VIN check for stolen bike

freeh

freeh

PR Founding Father
How can I have a VIN checked to see if a bike is stolen? I called the title bureau and all they would tell me is that the bike is titled to somebody. She said they cannot tell if it is stolen or not. Nor can they tell me who the title holder is. I did a forum search and could not find any info on this.

Any help is much appreciated.
 
Try the police dept. I would think they would have a data base with vin#'s of stolen vehicles they could check. Did the seller provide a vin for you? If so it is probably legit.....or they are really stupid
 
I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure this out on one of mine a few years back.

All that I turned up was the dealer name that titled the bike originally, and that the current tiltle holder still had a bank lien on it, and the town/county where the tiltle holder had it registered. I think he defaulted on his loan then dumped the bike on me. I didn't find out it was titled until I attempted to title it myself.

You would think that the title bureau would be tied to the police database to flag vehicle VIN's that are reported stolen and then there needs to be a public access database for stolen property reports.

Good luck on this one Brian.

Ohio BMV title inquiry link:
https://ext.dps.state.oh.us/BMVOnlineServices.Public/TitleSearch.aspx
 
nicb is the only thing i could find and i dont know that everything gets reported there? I just went through this trying to dig up some info. NOBODY could tell me anything. Its no wonder nobody recovers stolen bikes..because its next to impossible to find any info.

I tried highway patrol, license / title bureau (they apparently only go by social now not vin) , someone recommended an insurance company,; they couldnt do it either (even if i was trying to put insurance on it, it wouldnt show up flagged as stolen or anything, wtf?)

You can go online to the ohio bmv website and do a title check by vin. It will show if its titled, and which county its titled in. I did that and called that county sheriff and they also couldnt give me any information.

so i guess you can rely on google and thats about it. kinda dumb.
 
Thanks for all the help. I did the searches recommended and found nothing. At this point I will just have to trust them and go for it. The boy is going to be very happy!
 
I would still Double check "digit for digit" the VIN number given against the frame when you go in person to purchase. It only takes one incorrect digit!!!
I personally will not purchase without title. For reasons others have stated above "liens, Stolen". I don't care how good a deal it is. There is no reason not to have the Title for a bike these days (if its older than late 90's MAYBE). I've heard all types of excuses, and stories. But at the end of the day I think you are contributing to stolen bikes. Directly or not, your contributing to bikes being stolen from out of peoples garages or trailers, or from the lenders, its all the same!
Lately it seems like there are more bikes for sale without titles than with??? You get caught holding the bag and you are guilty just the same. And you will be out of your Cash and and the Bike.
If it is legit then they should be able to provide or acquire the title!!!

If you bike was stolen and sold, would you feel the person who bought it from the thief was any less responsible?
 
TCracing said:
I would still Double check "digit for digit" the VIN number given against the frame when you go in person to purchase. It only takes one incorrect digit!!!
I personally will not purchase without title. For reasons others have stated above "liens, Stolen". I don't care how good a deal it is. There is no reason not to have the Title for a bike these days (if its older than late 90's MAYBE). I've heard all types of excuses, and stories. But at the end of the day I think you are contributing to stolen bikes. Directly or not, your contributing to bikes being stolen from out of peoples garages or trailers, or from the lenders, its all the same!
Lately it seems like there are more bikes for sale without titles than with??? You get caught holding the bag and you are guilty just the same. And you will be out of your Cash and and the Bike.
If it is legit then they should be able to provide or acquire the title!!!

If you bike was stolen and sold, would you feel the person who bought it from the thief was any less responsible?
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I'd never buy something knowing it was stolen, but i wouldn't hold someone against it if they were sold a bike and didnt know it was stolen, they didnt steal it. THats just my opinion though. I agree it seems like its more common now than it was a few years ago to see them without titles. Ive bought/sold both. I always do as much homework as possible and always have a bill of sale and as much of a paper trail as possible if theres no title.
 
Also saying theres no excuse for no title, not true. Theres several legit excuses for not having a title. Such as a title never being generated for the bike. Some states dont title them. I know north carolina is like that. So sometimes just because theres no title does not mean its a bad deal, just means the title was never generated. I'm sure plenty of you here have bought a bike out of state and not paid taxes, which means you dont have a title.
 
