I was at the Laughlin River Run a few years ago and one of my riding buddies had his motorcycle (‘98 Fatboy) stolen right out of the security patrolled Hilton Flamingo Hotel (now the renovated Aquarius) parking garage. This reminded me of not only the painful several hour process in the police station filling out forms, interviews etc., but got me thinking about how chop shops pull off the VIN/Title changes on these “re-manufactured” bikes/engines.
You read about chop shops all the time from the couple running an operation out of a garage to more sophisticated operations that include Outlaw Biker “Club” members.
The Harley-Davidson factory has highly capable and a most legit remanufacturing process for your original power-plant and will retain your original VIN. It starts with a dealer removing your engine and shipping it to the Factory’s Capitol Drive Facility in Milwaukee. When it reaches the factory, they will unpack and prep it for disassembly and after a couple weeks and couple thousand dollars your “new” motor arrives on your door step. Specifically related to registration is the VIN on the old crankcase is destroyed, and the customer’s original VIN will be stamped on a new crankcase when they engine is assembled.
The term “rebirthing” covers a range of illegal activities that have one thing in common: to allow a stolen motorcycle, or a motorcycle that has parts that have been stolen, to be passed off and registered as a legitimate vehicle. Organized motorcycle thieves and their accomplices perform a wide range of activities in order to rebirth vehicles. Under current law, a LEO may seize and take possession of a motorcycle or motorcycle part if the officer has probable cause to believe that the vehicle identification number (VIN) has been removed or damaged in such a way that the motorcycle cannot be identified.
When buying a used Harley-Davidson, checking the VIN numbers against the title is mandatory. If they don’t match exactly you should think about looking elsewhere. If you have a Harley engine with matching title taken from a crashed or salvaged motorcycle, and put that engine into a new frame, the title might be invalid.
This site has an extensive post on VIN numbers and how not to leave yourself open to unscrupulous people.
For the curious…the Fatboy was never recovered!
Northwest Harley Blog 
Great post, thanks! The charts on that site are really helpful too, giving the model codes, and VIN locations by year. I can’t wait to impress friends with this lil piece of trivia… seems we’re always helping someone find a bike to trade up to, or first time buyers. (Although hubby probably already knows this stuff, I’ll be able to surprise him too! LOL)
[…] blog surfing today, I found a great post about Harley-Davidson VIN’s, and why it’s so important to check them against the Title when you buy a bike. This post referrenced a site with great informational charts on the VIN model […]
Best way to save the hassle is just learn how to do all your own wrenching. Saves lots of hassles, you can do things the factory won’t, and save your self buckets of money anway.
I mean common, if you want a disposable motorcycle buy japanese.
But, in the old days, a guy that rode a harley new how to do at least the basic’s with it if not a whole lot more.
Way to many gas and go riders out there today.
Mac great post on the motorcycle VIN. Im a new reader and especially a new Harley Rider. I will defenitely keep this information in mind now, since I am currently looking for a project bike to work on.