The Hodaka Club Forum

A while back I got a 1976 Suzuki TS125 from a friend of mine. He was working cleaning up a barn for an estate and found the bike. He took the bike as partial payment for his work. No title was found. I bought the bike from him for $300. The bike was in fairly nice condition but had been sitting for some time. I ran the VIN through the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) VIN check and it came up clean.
I spent an additional $300 on parts getting the bike ready to ride. I then took the bike to the State Patrol for a VIN inspection so I could get the title process started. The bike came up as stolen in 1979 in Oregon. They confiscated the bike. I was not a suspect, even the dumbest criminal would not take a known stolen bike to the police. My friend did give me my money back but I am out the other $300. Lesson learned. The NICB does not always work. And take it to the police before you spend any money on it.

Lesson : check it out before you invest any time or money.

Agreed.
I initially turned him down to buy the bike because of no title. But in a moment of weakness and him dropping the price down...
If it wasn’t a trusted friend I never would have done it.
The problem is I know of no sure way of getting a vin check without the vehicle in your possession.