New Jersey doesn't require titles on dirt bikes, but will issue one on request with MSO and paying taxes (of course).
 
I know a lot of people probably buy a bike with a title and don't really have a clue why they need a title. Then they lose or forget about it.

But about the taxes, I purchased a KTM with no title and the kid told me he bought it from a dealer and didnt pay the tax. So I called the dealer and they verified it. So dude wrote me a notorized Bill of Sale and I paid the tax to get the title. This was is PA tho.
 
TwentyThreeMX said:
Also saying theres no excuse for no title, not true. Theres several legit excuses for not having a title. Such as a title never being generated for the bike. Some states dont title them. I know north carolina is like that. So sometimes just because theres no title does not mean its a bad deal, just means the title was never generated. I'm sure plenty of you here have bought a bike out of state and not paid taxes, which means you dont have a title.
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In the past sure. These days, NO WAY! you are correct in some cases Title may not be required, or was never issued. That does NOT mean you can't get proper documentation to get a title, or get THE title and if you want a legit sale, DEMAND the title! If they are legit and want to sell the bike Then there is no reason you can not produce one. Just like Auto's, I don't care were it comes from you should be able to get it titled or documentation "a note from the guy selling scribled on a napkin isn't proper documentation". Sure in rare instances were it has passed through too many owners yada yada if you know them or habe some proof B.O.S. MAYBE! otherwise I say just pass you'll find another and not contribute to the theives (Less would be stolen if they can't sell em). Unless of course its a GREAT DEAL for obvious reasons. Then go for it!!!
 
i agree that there is no reason you CANT get one, but some people are just lazy and/or ignorant i think. all it takes is for one person down the line of the sales of a used bike to not get the title, or to not transfer it.. for example.. purchase it, get it signed/notorized, then wait too long it becomes invalid. would require a duplicate and resigned etc... would someone really go through all the trouble to get it? maybe some, some probably not. then 2 or 3 people down the line if you did want the title youd have to figure out who that original person was, and track them down, get them to take their time to get the title, etc.. pain in ass. went through something similar with a jetski.. except with that i NEEDED the title because you need to register that obviously... so i had to trace back a couple owners..the dude was really ignorant, wouldnt mail things, ended up having to drive 2 hours to his house to take him to the title bureau (he said he didnt have a car) blah blah long story short made a few trips, finally got the title but damn if that was for a bike no chance i woulda did all that work.
 
TCracing said:
In the past sure. These days, NO WAY! you are correct in some cases Title may not be required, or was never issued. That does NOT mean you can't get proper documentation to get a title, or get THE title and if you want a legit sale, DEMAND the title! If they are legit and want to sell the bike Then there is no reason you can not produce one. Just like Auto's, I don't care were it comes from you should be able to get it titled or documentation "a note from the guy selling scribled on a napkin isn't proper documentation". Sure in rare instances were it has passed through too many owners yada yada if you know them or habe some proof B.O.S. MAYBE! otherwise I say just pass you'll find another and not contribute to the theives (Less would be stolen if they can't sell em). Unless of course its a GREAT DEAL for obvious reasons. Then go for it!!!
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You need to calm the **** down.
 
Or how bout my '05 crf 450's title was in Fischer Cycle's honda shop in Ashtabula, Ohio. When he locked his doors and closed, so was my title...Sold my bike without the title. Still have no idea where it is.

Just because you buy a bike without a title doesn't necessarily mean you're automatically recieving stolen property.
 
So once you get the vin# and you still dont have a title, HOW do you go about getting a title? Is it even possible? Ive heard a number of things, someone told me you have to find where the bike was purchased go to them, find the guys name and address of who first purchased the bike, then get him to get the title for you, then put it in your name? Is that true? I bought my quad from a buddy who bought it from a buddy who bought it from a buddy who never got the title when he payd the lien off.
 
JMOORE330 said:
So once you get the vin# and you still dont have a title, HOW do you go about getting a title? Is it even possible? Ive heard a number of things, someone told me you have to find where the bike was purchased go to them, find the guys name and address of who first purchased the bike, then get him to get the title for you, then put it in your name? Is that true? I bought my quad from a buddy who bought it from a buddy who bought it from a buddy who never got the title when he payd the lien off.
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I am working on it for the bike I bought. I know there is a process where the DMV will contact the current title holder. And do what I am not sure yet.
 
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