RCinNC
Well-Known Member
I have almost zero interest in choppers, but it's still worth reading a thread about them when there's someone who really seems to know what he's talking about, like Bill C, posting information about them. I doubt I'll ever own one, but I'll follow this thread just because I'm liable to learn something unexpected, that I might be able to put to use someday.
As for the issue of the bike possibly being stolen, I don't dispute for a second that the family you're dealing with are straight shooters, but it could still be stolen. I encountered things like this multiple times when I was a criminal investigator. If the bike didn't have a title when the family acquired it, it could have been stolen 20 years ago and entered into NCIC, and none of the subsequent buyers who legitimately purchased it ever tried to get it registered (the attempt to register it would trigger an NCIC check). Stolen vehicle entries in NCIC don't expire; they have to be removed by whatever agency entered them. It's not uncommon to see stolen vehicle entries in NCIC that are a decade old. If you do buy it and it ended up being stolen, the bike could be seized from you and returned to the last legal owner (usually it ends up being an insurance company), and you'd be out the money you paid to buy it. If you buy it and resell it, and it was actually stolen, you'd be dumping the problem on someone else in the event that they tried to title/register it. Absent an actual title in your hand, I would definitely check the VIN with a law enforcement agency before money changed hands.
As for the issue of the bike possibly being stolen, I don't dispute for a second that the family you're dealing with are straight shooters, but it could still be stolen. I encountered things like this multiple times when I was a criminal investigator. If the bike didn't have a title when the family acquired it, it could have been stolen 20 years ago and entered into NCIC, and none of the subsequent buyers who legitimately purchased it ever tried to get it registered (the attempt to register it would trigger an NCIC check). Stolen vehicle entries in NCIC don't expire; they have to be removed by whatever agency entered them. It's not uncommon to see stolen vehicle entries in NCIC that are a decade old. If you do buy it and it ended up being stolen, the bike could be seized from you and returned to the last legal owner (usually it ends up being an insurance company), and you'd be out the money you paid to buy it. If you buy it and resell it, and it was actually stolen, you'd be dumping the problem on someone else in the event that they tried to title/register it. Absent an actual title in your hand, I would definitely check the VIN with a law enforcement agency before money changed hands.