Say I have a 2001 GSXR and I have no insurance on it, it has a clean title, I take it to a track day and smash it into 100 or so peices. Bent frame, motor cases broken, sub-frame twisted like a pretzle, forks bent...etc. Would be a complete loss. Now say I buy a 2004/2005 frame from Suzuki. The frames from the factory I understand do not have a VIN #. So I take the factory frame and build a new bike with spare parts I have and forks and motor from ebay. Can I have the VIN# from my demolished 2001 stamped on my 2004/05 GSXR?? Is this legal?? What if I ever wanted to sell the bike?? Could I register it legally?? Thoughts opinions....is this just plain not a good idea??
What if I want a racebike and a bike that I can easily convert back to street form for those nice sunny days. I would have to register it, and that would entail takeing the title to the DMV. and......WERA requires a VIN# on all bikes in order to race.
In PA at least, there are a bunch of different ways to title a bike. To do what you talked about is possible, and it would be considered "specially constructed" I think. (Kind of like building a kit car.) Reconstructed is if you have a salvage cert. from an insurance co. and rebuilt a totaled bike. In PA you can get all the paperwork you need from a notary. What I do know, is that you can't share VIN numbers from 2 different year bikes. Call the DMV or a notary from where you're from and ask.
IIRC, this sort of thing varies by state, so you may want to check w/NY DMV and get the scoop. WA its fairly easy, so I'm told. It just requires a state police 'inspection' to ensure roadworthiness and you're GTG (on paper, at least)
There was a guy on this board a few months back trying to sell a 04 636 with a VIN # stamped into the frame that belonged to a 2001 6R. he claimed it was a factory defect when I brought it to his attention
I dunno about stamping the VIN from a different year bike onto a newer bike. I would think the rules would vary by state. I know in Ohio you can get a salvaged bike retitled with a simple inspection (it just gets a salvage title but is legal to ride on the street again). I also know you can replace a damaged frame with one from the factory and have your old VIN restamped onto the new one (just had a friend that did it). I think the issue you may have is the fact that you want to take a VIN off of an older bike and transfer it to a newer bike. That may cause some issues. However, my guess is the DMV wouldn't know the difference and would probably let you do it. However, if you sold the bike and someone checked the VIN and found that the '04/'05 motorcycle they were buying was supposed to be an '01 then that person might have an issue with it.
