or that they just need to pay bills. In my case, I bought my stolen bike from a person’s home who had a day job and a mother in law with an RV parked in the drive. He had a 4 year old, was going to school, was a musician with YouTube videos, and needed money.
The exchange of cash for a bike, often in a parking lot like a restaurant, is a red flag reminiscent of a spy novel and often is how stolen motorcycles purchases happen. People arrange to meet at a convenient location and the thieves strive to make the exchange feel natural. And the location has fewer if any witnesses and it is hard to identify the license plate of any car that might belong to the thief or their accomplices. These exchanges can also happen at somebody’s shed or garage and seem “real”. At some point the thieves change location and move on.
The person I bought the bike from didn’t know it was stolen and rode it for 2 years before selling it. At the referral of a friend, he bought the motorcycle from somebody with multiple bikes in a garage that “customizes” them as a hobby. Buying from a non-business with multiple bikes in work is a potential red flag.
So how did I discover my purchased motorcycle was stolen? I asked questions about the bike’s origin and why it was being sold, felt good that the purchase looked respectable, did a VIN search with the police, etc. But after buying, I noticed that the engine’s serial number was ground clean. A chill went down my spine when the bike’s VIN matched that of the parts bike. My call to the police with concerns was the difference between being a contentious citizen or “defendant” for holding stolen property.
In most states, people who possess stolen property like a motorcycle can be arrested for Grand Theft or possession of stolen property. All it takes is a traffic stop for an incorrectly mounted license plate and you could be arrested on the spot and your name becomes “defendant”. I was lucky and contacted the State Patrol to have the motorcycle examined by their VIN Inspection unit. Although the key identifications were ground off, the original act of stamping them drives the letters and numbers deep into a bike frame or engine block. An acid treatment can be used to expose the old VIN and engine serial number. After searching the state and federal databases, the State Patrol found the bike was stolen and an investigation was underway.
If a stolen bike has insurance, a settlement may have been made to the original owner and the insurance company will often re-title the motorcycle to you for a small sum. Or the original owner had no insurance, reported it stolen, and rightfully wants their property back. If you are unlucky enough to lose the money you spent, there is the option of suing the person who sold it to you. Ugly any way you slice it. In my case, the person who sold the stolen bike to me, and the person they bought it from, didn’t know the bike was stolen. And there the trail goes cold. No smoking gun and no original thieves caught.
The State Patrol detective working my case said it was his last. Washington State budget cuts removed funding for the state’s theft division, meaning that theft cases are now the jurisdiction of local police. The detective commented that their department receives 8 to 10 reported motorcycle thefts per week.
Here are some tips to help you not buy a stolen motorcycle from private owners:
* The ending numbers of the engine serial number should match the last numbers on the VIN. Some numbers on older bikes do not match or a replacement motor will not. Ask questions and if it’s a different engine. No engine number is trouble.
* Become familiar with spotting non-manufacturer stampings. Manufacturer stampings on the engine and frame use specific die fonts and sizes and are smooth with no metal burrs. Stamping “home jobs” don’t look the same.
* Do a VIN check. Online registries are incomplete. Contact your local or state law enforcement to run a VIN check.
* A bike missing gauges could be a sign of masking the real mileage if stolen.
* Get a bill of sale with the seller’s full name and the bike VIN. Check and record the seller’s driver’s license.
* History is important – the more you know about how and where the bike has changed hands the better. Online reporting sites like Cyclefax.com can tell you a lot for a small fee.
One in five stolen vehicles is a motorcycle. In 2009 the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) posted these statistics for thefts:
#1 Honda, 13,688
#2 Yamaha, 11,148
#3 Suzuki, 9,154
#4 Kawasaki, 5,911
#5 Harley-Davidson, 3,529.
These thefts account for about 77% of the total motorcycle theft in the Untied States. Sport bikes are the most targeted.
Buying tips courtesy Washington State Patrol, VINNumberCheck.net, and Tim’s Cycle Service.
On A Steel Horse 